I don't really get it, the only reason I'm hearing is because drops look cooler.

I think its awesome really. It provides a path to great gear for different types of players. Some people don't care to party and do Ifrit/Mog/Garuda about 20 billion times. They can gather/craft/make gil and get some really nice comparable gear.

Its a fantastic compromise. I think people only whine about it because it breaks the whole status/caste system of having leet gearz come from drops only.

Honestly some of the best melds probably take just as much time and effort as killing ifrit endlessly. So what's the problem?