[Jeff]

Some kind of data on item popularity would be a powerful tool for balancing. Weapons are in a pretty good spot after the recent changes, but there are still many non-weapon equipment pieces (acidic claws being a prime example) that could really use a change. It would probably have to be moderated pretty heavily though, as there are many ways that the data could be misrepresented by player actions. It would probably have to be data from level 60 characters for a start, to prevent new players/characters from heavily skewing the data using whatever they can find for extended periods.

Thank you for the support and feedback. Specifically what I had in mind is tracking items that are upgraded to the maximum at a blacksmith, and I don't think many people are fully upgrading their temporary gear just to perform slightly better in a BDP. It seems to me like that large expense is reserved almost exclusively for items which are part of a person's planned build, and which they intend to use regularly.

But maybe I'm mistaken, and people are upgrading temporary gear. I have no idea.