I guess it's time

[Claymore65]

While I've been very positive overall, I don't mean to say there's no room for improvement. In fact, there is plenty. Content like Diadem could use a revamp, and I think there is a place for more varied dungeon designs, although I'll admit the "Hallway + bosses" dungeon design is a direct response to speedrunners, since it seems like many players would skip the optional areas anyway. I would love to see some more meaningful character customization personally as well. I still think the game is in a good place overall, but that doesn't mean I don't wan to see it evolve or improve over time.

I just disagree with some of the suggestions here. For example, I don't think "Open World dungeons + NMs" is the "end all be all" solution. I actually much prefer instanced dungeons to waiting for monsters to pop on the map, just as I prefer easier, quicker travel times. Other players, however, prefer long, very dangerous open-worlds that require a party to travel through (a la FFXI). Neither of us are wrong for our preferences, but unfortunately the game is going to have difficulty satisfying both of those urges. I feel like Diadem has the potential to serve as a "Dangerous Open World Adventure", but it would need some improvements first. For example, if it's supposed to stay dangerous for a long period of time, it should probably have some kind of ilevel synch on it or at least an optional one. I also heavily disagree with things like bringing back the Elemental Wheel, since it will just lead to inevitable balance issues down the road. While it's fun in a single player game, it's less fun to exclude jobs purely based on the elemental traits of a fight. I also find the current grinding pace is pretty casual and new player friendly, with players able to feel relevant in newer content without putting in a ton of hours. For example, I like how leveling in FFXIV doesn't take too long, and I always feel like I can get a good bit done even in a small amount of time.

Namely, the topic of "Longevity" is a very tricky subject. Some players would love to grind 3 months to have a weapon that lasts 3 years, while others prefer much more frequent gear upgrades. It seems like, at least for a lot of people, the "longevity" of a piece of content is literally only tied to what gear it gives, and nothing else. That's certainly a possible problem, whether because people don't find the content fun enough to clear at least once without heavy awards, or because the rewards aren't good enough. There probably do need to be some improvements in the itemization structure, perhaps by slowing down the rate of ilevel increases, but once again that's a tricky problem to solve. If people go too long in between gear upgrades, they'll likely get bored and feel like they have nothing to strive for. If it's too soon (as some in this thread believe), then people think it's not worth getting the gear. It's a tricky conundrum, and one that perhaps the Devs will need to consider in the future.

They could make it better by making the relic available from the start and not one patch later, it would be relevant by then.

That's something I definitely agree with. Relics should come out around the same time as ilvl increases. Ideally the Relic would be a much slower way to acquire a Raid Quality weapon without actually raiding, while Raid weapons should be acquired much quicker. It's still going to be tough to balance the timing between the two though, without making the Relic too much of slog.