Don't be a munchkin and wear a barbarian helmet? Also, Kuyak is not a barbarian armor.
Well, Like i said,
I'm not your munchkin, cuz I DO use the historically correct helms qwith my armor often enough.
depends on your definition of 'barbarian'...?
I mean thats a very undefined term, that essentially means originally for/from the greeks, anyone who is not part of Mediterranean high culture, and for the christians everyone who is not of a Abrahamic religion dominated society.
Truth be told, there really isnt much in the way of 'barbarian armor'.
Thing is though, people adapt it and other pieces piece-meal to make their own personal or even clan look, with no other interest than a fiction, rather than a strict adherance to history.
I disagree about saying the Kuyak is definitely not a barbarian armor,
our Kuyak models are based on a couple metal plates they found in the ground, with no real indicator of how they were attached to the leather (accept for a couple holes in the plates), and no indicator that they were part of an state supplied army via agricultural surplus. Plus, 'barbarian' is a shitty term that is basically snobbishness towards foreigners that you deem not as civilized as thou, but, I was using it in the 'modern fictional' sense, which is still defined by individual perception of what is, and is not 'barbarian'.
I agree with your sentiment for myself, and how I load out, but, if everyone stuck to wearing only the appropriate./uniformed look, we would see alot less variation, and thus, alot less uniqueness.
I do agree though, wearing a kuyak and a heavy helmet strikes me more like min-maxing, than respect for the cultural pieces, but the kuyak in our game
is a speculation, not a historical piece like the gothic plate etc.
IN FACT, its arguable, if you put an early 13th century full/bucket helm with it like the topfhelms, it might be very like WESTERN early heavy armors that were transitioning from mail to plate/partial plate,/ fyrd high level individually owned armor BEFORE the widespread use of the standardized surcoats/gambisons, that we havent found an example of yet in the west, because some of the other things like a brigantine did the same job, but better, and its reminents meanwhile got used for some other metal consuming project in the mean time.
Also, whether we like it or not, the kuyaks get alot of use by non-historic fantasy types, because they look rough, and have good numbers. If there was more in that range for selection, by those doing Viking/Rus/'barbarian', etc, that wasnt Rus, well then they wouldnt get as much use with 'artistic license'. But as it is right now, there isnt much else in those number ranges that are an optional acceptable look for those that are doing the 'barbarian thing' available to buy for use, and still conform
with the game mechanics of loading yourself out in a competative manner. So until theres some more options that look equally rough and barbaric, and competative with someone who says 'Oh I'm rping milanese/late Western etc, so I get everything thats competative, now put that leather hat on scrub, and die to game mechanics that dont take into account, true mobility and fatigue!' this is what your going to get.