Speaking on color-coded items, I don't think that the color-coding is really the issue. Even if they got rid of it, that wouldn't lead to them changing the logic behind their item design. I'm not a big fan of how they've approached items overall, but the color-coding doesn't bother me since, unlike quite a few things I do take issue with, it's very clearly an out-of-world feature, not something that's in-world that requires us to suspend our disbelief in any way. I think that if they changed everything else about their itemization, then color-coding wouldn't really detract all that much. It's only because of the other, bigger issues that it becomes another straw breaking the camel's back.
And etruscan, I too wishyou a speedy recovery. Take care!
