I guess a more elegant solution would be a warning popup along the lines of :
"You have equipped Spiteful Spirit but your Curses attribute is below 16. Are you sure you want to leave this Outpost? (Y/N)"
...which would be a nice addition along with the Hand-Holder NPCs and other warning dialogs I hear they are implementing right now, such as:
"You are about to sell a Godly Mursaat Hammer to Arnaud (Merchant). Are you sure you want to continue? They are worth Hell of a lot more in Lion's Arch right now."
</almost but not quite entirely unlike serious>
Babysitting NPC's for the win! I've had enough of this "thinking for myself" crap!