I like finding the best gear I can, but I know that during leveling I will outgrow it soon, so I don't worry too much about it. Once I hit max level, though, I get obsessive about it!
As far as abilities and spells go, I'm a completist, so I need to collect every single one, even if I won't use all of them.
I never look into gear until leveling starts to crawl. In most MMOs it is max level. In EQ it was around lvl 25 where I started to look into getting a few items I could afford, then would look around every 10 levels or so.
When it comes to spells though, I am a full collector. I go out of my way to get every ability and tool I am aware of.
My first character on a server, I will buy whatever weapons/spells I can afford at the time.
For any other character I create after that, I will send him gold and buy all the spells I can for a few levels in advance, that way as I level up I don't need to go back in to town. For melee characters, I will twink with a good weapon. I don't really focus on wearable gear at low levels, only things that directly help with combat (spells and weapons).
Tahoe said: Personally I prefer not to twink a new character. I found it dilutes the feel for the class that you are trying out. It is hard to tell if you like the class or just like being a twink in the lower levels.
That's very insightful. I never thought about it before now, but I can see how it would slow my learning curve of the char's abilities if he's overpowered & over-armored.
Ill begin slightly off topic, and put my tuppence in regarding twinks raised above…
I don’t have an issue with twinking. I understand that it will take time to learn a character, but it looks like you will still need a good amount of time to level so this shouldn’t be much of an issue. Also, by the time I feel that I want to try a new class that I can twink, I will have gained a lot of knowledge about the game world that my new character shouldn't "know". When beginning, I will not play an alt in the same way I play my main. My alt will "know" the best hunting grounds and areas for rare spells and the like. In a sense, it is already twinked.
Given that I don’t have an issue with passing items to my alts that my main doesn’t need or I craft specifically for them. I would add however, that I expect the BIS will not be transferable between alts or players, so twinking should only take a character to a "good" level at best.
Now back on topic and to the question at hand…
My main is all about exploration and experiencing the world. I will go with anything I have and look out for better. I will not be looking at spoiler sites and the like while I indulge myself in the lore and land. So I wont know where to go for the best equipment. If I run into a player who suggests another place has better rewards, then I will obviously go and have a look.
As for alts; my alts will be somewhat steared by my main character's experiences, so I may well go for something my alt needs. BUT, if there is enough new land for my alt to explore that my main hasnt, then I would play it in the same way (apart from a little twink gear from time to time).
I usually wear whatever drops and have the best stats for me - i only start grinding for specific gear at very high levels. When it comes to crafting - I usually focus only on the top tier gear and just level my crafting profficiency with whatever - skipping almost all craftable equipment.