(I don't know how to make a poll on here >.<, so just reply if you have two cents, because I'm a greedy little !@#$%.)
At either the bottom or the top of a page is a option called "add poll", the rest is self-explainatory.
However, take the Minish Cap and the Four Sword. These aren't equipped, and can only be activated in certain places.
Actually the four sword is still an equipped item, although it needs a duplication pad in order to get more Links. The rod of season's is also an equipped item, but it needs a tree stump to work on the season, otherwise it is similar to a baseball bat.
About the rod of Lumina, it all depends on how you want to use it. If it becomes a part of the sword like in PH than it can't be an equipped item. But it also depends on how you use the elements. If you want it to only show stuff like a lantern (depending on which element you have selected), or automatically react when you walk in a situation, than you don't need to have it as an equipped item. Just use the status menu to select the element. In this case the rod only works if the situation allows it, but the player has no control over it.
You can also assign it to the action key, when an object (like MC's Minish portals) that can interact with the rod is in the right position. This can ensure that you can only use the rod when in a specific situation, but still allow the player to choose whether to use the rod or not.
Using an limited player control for the rod allows you to work with the elements in 2 ways. You can give the player the option to whether choose the element or the element is automatically chosen. To let it react automatically, when you walk in the situation and use it as a guiding lantern, you might want to force the player to choose the element, because the game would become to easy. If it is going to work like the Minish Portals, then the element needs to be chosen automatically depending on the situation.
But if you have elements that effect the world (when the player chooses it) and/or to use it to attack enemies, like the magic arrows from OOT/MM/WW. Or using the rod will cost magic or some other kind of ammunition. Then you need to use it as an equipped item. This results in the player having full control over the use of the rod. The player can activate and deactivate by pressing and/or releasing a button at any time he wishes. Whether the rod has any effect on the world, depends on how objects and the world reacts to the elements. Minish Cap Four Sword can be charged for clones at any time, but clones only are created when walking over a clone pad with a charged sword.
If you use the rod as an equipped item, then you need to give the player the option to choose the element. There are 3 ways of doing this:
1) Have a separate slot for each element. Like the magic arrows in OOT/MM. (Not the masks of MM, because they were each there own item and more could be assigned to a key at a time). The problem is that you need to make space for them in the menu.
2) This leads to the second option. You could use the rod like the ocarina in LA. Once you equip the item from the menu you get a submenu first to choose which element gets assigned to the rod.
3) The third option of choosing an element is like WW's magic arrows. Keeping the bow activated and then pressing L/R button you can cycle through the arrows. For the rod you can keep the rod button pressed to hold out the rod and then use one or two buttons to cycle through the elements.
My preference goes out to an equipped item and the element selection of option 2 and/or 3.
