Not saying this would work or that it is even a good idea, but what if runes, sigils, and all the prefixes (berserker, rabid, cleric, etc.) had the same idea as “dyes”. Once purchased or discovered (via crafting or breaking down items) they are unlocked on that character to use freely. I myself always feel like i’m constantly changing my out my gear based on what builds I want to play with and it gets expensive. If “better” builds are based on how much gold you have and how expensive the runes and sigils are to get for those builds, you basically invest into a build and are locked into using it because of the cost regardless if it gets nerfed/changes/you change your mind. Why should any build be based around how much gold you are willing to spend anyways, you should have the creative freedom to experiment freely (asurans would agree). IF those items are unlocked to use freely, it opens the doors to having fun with build experimenting which is what the original Guild Wars had going for it but by doing so with a massive amount of skill combinations you could change. I have used PvP to test out builds for free but its not the same situations you face in PvE/WvWvW/Fractals etc. and there is runes, sigils and armor stats you don’t have access to in PvP that are in PvE as well.
Also I feel like the skins (not the items with stats) you earned from being at the living stories or events in the game should be the same way, these are cosmetic items that you earned by participation, why are they limited to a one time use? They should be unlimited to use creatively on all your characters for fun. I liked the way the original Guild Wars did it where if you were at a event and earned a mask you could always go back and get another one at any time once it was unlocked. What do other players think of this?
So it was in GW1 pvp. The unlocks were could be done via pve, but the infinite was only available through pvp which was 100% separate from gw1 pve.
Dyes weren’t even character bound in gw1 though, 1 use per vial of dye…got ugly fast on sets of armor
Event items had a different system where you had to be at the event, (Historical Achievements much) and several years in they finally added a vendor who you could show the item to (hats in gw1) and rebuy any you showed from thereafter. Here they have the claim spot for radiant/hellfire/zenith and they can look at your Historical achievements to see which metas you finished, rather than having you run around and chase some weird random merchant. Would have been better if they carbon copied the idea of Nick the Traveler from GW1 and just renamed him, rather than tying in all the old stuff (the very best of which wasn’t even achievement gain, it was black lion chest stuff…before any notion of claim tickets was added, and the jetpack was luck of the gods rng from the one temporary dungeon that they smashed into 2 junk fractals…who skip the best parts of the molten facility i might add)