No, my own choice to /toss my ilvl gear and go retro 99.0 is my own personal choice, only.
I do not ask SE to change anything, nor do I ask any other players to understand my reasons, or to follow my slightly wobbly footprints in the sand.
Why I am still posting here, and talking about this, is because I know a lot of players who did quit FFXI in 2013~ because they felt ilvl killed a lot of the old areas, and made all jobs a bit too OP. And so I am just here to say, I didn't quit FFXI, I am having a lot of fun playing 99.0 retro game. I'm rocking Meebles gear, MMM gear, VW gear, NNI gear, Magians - all my favourite gears!
If you are one of those people who felt that ilvl was a bit too Hammer Time, you can still find a balance and enjoy the old game areas and old content. You don't have to quit, lol. There's a lot of old areas NMs that are fun to solo on 99.0. and a lot of content that is fun and exciting without ilvl.
I also know people who went retro 75, and locked a new character at 75, using Merits as a lock. They play all the old 75 era stuff. That's cool and all, but I chose to go retro 99.0 because I like the versatility that 99 brings, and the areas it opens up for solo/lowman. I just felt that 119 was too much, and it made me feel like I was a bad person when I kill Lilith Ascendant in 3 seconds. She takes 25~ minutes in 99.0 gear, and she dishes out the punishment too lol.