I was thinking that changing clothing shouldn’t be instantaneous but have a don and doff timer something like crafting.
The reason for this is to prevent having virtual infinite armor. Because if you have two sets of armor, If one wears apart, then you can swap sets, then repair the other while using your good set. It also prevents swapping clothing while climbing in cold regions and the option of handcuffs which would have a very, long doff time unless you can lock pick it.
Tedium does not make a good game mechanic.
Besides, if you swap armor cuz it’s broken, you need to in some cases open the inventory, then drag and drop the repair kit around (that is if the armor is at 2%, but if it’s completely broken it’s even more of a tedium cuz you have to lug it’s base materials around) That alone is already a doff. While your rummaging around in the inventory, someone can kill you.
Sure, someone can place a shield into the hotbar, then swap to a second one once the first is broken, and you repair it. This is especially useful for the chitin shield as it simply uses chitin for repairs. But keep in mind, this only words on BASE versions of armor.
You can’t do that with exceptional or flawless versions.
You are probably right. It might be a niche mechanic for RP, so it might be better as a mod then.