Srs bsns question:

Why do people want r9 items?

cus it looks better. more intresting is why ppl want r7-8, cus theyre rare. in 95% of situations req doesnt matter, in some Pvp builds it does tho

thank you.
just started returning to guild wars

so they don't have to spec 10+ in the attribute or because they think its cool

Sell low req, keep and customize high req.

merch high req, keep and customize low req. ;-)

depends on what u personally prefer...
if u want money sell low req keep high req,
if u want nice weapons and dont care about money... keep nice low reqs and sell high req.

cheers

allow me to expand on dr love's response. This goes to the OP, those of us who know the ropes will just think 'duh!'

Lets say you have 2 max damage swords, one requires 9 swordsmanship (r9), the other requires 12 swordsmanship (r12). The r9 requires I invest 48 of the total 200 attribute points in order to take full advantage of that sword. The r12 requires 97 attribute points. So with the r9, I still have 152 attribute points I can spread into other attributes (Strength, Tactics, or attributes of your secondary profession), where as with the r12, I only have 103 attribute points left.

So that's why low req weapons are better.

Most people never invest lower than 12 attribute in their weapon. The exception is paragons and rangers, who need Command/Wilderness Survival. You need Rank 12 in your weapon to do 100% of listed damage regardless. You can test this with Keen chop / wild blow.

Why Req9? Because that's what PvP weapons are. And if you run 12+1+1/10+1/8+1 or 11+1+1/11+1/8+1 then 9 is the breakpoint (12+1+1/11+1/6+1 so 7 is the other).

Low req really only applies to shields. You don't want low req weapons unless it is for rarity/vanity (and maybe divine favor/soul reaping/fast casting etc. wands and staves since they always do 100% listed damage as long as req is met).

The caveat here is weakness. If weakness is applied and you don't have 1 more than the attribute, focii will lose +6 energy. Staves don't have this problem. Weakness on weapons doesn't matter since you're going to be doing 66% less damage regardless.