My guess would be that
MA intends to raise the overall cost of using armor, but will somehow increase return rates in another way to balance this. The result could possibly be making the unlimited high end armors become eco gear and viewed the same way that the imp MK II is. This would make sense if they were doing the same thing with the (L) guns. Who knows though... I'll be happy if I can at least easily get (L) shadow thighs, gloves, and feet.
