I didn't watch the... entire episode you posted - is it pertinent to this thread, though? Is it possible a gif would have been acceptable? LOL...23 minutes.
Alright, I am one of those people that RP's changing into and out of armor all the time in big long word smithed emotes. I kind of have to agree that it's cheesing to swap armor and cloth just to cast spells, and I used to do that all the time, but we don't really have spell caster armor and it's frustrating to be locked out of your spells if you're taking a defensive position at the front, so I understand that too. I started to emote taking the breast plate off during rests in order to relax, because I remember in SCA how difficult it was to sit down in my full plate. Also, if you rest without armor on you heal more hit points in case you didn't know (As well as with a bedroll and a fire going, that's like the trifecta of recovery).
I would like a timer personally because I think a lot of people could potentially overlook the RP of what it means to wear full plate, as in caring for it or putting it on. I can put it on by myself, though, and I think a few capable warriors would be able to as well. We play hero's after all, and I am just a nerd.
The only hold up I can see is if the script fires every time you cycle an appearance in crafting, like EA said. That said, will it make it less likely anyone would take their armor off again? Sit at tables and eat and role play in full plate and a helm with your shield out? I think it's just as cheesy to lounge around in your armor unless it is somehow comfortable, like maybe chain and a gambeson, or hard leather.
It's not impossible depending on the type of armor, the material it's made from, or the type of lounging environment, but it's mostly illogical. Like the characters in Game of Thrones all had different kinds of armor and thus different armor wearing experiences, and you can observe them in it and how difficult it would be for Jaime to sit in his full kingsguard armor vs how easy it is to sit in John Snow's get up.
The real conversation to be had is, when you try to regulate in any official manner the timeframe in which you can 'switch' armor, on grounds of immersion and roleplay, the sooner people are just going to make suits of full plate a simple chest piece model with all-cloth elsewhere, and claim they just throw on their chestpiece whenever they need to. You can supposedly fire a Crossbow four times in six seconds, and you can fire a flintlock pistol once every six seconds. It's clear some things here aren't realistic, or immersive to their immediate historical counterparts, and that's OK. The only time I disdain someone changing into armor, is when they do it without emoting in the middle of public, as though they
didn't just perform a social faux pas. But I'm not concerned with people who are in PvP situations and their opponent is trying to time it when they're not in armor, because in NWN, Plate Armor isn't
really plate armor. Plate armor is supposed to make you like an armored tank, IRL, with virtually no way to be killed except with specialized tools.. Or getting exhausted and stabbed through the visor. In NWN, not only is it not that, but if you build your character as a DEX character, you get
greater protection by level 20 than someone in Plate Armor. I'm content with the opinion that while some things can break immersion, yes, 'regulating' the time in which it takes to switch armors just creates more issues for a relatively minor and metagamey issue, which is, people don't like ganking people out of armor, just for them to turn invisible, switch armor, and reappear behind them saying, 'Nothing personell, kid.'
