How is ilvl an issue while leveling?

[Vstarstruck]

I saw in a couple threads this past week people complaining about ilvls while leveling. One player said it was hard for them to keep up and do duties because they didn't have the proper ilvl, and another player was complaining about people in DF not having appropriate gear.

This is an honest question from a super casual. How is that possible? My main job, RDM, is currently level 69 with ilvl 285 gear doing absolutely nothing but MSQ quests, dungeons and trials.

The only time I do sidequests is when I have to grind to level up to progress through the MSQ, and even those quests give gear sometimes.

Are the people saying they are having a hard time with ilvls skipping the MSQ or something? This should not be an issue while leveling. Item levels are something you worry about once you hit max level. Out of all the complaints I've seen about this game, this one is by far the weirdest.

What am I missing here?

What you are missing how lazy people can be. I have kicked a few a few times because they enter expert having under i290 gear (the level 70 job quest gives this) while not knowing how to basic rotation. You are trying to apply logic, and trying you best in comparison to people that want to rush to level to 70 in 5 days or whatever because they do not care about the 3 other people they make put extra effort.

Picture someone entering a level 69 DF with ilevel 250 or worse and compare that to your 285, that is what people are concerned about. Then there are people that wear gear that does not even fit their job, resulting in tanks having less hp then healers/ DPS. People are not asking for strict gating, just gating that filters out this BS.

People are tried of dealing with drama with people (one person sometimes to defend them "Oh it is not savage it is not a big deal" "Oh do not be elitist over gear despite the person being oneshoted by unlovable damage") with those that are clearly not ready to be in dungeon (insert name)