If developers want to keep us busy until 3.0, then give us something fun to do. Running the same dungeon 30+ times isn't fun. Gear progresses so quickly in this game, that if you don't hurry up and grind, by the time you get the relic, it's obsolete.

I'd have no problem working at a slower pace if I knew the weapon would still be relevant in 6 months.

The later stages of the relic are all about getting people back into older content. If the purpose is to get relic questers to help people through older stuff, then how about a bonus if there is a first timer in the group? Something like drop rate is boosted for that run for zodiac or bonus light for Nexus, etc.