I'm in aggreement of the OP. I'm a long time ffxi player from 2004-2012 (with breaks) I've been thru the mass hnm stuff. That was asinine. At times the hnm or nm wouldn't pop till about 12am-3am est. Or even later. I recall when i did brown belt quest. I stayed up 24 hours just to get ToD.
Only to have to wake up @ 6am the next day to try and claim it. To me, that isn't fun.

I'm far from a casual gamer/player. I typically can play ffxi for 12+hrs a day. (jobless atm friend paying my account) But really waiting around for a NM all day is dull.

I got tired of it and actually suggested SE change the time spawns to how Abyssea is now. The only time pop nm I liked was the 2 in the Highlands. Where u needed new moon or full moon and 00:00-05:00. I'm not caring if I get drop or not. I rather get a chance to actually SEE the nm in question. To date... i never even see most the hnm cuz their pop times never fit my schedual. Which is a shame since i've been playing since Ps2 launch NA side.