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

[Nezerius]

A grind lasting nearly the whole length of an even numbered patch wouldn't be an issue, no. That wasn't your initial argument though. You're moving the goal posts.

My initial reply to your list even stated that it'd depend on how much of a grind it'd be. Just because I didn't go into specifics then doesn't mean I'm moving the goal posts. But feel free to think that I have.

Outside the arduous grind of the Identifiable Ore step, the relic has never taken longer than a month unless one opts to progress at a very casual pace. Furthermore, you're neglecting odd numbered patches are intended for catch up purposes. It's entirely different to release relic armor that will directly compete with new brand crafted and normal mode gear. This directly pulls people away from queues and purchasing crafted gear outside hardcore raiders.

Yes, I'm sure every player will go on a month+ grind to get their relic armor, which, I might add, would be for one job. Players who don't go for the grind would still buy the crafted gear if they want to gear up faster. Players who grind for the relic armor, but also want to gear up alts, could also still be buying crafted armor.

At the cost of equipment. If the relic releases at the same time, per your original argument, this makes the tome weapon poor value. It takes three weeks worth of tomes and sets you back on further gear progression whereas the relic offers no such hindrance. Likewise, being able to increase the relic to i395 invalidates the odd numbered Primal before it even releases. Even with your aforementioned Zurvan example, the i270 step released with him, not before.

Raiders would likely be obtaining their base tomestone weapons faster than the ones getting the relic (due to getting the tomestone drop). The base relic would still be i385 (5 iLvls lower than the base tomestone weapon), but you seemed to have skipped over that part of my post. The i395 version is only obtained after actually obtaining the i385 version.
I'd also like to remind you that the Animus weapon was added in 2.2, along with Leviathan EX. The Animus weapon was i100 while the base Leviathan weapon was i95, which could only be upgraded to i100 by obtaining a rare drop. Somehow, this didn't invalidate Leviathan at all, since I still saw people going for those weapons back then.

Glamour. That has always been the main incentive for the relics. As I outline later on, even in Heavensward, the relic only ever matched the tome weapon in odd patches not even.

First of all, the +1 relic would like to have a word with you (pre-Allagan iLvl buff). Second, glamour really shouldn't be the main incentive. It should only be part of the incentive to grind for it.

XIV never had a relic armor grind before, thus Eureka is our only frame of reference. Regardless, I'm not the target audience for 24-man raids. At least not on my main. It's intended purpose has generally been for alt jobs. People will be far less inclined to run it repeatedly for one week drops if they can obtain relic armor... which has no limitation. Granted, this is less an issue if it releases later into the patch.

Just because XIV has never had relic armor before, doesn't mean that the game hasn't had relic grinds before. Take the relic weapon grind, replace it with a hat and you have a relic armor grind. I'd also like to point out that I mentioned the 24-man raid being a good way to get gear on alts (because few are crazy enough to grind for multiple relic sets), It's also another option for players who don't like the grind, but the idea of those people existing seems to be going over your head.

And yet, that still contradicts your argument. The i210 step was met with wide spread criticism for being too grind-y

So what? Let them complain. If they can't handle the grind, then there'll be less grindy options to get a weapon/gear. And as a bonus, primal/crafted/normal raid gear isn't invalidated!

The above isn't what you proposed in your initial rebuttal. You wanted relics released at roughly the same time whereas in Heavensward, Sephirot and crafted/normal gear went unopposed for five weeks before you could even start the relic step.

And this is a good idea how? Just let players grind right away. There's going to be plenty of players who will find it too much of a grind, who will then go with the other options.

But at the end of the day, we're better off agreeing to disagree. You prefer relics being a glamour stick, while I'd prefer relics being more than that.