Could you just outline real quick what the goals and benefits of the current system are as you see it, so when we're thinking of ideas we can try to apply it to those goals?

From what I've seen it's something like this:

Time consuming: 24/7 a/b/s would be overpowered
Difficult: a/b/s is powerful so should be hard to get
Encourage exploration: class uniqueness
strategy complexity: catch mages gathering wands
tactical subtlety: kot/grease interacts with wanding up
Prevent OOC sharing: everyone having a/b/s would be bad

What other positives are there? Also, what negatives would you most like to see addressed?