I can actually see why they would cap so you can\'t wear an armor too far above your own level at all
see there are a lot of gamers who don\'t realise this but lvl actually reflects a lot more on your character than is often emphasized... as a lvl one fighter, you have pretty much just passed your training, or squirehood, if you have even passed it. you are still fairly small and weak comparatively to your older peers.
now imagine a squire, small, weak, putting on the heavy leather padding, a chainmail hauberk, (which weighs about 150 lbs., I know from experience) and tops it off with a suit of platemail.
the poor guy wouldn\'t be able to move at all, and there is a possibility, although the leathers and chainmail protect him somewhat against it, that the plate would crush him.
the same suit of armor on a seasoned veteran barely even restricts his movements
I\'m a bit of a medievil history buff, I don\'t know everything about it, but medievil warfare has always intrigued me.