The end does NOT justify the means.
If I told you your choices to gear up in Stormblood - is either raid, or do hunts, and that you'll receive the same reward no matter what, at the same time, how many people do you think will still raid? THAT is what I'm trying to get at here. People want a competition award, but they don't want to compete. It's not about feeling special or unique for having done it; it IS about proportional reward. I mentioned before they caved on the minions, and offered earrings to top 10. . . I got earrings just for finishing in Silver tier last season. A participation award. Hardly fitting of the top 10. And now people that either didn't, couldn't, or worse, wouldn't compete want the top 100 reward?
No.
Let me try and put another perspective on this, and please humor me:
I like to PvP because it's dynamic. No scripted fights, no mechanics, fully unpredictable. I can round a corner and get ambushed by an entire 24 man team, or I can surprise 2 or 3 people and take them down solo. I have the skill to do it, and I've done it before. I got back into PvP because I couldn't raid during the Alexander: Midas tier. But the skills and awareness I've acquired from my time PvPing and dealing with sudden burst damage, or avoiding LBs or player skills/spells that might otherwise finish me almost immediately rivals that of perhaps even world-first raiders. I'm probably never going to run Alexander: Midas, but I deserve the rewards from it because I pay to play as well right? I should have the A4S mount too because I almost cleared A3S way back when, and my skills are on par with someone who did, thanks to PvP. I don't want to do those raids, I just want to PvP, but I deserve those raid rewards because I'm just as good as anyone who did clear it, and it's all old content now anyways, right? I shouldn't HAVE to run it, just let me have the reward. That's not unreasonable, right?
^ THIS is what many of you sound like.