Add a unique stat to the new Relics, so they are worth obtaining. Enough is enough.

[Kallera]

Despite if people believe it or not, this game does somewhat have slight horizontal like options for gear. You can either obtain esoteric gear to upgrade to 210 or you can get raid gear drops. You can do Diadem or raiding. You can do dungeons or Alexander(Normal). You can do Void Ark. If you want to bring up the BiS argument, just to let you know BiS is just as relevant for horizontal as it is vertical. That won't change at all.

That 3-4 month wait for patches will definitely be longer if developers have to put more work into gear structure with a horizontal system. Pick your poison.

So...
Eso or raiding
Diadem or raiding
Dungeons or raiding(normal mode)
Void ark(24 man raiding)...(or raiding)

The way you put it doesn't make our current choices very...appealing.