There’s a time for both tbh. If you want to just fuck around then items and stuff are a lot of fun. But if you’re playing from a competitive mindset many of these mechanics get in the way of the parts of the game they love the most. In fact, I think my experience playing without items made me more effective with them when I played with people that wanted them turned back on.
The important thing is that you play the rule set everyone playing will have fun with. That’s why the customization of rules has always been pretty in depth.