So uh... whats up with the end game gear designs lately?

[K3KW4RCHILD]

Well, look at it this way: If the best gear in the game was a burlap sack, elitists would be seen all over Eorzea looking like sacks of potatoes. Elitists would not want to hide their "achievement" no matter how hideous the reward. It may look like poo but it's a status symbol nonetheless. That's why glamour sets are mostly level one items and purchasable from the Mog Store. If you care about your appearance only, you have hundreds of cheap and good looking glamour items. If you care about looking "gud" in front of the noobs, just be patient because the next ugly set of "I did it before it was cool" gear is inbound shortly.