So the patch notes show that SE has just further centralized Ul'dah.

In addition to most new quests starting there or in Thanalan -- including all materia-related content -- they have the only NPC who can remove materia.

Also there's the "greater rewards when all members are from the same grand company" bit for Bowl of Embers. What's the incentive to join any other grand company? Immortal Flames will be the only option if you want good rewards from Ifrit. And I assume this will be a common practice?

I was personally hoping to join LL but now it seems LL and Grid are just the lesser cousins of Ul'dah.