It's not a farce. It's an important facet of MMOs, creating player interdependence and decision making opportunities.
Do I need more of this item? Do I farm it myself over several days or buy part of what I need from other players? Do I forego even getting that item and settle for getting something of lesser quality/value instead?
At least with the timed node system, you know you'll be able to get predictable quantities at known intervals. Would you prefer WoW's system where nodes are competitive and the high end materials are from nodes that are very rare spawns so not only are the chances of coming across a node very small but another player beating you to it means you lose out?
It would not stabilize the markets in any form nor does it give more players access. Everyone has access right now by simply picking up the required job and leveling/gearing it to what's needed to collect that material. It would instead crash markets as the material became so easy to obtain that there is no point in buying from other players.
As for watching and waiting for a node to spawn, the timers are out there if you don't want to set your in game alarm. No need to sit around waiting on it to spawn. It's not uncommon for someone to say "need to grab a timed node, brb" in the middle of a hunt train and they're back with the train without missing out on more than one or two kills because they were making use of those timers to go when the node spawns instead of waiting around.
