you guys went overboard with this new relic

[Kisshu]

Yet it is still the case that even those relics after all of that time and effort were eventually overshadowed by other weapons, standard ones even, and went on to require upgrades to become the most powerful again.

The FFXI relics were introduced with Dynamis, I don't remember the year, but around Chains expansion it was out, that's in 2004. In 2006 with ToAU we got an alternative with the Mythic weapons. It wasn't untill the level cap increase in 2010'ish that we saw weapons better than relic/mythic, and then you could still upgrade relic/mythic to be the best. The grind was extreme back then, but for the best weapon for years to come. Whether it's good or bad game design can be discussed.
FFXI relics and FFXIV relics can't be compared in any way.

[ohmRICE]

This questline feels very rushed for something that supposedly took extra development time...
But hell, I could excuse it if the reward at the end had some redeeming factor for me but it doesn't! The stats on the Machinist's gun aren't that great and have you seen what it looks like?

It's awful.
Absolutely awful.
Like a spray painted nerf gun.

The only positive I'm gonna get out of this is making bank off the HQ turn in items, but I was too lazy to deal with 3.0 crafting tome grinding so that's probably a moot point as well ain't it?

[KaitlanKela]

Yeah, because Everything in FFXIV 3.X isn't re skinned 2.X. Hell, they even added new atmas.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Atma step is for those that did not do Zeta? So, honestly, I was kinda expecting that and it seems fair. It's paying homage to those who did it. I would actually be sad for them if Atma's (or something comparable) weren't in the new relic. And this from me that started playing post HW, so I totally didn't do it and I will totally have to (if I want it)

After reading all of the comments, some salty, all thoughtful, I've come to the conclusion that the grind shouldn't be nerfed, but the weapons themselves need a re-spec'ing and they need to be kept relevant for a long time. The quests to progress them (once you have them) should be kept short, interesting and fun. If we could keep the relics an ilvl tier ahead of concurrent gear, I think that would be ideal. So, SE, get on that.

[Terribad]

After 3.15: Wahhhhhhhhhhh. Relics take too long, I dont want to log in everyday. Fix it pls SE.

It's not that it takes too long, it's that it's not worth the reward. Plus it being outdated as soon as you're done completing it.

[Dante_V]

They aren't going to make the relics above new content ilvl. It just isn't going to happen. Relics will be raid weapon level at the end of each patch cycle otherwise they are just further de-incentivizing raiding which is already gasping for life anyhow. But im fine with the way it is.

[FizzleofHyperion]

Well sadly. This grind is going to be useless since Yoshi Ps gaming mentality is that all these WoW players who are mega casuals are entitled to everything you have just because they pay for a subscription so they deserve everything you have invested tons of time into for half the effort. No wonder they are loosing players. These handouts are becoming a joke with every update.
Somewhere along the way players need to be rewarded stop punishing people for learning things or investing time into this game. Just look at what happened with Alex and the first relic. Why would you bother doing this when its useless in 3 months? It will most likely be nerfed and finally at the end given out for free because a "new" relic is beeing introduced instead of letting your current one grow with you and become something personal.

[Kallera]

After reading all of the comments, some salty, all thoughtful, I've come to the conclusion that the grind shouldn't be nerfed, but the weapons themselves need a re-spec'ing and they need to be kept relevant for a long time. The quests to progress them (once you have them) should be kept short, interesting and fun. If we could keep the relics an ilvl tier ahead of concurrent gear, I think that would be ideal. So, SE, get on that.

(They proceed to NOT get on that)
(You will excuse them regardless)

[KaitlanKela]

I would LOVE some horizontal progression...(

Is there a reason why the horizantal gear couldn't be...crafted? Or maybe from doing the new dungeons released each patch. And the new gear, while being the same ilvl, gives (for example) tanks vit and dps ss and healers crit in exchange for other stats, and in the meantime the Ex primal for the patch has evil tank busters that require the vit tank + heal crit to survive, with a stacking debuff or something that requires the ss on the dps? I think that would work? Is there a problem you forsee that I'm missing? (honestly)

That was the relics can continue to be +10 ilvl, making the Ex primal a little less butt-clenching, for those who are willing to grind. This should also be good for raid composition, I think. Some people would have the highest tier dungeon gear, others the relics, each bringing a unique advantage to the encounter.

[Dante_V]

It's not that it takes too long, it's that it's not worth the reward. Plus it being outdated as soon as you're done completing it.

Then don't do it? At some point it will be customizable to min/max and bis so the investment will pay off. As someone who did it last time it was worth the effort to me and it definitely showed in the dps output i was able to achieve at the time. It was also better than the T13 weapon and had a larger stat budget.

[KaitlanKela]

(They proceed to NOT get on that)
(You will excuse them regardless)

Um, I'm at least making suggestions (several, in fact) and having a conversation. You are...well, I'm not exactly sure what this was supposed to be but I don't think it was constructive.