I tend to feel people tend to be too dogmatical when they don't like something.
Allright, so some people would prefer not to have too much mircomanagement. I like micromanagement in RPGs.
I think there is a world of difference between doing something wrong and doing something right and people ought to pay more attention whether their opinion is based on something fundamental or not.
In this case, I believe people are scarred by Diablo-style durability, and never think about alternatives.
Of course I don't know if Mad Max wasn't thinking about this when he brought it up, but I know it can be done much better.
In Realm of Arkania, weapons would sometimes break. I am not perfectly certain if it was simply an effect of critical failure or if weapons had a hidden durability, but weapons certainly had a different probability to break.
I know two swords that broke relatively often, and one was the only magical one. That was pretty relevant to the gameplay, but I thought it was interesting rather than annoying.
It didn't happen too often, and I didn't have to repair my weapons all the time.
Admittedly my memory is somewhat hazy, but I think repairing weapons and armor could be a good addition.
First of all, it could be done the way BlueNinja mentioned. I think Fallout had the awesome chance to "destroy" a weapon and then it was just gone. That sucks alot more than having to repair it.
But in addition, weapons and armor could have a hidden durability which degenerates very slowly. One proposal on the Bethesda forums was that the repair skill could *automatically* slow this down, so with a good enough repair skill it would only go down in the case of criticals.
Additionally, my idea was that a weapon only shows wear - and is only repairable - when the durability is "low". Until then it wouldn't affect the weapon at all, but at this point it would impair the use, decrease accuracy and increase the chance of a critical failure.
So it wouldn't be a matter of the durability reaching zero, it would be a matter of the weapon becoming unreliable, and the durability would be adjusted to reflect that.
The main complaint about repair is the fear of constantly having to worry and perform a menial action. But this can be easily countered by adjusting durability so it doesn't affect the weapon often and only allowing the repair of a weapon after a certain treshhold.
So if the weapon would only turn "bad" after long use and couldn't be repaired before that, it would be pointless to worry about it all the time. Heck, I hardly worry all the time in Diablo2.
Allright, I do go to the blacksmith almost every time I am in town, but think about the situation:
I run through endless dungeons slaying monsters, and now and then I have to return to town, usually to sell loot, maybe look if the traders offer something of interest.
I tend to consider going to town itseld a menial task in Diablo2, so when I do it I make sure to make the best of it.
It's a totally different situation, since my visits to the town are merely interruptions of an endless fight. Of course I'm having my stuff repaired while I'm at it.
Fallout would be totally different. Some towns (villages) might not even have someone I would entrust with this task. I might swtich weapons without ever reaching the point where I need to worry about it.
On the other hand, I might find weapons in a bad shape, adding an interesting gameplay twist:
So I just found this cool plasma rifle, but can I get it to work? Or do I first have to find someone who can?
I could decide to use an unreliable weapon in a critical situation for it's sheer power, but prefer a more reliable gun most of the time.
Also, it could serve to promote melee combat: My gun's jammed, what to do? I'll just use it as club then.
Now I was a bit rambling, but you'll forgive me for not condensing my post, I found that takes me more time than writing it in the first place and few people truly apppreciate it anyway.
PS:
I kept talking about weapons, but I believe it applies to both weapons and armor. It certainly did in Diablo2.
