Guessing your memory is rather foggy? The issue with the first set of anima quests was due to the fact that the weapon was the same iLvl as the Gordias raid weapon, and the grind had to reflect a similar time frame. They didn't change it because people hated it, they changed it because they lowered the relic to no longer be at the same iLvl as the current raid. In turn, that allowed them to relax on the time frame requirement on the grind.
Don't believe this? You can read about it in this post from Yoshi-P:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/276368
Added note: the relic being 10 iLvls below the current raid weapon (and 5 below the tomestone weapon) also fits with their concept of "Will not be the strongest weapon at the same time as the rewards for clearing the hardest difficulty content."
A "distinct minority" hasn't stopped SE from making changes or adding something to the game. The weapon in your signature is a clear example of that. I imagine the amount of players going for a long grind to obtain relics is significantly higher than the amount of players going for an Ultima Weapon Ultimate or Unending Coil clear.