i made a new char from scratch and have been playing it on and off for about a week i think
i wear a tunic over mail (36/7), mail mittens, khergit boots and weild a sword of war or flamberge usually and constantly make money
yesterday i bought Mail and Plate (50/18) and Mail boots and had about 3k gold left. Even after 10 rounds, some of them x1, i could still wear the armour but decided to switch when i got to 1-2k
Upkeep is not game breaking - not saying it cant be improved (how im not sure) but right now it's pretty ok.
If you can see no point in playing because you are already earning your x1 then i think you're missing the point too.
I have most fun when playing with people on ts, usually same faction but any1 is welcome to come on Fallen ts when they're playing warband.