Late to the discussion on staffs, but here are my thoughts on them in a nutshell.

I think what's tethering us to those godawful, outdated staffs is that they are just too damn good. Period. Not even being sarcastic. We got options in the Magian weapons, but even 39 levels later we can't readily replace those lvl 51 staffs except for.... drumroll... More staffs(magian this time).

Sure, we have the option to have M.Acc swords, or even MAB swords, even dual-wield them and mix and match, but the problem is that even the NQ elemental staffs are STILL better, because they offer both M.Acc and potency to each element. I could carry two of either sword to outdo one or the other, but can't match the full output of the staff. Not to mention how much versatility we'd lose by subbing NIN or DNC just to dual-wield in the first place.

I don't think SE had thought about future prospects much when they put out those elemental staffs. No lvl 51 piece of gear should be that good. Hindsight is a ***ch.