Before I left FFXI.. I made Almace+1, full creed+2 and Mavi+2 sets, reached lv90, and I started since PC launch. With that long history, for me the most fun challenging things in XI is contents like storylines, Magian Trials, Dynamis, Salvage, ZNM, Sky, Sea, and Abyssea. The content that I listed here kept me busy and involved with leading random people in my party, and doing stuff with my small ls. I did all that without bothering with HNM.

In fact for me, the most frustrating thing in XI was HNM. Again, to me that is more frustrating than challenging because there is only one thing you have to keep track of and that is time. Factor in third party cheating tools, mpk, and stealing attempts from other LS with that, and that is enough to take fun out of the game and make you more frustrated than anything else which is why I didn't do it.

Now if the dev team make HNM with long term goals with elite drops, I think that will only lead to disaster because further down the line when level cap is increased there will be more suitable equipment for the new levels. I don't mind if the dev team put HNM in this game, but I think it is too soon for it. Lv50 or 60 is just not high enough for super elite stuff in my opinion.