A case of chronic gear imbalance

[Cordie]

If there aren't lockouts some people will just hardcore grind them then just unsub.

One small oversight here, since current status is "you can grind tomes all you want, you are stuck at i260".

Both raider and casual players only need to do expert roulette for 12-15 mins a day for only 5 days a week.

With the caveat that a week of grinding affords you a fraction of a -10 ilevels piece , on average, instead of practically 4 pieces guaranteed/week through the raid. And I won't even discuss the weapon.

What's the point of having higher item level ...

Again, the point of higher item level for Savage? Did I miss something?

Also balance implies competition ...

I'm afraid balance only implies equivalence of quantities; here, time and gear item-level.
The imbalance lies in the skewed relation between the two in the two ways of acquiring gear.