The relic isn't and should never be geared towards "a specific set of people". The relic has always been for the general population. I have no problems with there being a grindfest for people who enjoy grindfests, just as I have no problem with there being Ultimate for the harder-than-extreme players, PVP for those that enjoy it (whether or not XIV's PVP is effective is beside the point), glamour options, crafting, gardening, chocobo races, housing, and all of the other elements that are enjoyed more by one group than another. However, the primary "goal" of FFXIV is to progress in PVE. To get the best weapon, you have to either do savage/EX trials, or the relic. This is a "general population" element, and the "general population" does not like Pagos. They've also locked several other items - crafting materials, an emote, minions, housing items, and other objects - behind this grind. Will they be on the MB at some point? Some will, some won't. For the pieces that are bound, you're screwed. For the others, you have to hope that someone will eventually sell it. And a week after Pagos was released, we haven't even had one of the Shiver emotes put up on our MB.

Had Eureka been a side release such as Ultimate, I wouldn't have cared, even if they'd put a separate set of rewards and goals in that are not the relic. I'm not even against a slog, as I'm still working on several animas and an original relic - but the nice thing about those is that I'm not having to rely on others' goodwill to do them. Nobody else in my party has to be grinding their relics for me to progress in mine. I don't want to take away your toy, I just want to not be forced to do it for mainstream content in a game that has never before embraced this kind of content, and is not the norm.