Why vertical progression is poorly implemented

[Dyvid]

Snip

This is basically what I mean when I make the statement that gear doesn't matter. Vertical progress is suppose to have a heavy impact on gear and actually needing gear to complete the latest and greatest yet in FFXIV it doesn't. Look at 3.1 and Void Ark. The minimum ilvl is 175 yet most people already had i190-i200 already. That begs the question as to why we should really spend weeks and months grinding to get armor that won't even been needed until the end of 3.XX life cycle? Even look at 2.5 and the required ilvl for WoD was i90 but the reality was everyone was 110-120. The reality is the game is too easy and people are getting bored with it because reward vs challenge just isn't on par.

Bottom line is gear needs weight and SE needs to give us a reason to gear up.