Make relics have the same iLVL as the Raid weapons and released at the same time

[Vaer]

Why do the raiders think that if the Relic weapon is the same level as the Raid weapon, there would be no incentive to raid?

Like why would you care if someone got a Ilvl405 Relic weapon that glows after that person took an entire month of grinding to make? It takes absolutely nothing from anyone who raids. In fact, obtaining a weapon thru raiding is and was always easier if you have a static, since once you know the mechanics, you can just farm it.

The best weapons in FFXI are relics. The Bosses in Escha zones drop some freebie weapons that count as Raid weapons but are no where near as powerful as the relics or as what FFXI calls them "R.E.M.A" weapons.

Having the Relics/Eurekan weapons at the same ilvl as Raid weapons, gives all players something to progress and log in for. Reducing it as a glamour item killed it.

Not everyone likes to raid. Just like not everyone likes to do Relics/Eureka. Raiders have something to do every week. Give the casuals something to do as well, progression wise that is actually worth the time doing not just for glamour.

Not no incentive, less incentive. Weapons are only for players that clear the entire thing, just like the mount. Once they drop the catchup patch where you can get the upgrade items you can get comparable gear to the first 3 raid turns except maybe 1 ring due to them being unique.

IIRC They've also tried this before. When the game was released the relic actually had ilvl of the raid weapon at 90. They buffed the raid weapon by 5 ilvls in 2.1 then left it like that. This was when the relic was gated behind titan (hard).
In HW, during gordias the relic had the same ilvl as the raid weapon, but was super grindy that people came here to complain (unidentified step), and when midas came out they went back to +5 and it has been like that ever since.

I'd be cool with it if there were skill checks involved (i.e. clearing ex primals, a solo instance that is a mechanic check made specifically for relic, etc) and not just grinding mild difficulty content for 60 hours per step.