I have been playing this game since 1.0. I did not like the relic quest in 1.0 at all, so I can't speak for the difficulty there. I like the idea of being able to get a relic (more accessible than in ffxi). I do however wish that there was more more reason to have one. I have been farming mine for quite some time. I am about to do the last dungeon phase for Excalibur and now it will be defunct in 3.0. I am sure that many people that spent the time getting it will agree that it is very time consuming to have it pretty much defunct with the new relics starting in 3.0. I understand the purpose of starting new weapons, but I do think that relics need more staying power. I don't understand how the tomes weapon can be more powerful, when it is easy to get. Is there anything that can be done to help this?