[quote=Frizan]I'll just reiterate a post I remember from old-guild about "realistic" things in games/rps"

Realistically.
Undead.
Wat."

In a game like Dark Souls, where the purpose is actually to get the player to have fun and be satisfied with their progress, instead of being punishingly difficult, balance is of the utmost importance, and "realism" has limited place within its world.[/quote]

Just cause there some fantasy elements doesn't mean all sense of realism is thrown out the window.
For example Walking Dead, zombies are not realistic. But they don't use it as an excuse to ignore survival basics, they still need to gather resources and survive none the less.

It's all about trying to stay realistic according to the confines of your fantasy world. It's not all or nothing, you can be realistic in some aspects and not realistic in others.

[quote=Frizan]Going back to "how the game is really meant to be played", the developers put in a level system for a reason: For you to level up. They want you to level up as you progress through those areas. So in later areas, they obviously intend for you to be a higher level than people in, say, the Undead Parish, and NOT be able to invade them with your +15 Infinity Blade of Pwnage.[/quote]

Obviously levels main design purpose was to level up.
But the invasions are also not purely random, there are scripts to fight people of ______ level range. 
And it is coded in a way that low level players are going to get invaded by higher level people, while high level players tend to get invaded by weaker people. 
That was a design choice, which once again resembles a Prey Vs Predator deal. Not a completely fair/balanced fight.

If it was meant to be completely fair/balanced the level ranges would not be so extreme, nor would they favor the stronger player so much. But it is still fair in the sense that if the new player is smart and skilled enough they can pull of a victory.

[quote=Frizan]Besides, that "No patch, fair game!" argument is just...ugh. You know what else they didn't patch out? Pivot backstabs, which are performed by obfuscation of the lock-on system. Pivot backstabs are backstabs you would never be able to pull off otherwise due to your character's turning speed.

Not only that, but then comes in the problem of patching something like that. How the hell do you "patch" the game in such a way that you can stop people from taking certain weapons to certain areas? Without some kind of level restriction on areas(there's that reference to leveling up again), it can't be done.[/quote]

Not liking a feature isn't the same as it being something that should of been patched but wasn't.

And patching the item acquire system is rather simple, enforce railroading. 
All those items are obtainable early because the game is more open world, where if you smart (and use the master key, which you can start with) you can reach those spots early.

They would not of had such inter-connected areas, or given master keys if that wasn't an intended design choice.
Also note it's not as simple as say "Take two steps to the left and boom, OP item".

It takes effort, skill and smarts to maneuver around the stronger enemies to obtain said items earlier. It's a risk vs reward system.