The lack of 'uncapped' slow grinds is a large part of why this game became popular. If you're looking for a game that will allow someone with a lot of freetime to continuously obtain stats, this just isn't that game.
This is a very strange, self-limiting mindset. Crafted gear in 14 is stepping stone gear; It's intended to help you immediately reach the minimum entry requirement for new content. You don't even have to interact with anyone to get it, you just click a few prompts on the marketboard.
There's a lot more to player progression than just getting +1 str from a ring. This game is way way more skill-oriented than gear-oriented, and there is ALWAYS room for progression and improvement when it comes to player ability. It feels like you're tying way too much value to obtaining gear; Again, this just isn't that kind of game really.
This games content release schedule is so slow that the only cases where 'falling behind' even matters is if you're the tiny percentage of players trying to do week 1 Ultimate. If you get BiS early, you end up sitting on that same gearset for months upon months until something new to progress even gets added to the game.
