Is there a conspiracy for lvl capped players to ignore materia?

[LittleImp]

I will repeat myself then. Item level, melds do not increase it, gear upgrades do. Item level is required to enter content, melds are not. This is the reason. It's not about stats, its about being able to run the content to begin with.

The current minimum ilevel of the latest MSQ content is i490. Nothing else goes above 510 afaik.

If simply meeting the minimum ilevel to run content is the primary concern of these players, why do so many of these players continue to spend time to acquire 520/530 gear and relics? Unmelded full tome gear is not that uncommon of a sight. What content currently requires an ilevel of 520/530?

I must be missing out on all the cool content these people are gearing up to meet the minimum requirements for..

Edit: Amusingly enough, I actually know a Mentor on Crystal who actively encourages other endgame players not to meld materia, and rocks a full set of 530 aug (minus one ring ofc) with a maxed relic, all unmelded. In his particular case, he's an extreme contrarian who doesn't like melding because melding is "encouraged by elitists".