I agree that the current relic step is better than the Novus step.
I did a crit/det relic and it was waaaaay more expensive than getting the crafted items for the anima weapon.
I even like the current step more than the Nexus Step since I felt like my daily progress was more noticeable compared to light farming since I would get at least one new item every day whereas I would often go several days without reaching a new tier of light.

As for getting high end weapons without bothering with high end content I'd say it's just that the appeal of RPGs for a lot of people is seeing their characters get stronger which in XIV means an ilevel increase. Not everyone plays videogames to challenge themselves.