Yeah, they changed to ilevel because they couldn't raise the level cap anymore but still wanted to provide everyone more powerful gear and all that. They revamped the entire system as a result.
Literally the worst and most boring system ever
I mean yeah you need escalation but I would rather see Sideways upgrades, more wierd quirky equipment, more modifiers, risk/reward builds that expand strategy etc....
Destiny and Dark Souls kind of handled gear interesting ways despite being entirely different games in different genres.
When it comes to RPG mechanics i like to have the emphasis on Fun, Mechanics, Strategy and effing personality. Like how the gear in Monster Hunter reflects the monster it came from.
They did this in 11 with many interesting pieces of gear (not the least of which the infamous Kraken Club)
I realize that 11 got so huge that it had its limits and clearly there is a limit to how many quirks and mechanical anomalies you can throw in.... still I appreciate the effort people put into making RPG mechanics interesting
I never likes the opposite approach that Diablo would take where everything is all about hitting caps and maximizing your performance threshold.