A case of chronic gear imbalance

[AmeliaVerves]

So you are unhappy about the fact that you get items that are not as good as the ones raiders get?

But how do you want to explain that? Headless running content that don't need any skill at all should give you the same ilvl as savage content? And you consider that being fair? o.O
I say it is not. Raiders spend a lot of time learning hard content and clearing it. (I am not talking about world 1st and stuff, but about the majority of raiders, who are waaaaaay more casual.)
You are entering random dungeons that are so easy it is almost a shame they appear in "Expert" roulette and you will get upgrade material from the Mhach raids, which are not any harder at all... You are not skilled enough/ don't have the time/ motivation (whatever) to raid? Well, I guess you have to wait a little longer then for you ilvl270, but you will get it in the end, so where is the problem at all?

[Cordie]

So you are unhappy about the fact that you get items that are not as good as the ones raiders get?

I am unhappy with being consistently served inferior versions of the current top-tier set regardless of the time and effort I am willing to put into grinding.

[...] And you consider that being fair?

Yes, I do consider it fair, since the savage raids already give more gear-set customization options, BiS set items, not to mention glamours and mounts.
I think this alone should and does suffice to cover any special-snowflake syndrome of the raiding community.

[Niwashi]

But how do you want to explain that? Headless running content that don't need any skill at all should give you the same ilvl as savage content? And you consider that being fair? o.O

Well, to be fair a fully upgraded relic should be far and away the best weapon in the game, as it requires far more effort to earn. But I think most players would settle for simply being equal, with just a slight benefit that's due to its customization.

[Cordie]

Well, to be fair a fully upgraded relic should be far and away the best weapon in the game, as it requires far more effort to earn.

Sadly, so true.. and the reason I'm avoiding the relic quest at the moment, since I've seen this play out over and over again in all patches since 2.5 (I have not seen what happened before that but I can make an educated guess).. Come next patch, the relic will still be at i260.
It seems they are set to deter players from grinding for their equipment, in favour of pushing the instant gratification content -raids, savage, trials (to the extent they are of any use).

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Sadly, so true.. and the reason I'm avoiding the relic quest at the moment, since I've seen this play out over and over again in all patches since 2.5 (I have not seen what happened before that but I can make an educated guess).. Come next patch, the relic will still be at i260.

There are two possibilities. One, or two, more HW Relic steps.

If there is only one, they may indeed withhold it until 3.55. But, that one will both be something of a doozy, and bring the weapon to i275, same as savage level.

If there are two, then there will be one with 3.5, though whether it brings it to i265 or i270 remains to be seen. Then the 3.55 step will be the last one, bringing it to i275.

Their pattern of "new model, glow" suggests there will be two more relic steps. We just got the glow, so we are due for a new model step then a glow step. Though they may simply expand upon the glow if there is only the one additional step coming to us.

[Cordie]

Thing is, in their effort to downgrade equipment acquired via grinding they have made item rarity a joke.
If the relic was truly the rarest (and best-in-game) weapon it should have been an i275 immediately upon patch release (even if with more steps).

And the (hypothetical) problem is that raiders would whine and be demotivated if their freebie drop isn't a few item levels above it —simple and current solution: cripple grinders' gear yet again.