As far4 as Alexander goes, Yoshida said that Alexander Normal wont have a lock out because there is a difference in gear and item levels between the Normal and Extreme Modes due to the sudden jump in difficulty from one to the other.

So basically you'll most likely NEED normal mode's gear to clear extreme mode.

As for the Gil sellers, I couldn't care less what hurts their "Business". They Charge waaaaay to damn much even for the older content. T5 and titan ex are still in the 2m mark for buying wins so I just manned up and "Got gewd". Even a million gil is not easy to come by let alone 50-100+ Million. When some one says 200 million they are talking Large FC plot money for ONE RAID WIN. I don't fricking think so.

Most run sellers refuse to do business with me because I've made it well known that I'm unwilling to spend more that 50-100k on ANY content, 100k not worth your time? Then you're not worth my coin. I'm much more willing to pay crafters large sums as many a four star crafter will contest. I've spent as much as 600k of 4-5 star craft items and still threw in a 10-20k tip for the crafter doing a good job.

Why? I COULD become a crafter but it'd take a lot of time to invest in being one. So I respect the work 4 and 5 star crafters put into it. But even I with all my "Scrubness" can clear an EX Primal or Raid with practice, a good team, and a little luck. So why should I PAY some one to do what I can do for free?