I personally agree with much of what you said, and I myself consider my gaming habits somewhere between casual and hardcore depending on my responsibilities. But in general, no one is ruining the experience for you. Balancing a game to be approachable, yet difficult and rewards that are tangible yet very rewarding is extremely difficult when most games are not made to satisfy those needs to us individuals, but to make money. It's ugly, but it's the truth. Companies like Blizzard do a fairly good job listening to their fans and although they had a blunder with D3 at launch, they will make up for it by making it better. Square did something similar with this game but will always appeal to the masses, over hardcore gaming out of necessity. If I could make this game better though it would be through character customization, materia and end game dungeons. That would be the most direct way to appeal to as many people as possible, whilst leaving most of the game intact as is for casual peeps.