On my server it would have cost me about 2 million gil to purchase the HQ gear necessary to get perception up past 565.

Lucky me -- HQ Adamantite Ore only costs 18k each ... you go figure out which way Square Enix is teaching folks to complete a quest.

The level 50 quest was waaaaay simpler to do with level 47-49 gear. You didn't need the Miner HQ gear set to complete it.

[I have some extremely nice friends on my server who are master crafters who provided me with the Adamantite ore AND much better gear this morning ... with perception just at 565 + perception food I managed to get three HQ Adamantite off the first attempt on the node. The End-Game should begin after the level 60 quest, not during ... Just saying].