"Coming into its own" is too much!

[Kabzy]

I don't have a problem with the best weapons being grindy. If you don't have enough time to get the weapon, you don't need the weapon. Not having it isn't going to hold you back.

Not necessarily true. Many people log only/partly to raid, and I would say the relic is absolutely BiS by far for Scholars as they can put a tonne of accuracy into it. Without it, they have to sacrifice item level to overmeld accuracy, which would certainly hold them back in comparison to relic holders.

The issue isn't necessarily the grind, but it's the lack of creativity. The Novus step was arguably as lengthy as the current steps for Anima, but it had various methods to obtain the item, and you also would find ways to make money for materia or spiritbond gear. Compare all of that to being forced to buy items with esoterics only and you can see why this Anima weapon is a huge bore. Not only that but the past three steps have basically been eso grinds, which is seriously tedious even for people who have the time to do it all.

[Zojha]

Not only that but the past three steps have basically been eso grinds, which is seriously tedious even for people who have the time to do it all.

Which I personally don't take too much issue in, considering how many things reward esoterics.

Nearly all the roulettes do, normal dungeons do, raids do, PvP does, hunts do, Diadem does...really, slap some more on FATES, leve- and beast tribe quests and just about all DoW activities reward the needed tomes. This is actually something I rather liked about these last steps - you really don't need to go out of your way to make progress, even if some methods are naturally more efficient. On the flipside, "making money" or "spiritbonding" are things I really never do.

[Kabzy]

-Snip-

I disagree. It's just an illusion of choice, you can do as much Diadem as you want but people who want their weapons will be spamming a select few daily roulettes and the ARF dungeon. Yes, a lot of things give you esos but the majority of them are pretty irrelevant unless you want to get your weapon in 4.0.

Also, a lot of "DoW activities" is still not as varied as doing other optional things like making gil and spiritbonding. Not everyone had to progress through that route, but at least it added variety to the grind.

Edit:

Here's a thought, don't get this item then. Do the content that is designed for you! It's not like the relic weapon is better than many other options, and frankly if you can't put in enough time to do a few dungeons and get your tomes. The game probably isn't for you.

Like I mentioned earlier, to some jobs such as SCH and Noct.Ast, the accuracy stat IS the best possible option. So unless they add an accuracy option to tome weapons, certain roles will be forced to go through this route. They can still make a grind without dragging it quite as far, or at least make it more interesting for everyone.

[Zojha]

I disagree. It's just an illusion of choice,[...]

Also, a lot of "DoW activities" is still not as varied as doing other optional things like making gil and spiritbonding. Not everyone had to progress through that route, but at least it added variety to the grind.

I'm inclined to disagree myself here. For one, because thus far, I always managed to finish the most recent relic step a good month in advance to the next patch, let alone 4.0 and I usually only run two daily roulettes a day, then do other things. Right now, I'm at 120/240 with 8 umbrites in the bag, 600 esos at the ready and the next big patch is probably a good two months away. And I'm even skipping some roulettes and side activities because I'm close to exams. If you feel the need to kill your brain cells one by one by spamming solely aetherochemical... well...have fun? It's not necessary.

For another, I find progressing while doing things you already do because you enjoy doing them a "lot" better than going out of my way for progress. "Gaining gil" and "Spiritbonding" are first and foremost crafter, not DoW friendly options. Go figure how many DoW only players own a private mansion. Do the same for crafters afterwards. You'll notice a trend. Also, there's not a whole lot of option there, you need materia, so you either spiritbond yourself or get gil to buy the stuff other people have spiritbonded.

So yeah...I still vastly prefer these steps over just about anything the previous relic had. Books were nice I suppose, if you ignore the required FATEs.

[WinterLuna]

The issue isn't necessarily the grind, but it's the lack of creativity.

This I agree with.

[Ayer2015]

The reality is, relic weapons are intended for people who play the game excessively. There is no requirement to have one.

[bass9020]

The reality is, relic weapons are intended for people who play the game excessively. There is no requirement to have one.

But they shouldn't be mindless grinds that aren't engaging.

[Lilith_Merquise]

Here's a thought, don't get this item then. Do the content that is designed for you! It's not like the relic weapon is better than many other options, and frankly if you can't put in enough time to do a few dungeons and get your tomes. The game probably isn't for you.

[Felis]

All what we need for next relic step is farming beastmen seals from Hamlet defences again.

[Alexander_Dragonfang]

I love how people likes to confuse "casual" with "time investment".

If relic is supposed to be a second tier arm, that gives you good stats but isn`t the BiS, there is no reason for it to be behind such an horrendous timesink. Besides, it just an slap for anyone wanting to work on it, is basically the game devs saying "we know you are not raid material, here, have a weapon that only requires one thing from you, time".

Its terrible. Having so many oportunities to make relic both good and interesting as a quest, they just plan it to be a dumbed down grind, is getting tiring, repeating 2000 times a dungeon is not fun, entertaining, challenging, good, anything, is just developers being absolutely lazy, every step this quest goes on becomes worse and worse... This is unacceptable.