Segmented Plate - Pyramid Low Tech II what am I missing?

[Ulzgoroth]

The 'fast' model would work in theory but seems exactly the opposite of the needs of mass-issue armor.

Originally Posted by DocRailgun

I think you totally missed the point of what Kromm was saying - which seems to me to have been that sometimes games shooting for realism have poor choices. Not everything has to be optimal. Just because your players see that mail is better than segmented plate isn't relevant. The option is there for players who need it.
Clearly using spells as advantages would be better for a lot of characters, but that doesn't mean that the magic system needs to be 'taken out back and shot'.

Reality doesn't need to be optimized from a gaming white-room perspective is one thing. Concluding that there's no problem with an analysis that implies large swathes of historical people's choices were just plain idiotic on the basis of information that was readily available to them is another...