Getting the WHM boots was interesting, didn't realise how you get past the Guardians of the Grove until a friend told me.

I think the AF seems about right; not everyone plays in massive LS; some people will never complete the sets because of the high level dungeons some are in (Dzemael and so on). It's structured so that almost anyone can get SOME of the set but you need to put more work in to get it all. With a small group, some of the quests are pretty tough (the BRD one with the Ixal and wolves was a lot harder than expected; will have to bring a WHM/CNJ next time for it).

On a side note, it's funny seeing how many NMs are claimed now...