OP suggestions don't do it for me to be honest.
Don't use gear to stretch content out at all. Because it doesn't work. At least not until it's time for ultimate that has it's own shelf life.
You should be able to gear for the next difficulty tier of content... by playing the previous tier... As quickly as you like.

You want to keep people playing? give em a mount with a lower drop rate. Or a weekly capped cost.
Don't use gear for it.
So so dumb.
(What about crafting and gear? Don't care. Keep the very different types of content separate. Certainly don't tie the two together with something where market forces combine with willingness to break tos and use add-ons become a gross advantage. Crafted gear should be for week 1-2, then it becomes 100% redundant)

I spent last two weeks logging off instead of playing because only my tank is geared and no tank spots. No apologies can't be bothered to host PFs myself.
I'm now fed up with progging EX4, and my sub runs out today/tomorrow/day after.
Get 2 more weeks of forum access though!

Honestly all that time I was bored before 7.2 when you could have been making casuals still subbed feel good about being ready for 7.2.
But nope. Blue ball us with F all to do. Then give us the middle finger when Chaotic static farmers drive the Gil costs of everything including crafted gear up.
No I don't want to do crafting
I want to play rouls with sprouts and friends.
I don't want press X hunt farming or to 'schedule' the same map week after week.
My sub runs out again. Whatever whatever.
And I never bothered with new unreal because still trying to get past bloom4. Which gets harder with less groups every week. Last 2/3 pf collapsed without filling.
But keep up with the fantastic gear caps.
New normal raids 5- 8 were great for some. But I preferred M1-4. Which is the way it should be. Different styles for everyone. But as the rewards are so poor with gearing being irrelevant... meh. I won't miss em.

SQX you are constantly putting all your eggs in one basket. So when you fail to active the impossible and knock it out of the park 100% time. Your screwed. A bad MSQ shouldn't have been a problem. But your casual 'gameplay' ALSO kind of sucks.