I won't claim to speak for anyone but myself here, but I don't mind the lack of equipment upkeep. That said, I think they should have put it in.

HOWEVER, having equipment "Break" and become un-useable until it is repaired should not be included. While I understand the argument for realism, I feel that having things break is unnecessary.

In my ideal world, you would still have the item quality modifiers (Fine, Superior, Exquisite, Flawless, Epic and Legendary), and then you would have how well-kept the weapon/item is.

So, for example, a Superior Iron Sword could be brought to a grindstone and sharpened, giving it a bonus to damage, that would slowly go away with each hit, until it is back to its normal damage. Then, if you continued to use it, it would become dull, taking a penalty to damage, but not breaking.

Armor could be done in a similar fashion - your typical Iron briastplate could be Reinforced (giving a bonus to armor), and slowly get worn down by hits to its normal value, before becoming Cracked (or some other term), giving it a penalty to its armor rating.