I think Azury's point was that relative gains appeals to a primal urge within us all, or at the very least some of us all, and hence an MMO that doesn't want to exclude a huge portion of human beings ought to satisfy that.

As ashamed as I am to admit, I have had a couple server-firsts in FFXIV, and I actually did enjoy lording it over other people, but at the same you have to realise that something should be fun in and of itself and not just when comparing the rewards you got. And it's a bit ignoble to derive your pleasure primarily from the leverage it gives you over everyone else.

From a marketing standpoint it makes sense to include relative gains if it is true that humans enjoy this, but its a bit sleazy.

Anyways, I'm not sure I understand what this has to do with gear becoming obsolete every 3 months?