@Ramzi I have to disagree with your last point, honestly. I mentioned this in a previous thread, the one about the dearth of low-level armor in the AH, but it's not that hard to get the materials yourself and ask someone to craft them. You don't have to even know people; a shout generally will get you a crafter who appreciates a simple tip of even 10k just to help you out by making something. I just had a Hauby crafted last night for me after grabbing materials, and even in the end I couldn't get Darksteel Chains/Sheets so I bought a stack of ingots and brought the appropriate crystals to the crafter, who crafted them and then the Hauby. We even had a break the first time (always awkward breaking a synth 30+ levels below you...) and he was nice enough to pay to replace the materials lost. In the end I tipped him to make up for the materials he bought and a little extra as a thank you.

The point of this story is not that you're stuck with "level up with no armor, or less effective armor." You can get it crafted by speaking with crafters, bringing them materials, and asking them to take a minute of their time to craft quickly. Most don't mind, and if you include a tip, they're appreciative. Besides that, there's also FoV chests, quests for things like low-level JSE, etc. I've leveled my mule's NIN to 50, and WAR and DNC subs to 49 in the last week or so taking it casually and using gear I've gotten from FoV, a few AH purchases, some requested crafts, and JSE, not to mention weapons from RoE. Items are not in short stock if you put some effort into it.

Back on topic with the OP's request, I think a little more heads up would have been nice, but at the same time we should be appreciative we got it. People have been making their way through the slog to 100/110 without them, or any other form of synth leveling. Now we have Ionis for increased skillup rate/reduced synth breaks, and this campaign was just a nice boon to encourage people to start crafting again. I missed it personally because I was at work, was hoping to level my mule's GS skill, but I just shrugged and moved on. It's really useful for higher levels, but it's not mandatory by a long shot. Plus, as someone mentioned above, materials didn't soar for a longer period when people started overpricing stuff used for high-level synths that would have to be bought in bulk.