"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.