I don't like nor am interested in doing the gear-treadmill. (I'm not asking gear to be handed to me. I just dislike the power-creep it brings and as more dungeons get added new players have to drudge through the then old and abandoned dungeons to play catch up. I just dislike the gear-treadmill as a system of progression).

The way Guild Wars 2 does it is: You can get the basic max level gear relatively easy (think relic or darklight) but the upgrades are minor in terms of stats but still take a long time to get. The real end-game in GW2 is getting awesome looking cosmetics from the new dungeons that come out. I think FFXIV would do well to at least implement some awesome looking things that would take months of grinding to obtain. As opposed to the stupid luminary things that are normal looking tools with a decal on them.