Originally Posted by
Rufalus
I don't doubt that it could be done faster, but it isn't. At least that's the reason Yoshida gave, that it was only a matter of time before patches slowed down because they are creating a greater number of items than ever before, with more permutations adjusted by hand.
Soon they will add female Hrothgar and increase the number of jobs to 22. Before Hroth and Viera were added they weren't planning on any more jobs because they were already stretched to capacity on the amount they could support in the 3.5 month patch cycle, but demand was enough that they caved in with the concession of skipping hats for those new races. They didn't want to add even more delays by tailoring all headgear to the new shape of those race's heads.
Personally I think it's worth cutting some corners in equipment. Like is it still a big deal to have individual sets for all doh/dol classes each expansion? Most people skip those single class sets to buy the all-classes one. After ARR and 4 expansions, those new designs start to look samey, like the alchemist coats.