Jon Snow wrote:

I understand equipment can show a persons level, and allow them the ability to dress up and change appearance... but on the same note you get ugly dress ups as well, which consist of people finding a good pair of bone leggings and trying to mix that with a leather cuirass.

It works better in online games. I tried that in a singleplayer Roguelike and yeah, they end up looking dumb sometimes, but their stats are better! In online games though, it gives the player a choice: Do I want to look ridiculous in front of other players but get the better stats? Or do I want to dress nice and compromise the extra bonuses, but look good in the process? Also, it can be fun for players to "dress up" a little in whatever nice clothes they've acquired while in down time. You know, that time where they sit in the tavern yakking at each other because they don't feel like doing anything else.

It also tends to prevent players from choosing the best equipment just because its statistically the best. Now each player is weighing out which equipment is the best in stats as well as in looks. Sure, the Fat Pig Sword might be a whole lot less likely to break, but the Sabre looks so much cooler. Plus, they might like the look of an old piece of equipment and keep it around simply because its fun to wear on occasion.

I remember many, many years ago when I played an online game and hung around an extra two weeks playing (out of a whole month...) because I wanted to earn enough money to buy a really expensive cloak that I thought looked cool. And it did. And I was happy to wear it around town afterwards. Incidentally, the cloak had crappy armor value, but I didn't care. I liked it and even wore it into battle!