That being said, this thread is why I hate reading the OF sometimes. But also an example that not everything is everyone's cup of tea. Declaring it "Diadem 2.0" or "Dead Palace of the Dead" or whatever is a bit premature (possibly immature as well).
I said this in another thread, but this goes back to more hardcore players having an ongoing identity crisis with FFXIV.

Palace of the Dead was clearly not meant to be endgame content. Yeah, we can work toward a high iLevel weapon, but if this were endgame then we wouldn't be able to enter with level 17 jobs. This was meant to be somewhat casual content that can bring people together.

The hardcores need to realize this game was not built for them. Yes, it has hardcore elements, but it isn't a hardcore game. It never will be.