I've seen a lot of people echoing this sentiment but to be perfectly honest I can't really say starting equipment has EVER been something I worried particularly about in CRPGs.
It's not like I'm not replacing this shit 30 minutes down the line, anyway.
So, I can see that standpoint in other games, but that's really not an issue in this one. Even with a basic weapon, if you start with the one that you feel your character would use, you're probably going to be using that weapon until you find a magical version, which won't be until the Druid Grove, at the earliest. If I make a fighter that uses a warhammer, which statistically is identical to a longsword, with the exception that it does bashing damage, I'm going to be using that warhammer until I find a magical warhammer. Fighter is actually a perfect example for why I wrote this post in the first place.
Say I create an elven fighter that starts the game with 16 dexterity and 8 Strength. I envision him as a light armor wearing duelist who uses a rapier, but physically he isn't that strong. Then my character starts the game with Scalemail and a longsword.
I'd be doing 1d10-1 damage, because of my low strength score, with an AC of 14 with a stealth disadvantage. Since there's no option to wield the longsword one handed without holding a shield (which is another issue entirely), I don't get the benefit of my dueling fighting style.
Now, if I started with a rapier and leather armor, I would be doing 1d8+5 damage, using my dexterity instead of strength, and benefiting from my dueling fighting style which adds +2 damage when wielding a weapon one handed with no weapon in my off hand. My AC with leather armor would still be 14, however I wouldn't suffer from disadvantage to my stealth checks. Now that may seem like "min-maxing" but if you've ever played Fifth Edition D&D you'd know that you get choices in your starting gear specifically for the reason of having equipment that matches your playstyle.
Basically what I'm getting at is that having the wrong gear on your character can seriously impact your playstyle, and it doesn't make sense that your character starts with a bunch of gear if it's gear that they wouldn't have used to begin with.
As for how I think they should fix it, just give a few options. They don't even have to be great options, as long as it fits the playstyle for your character. Fighters for example could have the option for leather armor, Scale mail, or chainmail. Weapons could be longsword or shortsword. They don't even need to give you the best possible options (like rapier for a DEX character), as long as you have options. I understand that "you'll find weapons in the starting area," but that's also not an excuse for not being able to set your character up the way that they would be at the start of the game. My 9 STR fighter with a high dex and the two weapon fighting style is not going to be swinging a longsword around with two hands.
