I guess it's time

[Mutemutt]

There is really no reason everyone should be entitled to have the best weapon/gear in the game so we can all be equal,relic wouldn't be irreplaceable because not everyone would have it and you can still farm your token to obtain a pretty good weapon but not the best one which if you want you have to work harder. Everything should be proportionate at the effort you put in to obtain it, right now the relic isn't, same can be said for raid (savage) gear.
Right now everyone is just a copy of the player next to him because there is no variety at all and the gear is so easy to obtain that there is really no sense of exclusiveness if everyone is equal, it really kills the purpose of having strong gear because there is really no strong gear but just a standard where everyone needs to adapt, that's why everyone only cares about raising their item level and not about what interesting piece they are wearing.

I'm just not keen on gear lasting for long stretches of time because, for me, that feels like the sense of progress stagnates for long stretches of time. I'm okay with where savage tier gear sits right now, honestly. That's not to say that I'm dead set against trying to make it "better" in some way.

Oh, and I actually think the relic quest is too rewarding for the effort put into, but that's just because I hate that time-gated stuff is anywhere near as rewarding as the merit based gear. I just place little value on things you just grind for; I really see the relic as just another token weapon with a fancy skin and a story tied to it. If I had my way, the nidhogg ex weapon and any other weapon you got from an ex trial in the middle of a raid tier would be better than a relic.

So, lets keep all rewards underwhelming so people are not compelled to strive for such rewards? Sorry, but that seems like a terrible point to make. You should feel the pinch if you pass up on doing the equivalent of a legendary weapon. This whole idea that content should be less important or enticing so you are not compelled to do it creates a self defeating facet to every new patch. Why bother with x, y, or z reward when the gear is underwhelming and can be replaced in a matter of 2-3 months?

That attitude is one of the biggest problems with this game.

What you have to understand is that feeling like I have to grind out content in such a way that it is much worse than boring just because it's very useful for the content I do have an interest in, is actively frustrating for me. I've lost count of how often I've decided to work on the relic because it's actually a better weapon than what I get otherwise, only to literally fall asleep or to become so bored that I play a different game entirely. So yes, I'm happy there is a somewhat viable alternative to the relic grind.

Why do I bother grabbing it now if it'll be replaced 3 months later? Easy. I'm looking to use this gear now, not 3 months after the fact. That there is better gear to grab later is an upside for me as the opposite has a stagnating feel to it.