I think we need something done about the massive amount of characters some people play. There are people (by my guess based on login/outs of characters and how the characters act) playing 2-4 CABALED characters at one time. Which on one hand is ok, but let us assume that this player plays:
1 mage
1 warrior
1 rogue
1 hybrid
Let us also assume this player is able to get 5 pieces of GOOD gear on each of these characters. Now that is 20 pieces of gear across four characters. This also may not seem a bad thing to some of you. Now if you assume that player is going to lean more heavily on 1-2 of those characters for their play, then your facing the fact that 10-15 of the sought after rares are not available. Now we can all wave around the "eq does not matter" flag, and it is the least important factor in my opinion over skill, and cabal, but when you have nothing to do, and your wearing stuff you can get at 35, you get annoyed. So your facing a situation where you cannot get the gear, because it is "hoarded" (read unavailable) by a game mechanic. I realize the monthyl purge system exists, but there are several players who can pump out pinns at incredible speed, and snatch up that gear, then get bored, make a new char, and won't rare purge the other char themselves. Rinse repeat.
I am proposing some type of restriction on the number of active (read played, and equipped) 50's any person can have. The number is something I am open to, but it is really unsporting to look for things that you literally do not ever see, or even worse wait for a character who has the things your wanting, and that char never shows.
I agree, not only from an EQ stand point, but from a cabal warfare one. If I have characters in multiple cabals, eventually I am going to have to fight against them. So, I am going to equip them on one character only to kill them on another. That, to me, seems a little much.
Lets add restrictions based on assumptions.
Ok, if an imm will verify that there are not at LEAST 3 people playing 3-4 cabaled characters right now I will eat my own hair.
There's a difference between people who have those many cabaled/equipped characters and don't play daily versus people who have them and do play.
One shouldn't get penalized because of the other.
I think that life-insurance preventing 2 rares from crumbling is bogus though...the 2 rare crumbling was, i thought, put in to help rare circulation, not cater to people who can amass 10k+ CP and walk around with perm life insurance.
I agree, there should be some restriction and at most 2 caballed character for a person.
I don't think that's fair at all. If you have one cabaled character you play 3 hours a week, but I have 3 cabaled characters and play 9 hours a week...there's no difference.
What I see being fair is something like an account system that only exists to apply custom time requirements.
The more characters with whatever parameters we would decide to set you have on your account, the more time you are required to play per week or else you get purged.
This solves the problem of people who have all these characters but don't play them and still lets people who have the time to be active enough and put those rares at risk not be held back to do whatever they feel like doing with their free time.
I believe that there are already some restrictions in place such as you can't have two Elders in two different cabals, and you can't have two toons in opposing cabals.
Saying people have 3 is pushing it. Relatively sure I'm the only person, maybe one other person, with 3 cabaled characters. I know a couple have 2, which is FINE, but very rarely does someone have 3.
2 is more than enough, in my opinion. Especially due to the possibility of hoarding armor on one that would be detrimental for the enemy of the other to have. I second the OP.
Being in more that one Cabal is not what causes the alleged "rare hoarding".
Suiting up multiple Pinnacles is the factor that actually impacts rares.
Having multiple pinnacles is also not the problem. I have atm 18 L50's. Only two are suited up. If anything, they contribute to the rares availability, since it has been said to be related to PC-base size.
I do not like people having 3 cabaled PC because it causes less spots to be available to other players. But we are talking about very active characters. Cabals require more hours loged in than rare purge does.
So I prefer to have this players logged on in cabals, than the possibility of them not playing because they have little to do.
Being the single player on the who list is not a very pleasant feeling.
...you have 18 pinnacles?
What if I told you....she's not the (only) one.
I had two not really in good suits but now only have one and they are still not in a very good suit
Do you try to kill your enemies and take their crap?
Cabals require more hours loged in than rare purge does.
That's not really true.
There's a problem here with bounty bags full of rares being held by innactive characters. Those items are lost forever if an immortal does not purge them by hand.
Also, I am not sure for how long rares sit in (cabal) pits, but I've seen some sit there for a pretty long time.
I would actually be for this system. I generally have one character at 50 or close to it and another to pass the time when I'm bored with the other. This time of year if I am playing generally just one character. Of the two characters I do play at a time only one is ever really wearing anything decent and from what I've been told is crap most of the time anyways. I rarely ever have one or more pieces from quest places or group raid areas. It would probably keep people playing characters much longer as well. Of all of these characters, I don't go for a Cabal most of the time. I've had one character in a Cabal over the last year partly because I get tired of a Cabal and me being beaten like a school girl and partly because I haven't found the right character for me.
If you don't see someone around when you play, this just means one thing - you ain't active enough. So I think you don't deserve your rares 
