Current State of End-Game Contents - A Blog Post from A Japanese Player

[Garlyle]

Or keep EX and Coil for hardcore, and make other content for mainstream. But don't expect to pull mainstream players along with just a buff, then wonder why they quit because they're not having fun with mechanics.

I'm pretty sure that this is the route they're taking anyway. We wouldn't have things like the Zodiac Weapon Saga, Hullbreaker Isle, Tam-tara HM, Ramuh (Hard), Soldiery Gear, or upgrade items dropping in CT2 coming in 2.3 if they didn't care about continuing to provide for those who aren't taking on EXs/Coil.

They create the challenge content to actually be challenge content.

I do agree that there are better ways to handle accessibility to content than the echo, mind you.