i kinda like the idea of it being able to use no matter your rank.
It gives the smaller players to catchup with the insanely big players.
Well if you compared a higher rank player with a lower rank player with both same crafted eq, definately a higher rank will still win. Thus, there's still the balance there.
If a small player can mange to craft better gear than a bigger rank, i think he deserves to be that buffed.
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Ford model a (1927) specifications