As Voidwatch has gradually lost popularity, heavy metal plates have become increasingly difficult to acquire. There aren't any inherent issues with currency being tied to one event, but considering the movement toward low-man and solo content, I think an additional means of acquiring plates would be beneficial. Even in comparison to other materials required for creating relic/mythic weapons, HMPs' means of acquisition are exceedingly restrictive and reliant on alliance content. For example:
Dynamis Currency:
Enter Dynamis once per day (no fee or other restrictions) and farm until you time out. It is extremely easy to accumulate ~200 currency per run minimum.
Alexandrite:
Enter Salvage once per day (fee of 500 Imperial Standing, which is easily acquired through any number of methods) and farm until you time out. Again, ~100 alexandrite per run is a very obtainable goal.
Heavy Metal Plates:
Join a Voidwatch shout/group IF there happens to be one forming (or you wish to form one yourself) IF you have voidstones. You then have a chance of receiving either one plate or a pouch of plates per pop depending on the NM at ~30% and ~6% drop rates, respectively. This is the best case scenario.
However, if you have run out, you have to trade voiddust for voidstones. At this point, another currency (allied notes, conquest points, etc.) must be farmed and exchanged for voiddust, which then must be exchanged for voidstones. After that, the above process is undertaken... for a chance at either a plate or a pouch.
Suggestions:
Add Heavy Metal Pouches to High-Tier Notorious Monsters within Abyssea (79 perfect pouches of 19 plates each are required to meet the 1500 plate requirement); add single plates to low-tier Notorious Monsters within Abyssea. Not guranteed drops, of course. What little appeal Voidwatch has remaining could be maintained by adding pouches as possible drops to all NMs, were the Abyssea route to be taken.
I apologize for the lengthy post. It's just been bothering me for a while now that making a relic or even a mythic weapon is cheaper and more time-efficient than buying or farming one stage of an empyrean weapon, given current prices. Alexandrite is plentiful and can be acquired solo. Ancient currency is plentiful and can be acquired solo. Plates are scarce and cannot be acquired solo except under very specific circumstances. This is something that I would like to see addressed if possible. Thank you.