The relic weapon quest is OBSCENELY boring...

[Tiggy]

Know what else was fairly casual? The Hildebrand storyline, and yet it managed to not be skull-crushingly boring.

Because you're ignoring the obvious to try and make some sort of misguided point. The hildebrand story line was intended to be consumed quickly and the weapon was in no way intended to be consumed quickly. These two pieces of content are not similar enough in intent to make this comparison. "Casual" is not enough.

People need to step back and remember that this quest line was added solely to give casual players something to do and as an alternative means to get a powerful weapon. It serves those points perfectly. You're expecting it to be something it was never meant to be, and then acting disappointed. Your expectations are out of whack what with what the quest was intended to do.