I came here just to give my 2 cents on the subject. I think there are some good points being made, but some caveats that should be thrown out there. In DCS' current state I would say that persistent wear doesn't make as much sense, but I wouldn't go so far to say that it is a terrible idea. As someone has pointed out this 'option' would make far more sense in a dynamic campaign environment. In fact it becomes almost necessary.
Since this is a Digital Combat Simulator, maintenance should be included, at least at some level. In the real world, maintenance is hugely critical to combat effectiveness. Just ask any maintenance troop and they'll tell you.. It doesn't matter how awesome your plane flies or how good your pilots are if the thing rarely gets off the ground due to shoddy maintenance or poor design to begin with.
Considering the emphasis that DCS places on high levels of detail, I think some version of persistent wear will (hopefully) be implemented.
Just an example of how this could (should) come into play would be the Bf 109. Its awkward and very pilot unfriendly landing gear was designed the way it was for a reason. Part of it was for weight/complexity reasons, but part of it was for ease of maintenance. Only two aspects of that design are adequately represented/simulated in DCS' current state and that is the light weight and the pain that it is to taxi/land and takeoff. Quick turn around time and/or ease of maintenance is not.
But, hopefully sometime in the future persistent wear (simulated maintenance considerations) will be implemented with some form of dynamic campaign.
Just my 2 cents..
