Too much dancing

[Simaril]

Gear checks aren't playing chess, they're the sign in front of a ferris wheel that says "You must be this tall to ride".

I had a full set of ilv70 crafted gear before I went to a lv 50 instance... so I trivialized any gearcheck in:

Castrum Meridanum
Praetorium
Ifrit HM
Wanderer's Palace
Amdapor Keep
Garuda HM
Copperbell HM
Haukke HM
Pharos Sirius

None of those offer anything above ilv70, so there's no need to do them for progression.

These offer some gear upgrades, but again barely offer a gearcheck at all:
King Mog was quite easy in ilv 70
Titan... ok now you need 3,200 hps - so ilv 70 + a few materia
Ultima
Crystal Tower


So "progression" is not based on gear to that point, instead it's how good you are at dancing. Is that really what you expect from an MMO?

[Trashy]

I had a full set of ilv70 crafted gear before I went to a lv 50 instance

So you had gear well beyond what most level 50s have and then complain you're too geared for the intro level 50 content.

[Sibyll]

I had a full set of ilv70 crafted gear before I went to a lv 50 instance... so I trivialized any gearcheck...

At gear levels appropriate to the instance (with the exception of Castrum and Praetorium) each of those instances is challenging in it's own way due to DPS checks (Ifrit HM, Garuda HM, Haukke Manor, and AK) or simple mechanics. Are you really surprised that you found these instances to be devoid of challenge when you walked into them in gear 20 levels above the requirement for them?

Thornmarch is a DPS check. Titan is a DPS Race and healer check. Ultima is a DPS Race and tank swap. Crystal Tower is a zerg/trollfest.

Also what are the challenges and obstacles being overcome by waiting for spawn timers? Patience and boredom?