Maybe I am being nostalgic, but I really hope that it takes a long time to get "good" weapons/armor in this game. I remember the excitement of finding cloth armor then leather and maybe a few ringmail pieces. I rememeber being in High Hold Pass and seeing someone in a few pieces of bronze and being blown away. I hope we bring it back to that where iron/bronze was a thing.
Speaking on that, the first time I started a fight with a tiny willow wisp and having it kick my butt because I had no magic weapons. Or, accidentally running up on a ghoul.
Based on comments elsewhere I think most of us agree. Not only should magic weapons be a real find rather than a trivial drop, any bonuses they give should be kept under control even all the way to maximum level. A +3 sword (using dungeons and dragons terminology) should be a rare find at level-cap, maybe only available from an epic quest line or raid boss. rather than something a level 2 routinely finds stuck up the arse of the pig she is killing hundreds of to grind or quest.
I still remember the first time I attacked a wisp without a magic weapon, haha. Very traumatic.
But I loved that. It really added a lot of character to the world. I hope we're going to see stuff like that, and high-quality, magical weapons be more of a rarity, at least in the beginning before lots of them are found. If actual good gear is scarce, I think the experience might appeal a bit to the hardcore/survival crowd, since tough times and bad gear are sort of a staple there, and those games had quite a boom.
I can imagine my character...
At level 1, her teacher gives her a cracked, busted up walking stick and tells her to have at the world.
At level 12, after lots of running in terror, a few tragic deaths and lots of meticulous preparations to not let it happen again, maybe she finds a metal staff, but it's pretty dinged up and rusted. Probably discarded by Wizard Joe, and picked up by the bandito she just blasted. It's slightly more useful than the walking stick, but still not much of a prize.
At level 24, maybe she manages to be part of a group that takes down the captain of some bandit camp, and a gnarled, gnobby looking walking stick with a very faint magical aura is found in his stash. Perhaps its power is merely to emit like like a torch, or grand a small but useful bonus to a school of spells.
Well, something like that anyways. I'm totally fine with not having a big, fancy, non-beat up blasty magic stick for most of my career. Need something to look forward to later, after all!
(this assuming I can't just buy said blasty magic stick off a higher level player and it's not actually level restricted, haha)
From the FAQ:
13.9 What is your philosophy on item proliferation and drops?
Our desire to bring back the value and personality of items drives our item design. This means that the frequency of upgrades will be slower and when you do get a new piece of gear not only will the experience be memorable but so will the item. We want you to collect your items and be able to remember their names. When you get that epic item or rare drop after an incredible dungeon crawl, we want you to be in awe of what you have accomplished and the reward that came from it. Items will be memorable, deserved, cherished, and desired.
There will also be many ‘situational’ items. Please see The Pantheon Difference.