This is an interesting topic because I've always thought that part of what makes post-CMS Darke different from old Darke is the emphasis that equipment takes. Prior to CMS skills and spells were the bee's knees because of autocrits - your equipment and levels could be twice as good as mine, but if I had an elementalist to drop plasma on my weapon I could kill you outright. Or if I was a thief/NB I could stab you in the back and see an impaling IK.

Conversely, one of Darke's strong points is the customizability (to coin a new word) of equipment. Ideally, a wide variety of equipment choices would be viable in different situations and emphasizing individual stats/skills/abilities over equipment could help to expand that. What the ramifications of such a de-emphasis would be are that player character balance would come more clearly into the spotlight - some guilds will just BE better than others without a heavy-handed overhaul of balance in a world where equipment is less of the defining factor.

I'd be curious as to what others think about the role of equipment is and should be. In the near past the sentiment has been for more and more emphasis on equipment, and anything to the detriment of that end has been soundly rebuffed by the players at large.