Prolly a good design choice. I don't see how combining two (just two!) armor pieces in one slot ruins the game. I'm still gonna have my stats, I'm still gonna customize the hell out of my character, and most importantly I'll still be playing a role. In a role playing game. See what I did there? Role? Playing? Role playing game?
Seems odd how people define the purity of an RPG based on how many funny little numbers it has. RPGs have always been about building characters and creating heroes, and when I look at a real life hero I don't start droning out numbers to quantify his/her attributes. Personally,I think the modern choice/consequence model that major RPG devs like Bethesda and Bioware are using nowadays involve more "role playing" than traditional RPGs, by a longshot. So if merging two armor slots Will allow me to have more interactable objects and NPCs on screen- more chances to define my character as a person- then great! Take as many armor slots as you want!
Seems odd how people define the purity of an RPG based on how many funny little numbers it has. RPGs have always been about building characters and creating heroes, and when I look at a real life hero I don't start droning out numbers to quantify his/her attributes. Personally,I think the modern choice/consequence model that major RPG devs like Bethesda and Bioware are using nowadays involve more "role playing" than traditional RPGs, by a longshot. So if merging two armor slots Will allow me to have more interactable objects and NPCs on screen- more chances to define my character as a person- then great! Take as many armor slots as you want!