A possible suggestion: Add an item evaluation section to wiki pages that talk about pieces of equipment. Ideally, it would be a subsection that you would click to expand (so people just interested in checking something on the wiki don't have to deal with a big long list). Players can then edit the evaluation section to add their opinion of the item, and this would provide a way to accumulate information that might be useful in rebalancing equipment (if/when such a thing occurs).

Edit: This will also hopefully cut down on the number of people asking "What sort of gear should I get?" if even some fraction go check on the Wiki.