My opinion is this ... Raider's spend time and effort to raid .... relic weapons require time and effort ... why not make them equal? Just because raiders have to work with 7 other people doesn't automatically make it more difficult or time consuming. For the relic weapons, you either need to level your crafter's or spend millions of gil to get the item you need for the next step or rely on someone else to make it for you. Not to mention the materia or items needed to boost the stats.

I don't want one to be better than the other, I just would like to see SE give casual player's an option to get the best gear as well. Or people that just don't have the time to dedicate to raid 3-4 nights a week. Some people do have lives outside of the game.