FF14 is not made for hardcore players.

[Veis_Alveare]

So, are we talking about only Expert and Savage content here? Because I have not, in the last 6 years, run across someone in a normal instance who I would consider 'sub-par'.

(And how, precisely, to you measure "playing beyond sub-par"?)

By the fact that they do damage reminiscent of past expansions rather than the current one even when they're level capped and in decent gear.

Just because you're fine with that doesn't mean other people should be.