COVID showed why the Developers need to release Relic content sooner.

[ForteNightshade]

Should they have released the relic content earlier? I mean, maybe, but to tie it to the current situation is really silly. How could the developers have known there would be a global pandemic in enough time for them to plan a relic grind long enough to occupy players through (hopefully) the worst of it. Once again, the only reason this later release of the content really feels noticeable and notable is because of the delay. If it had come out on time almost nobody would be batting an eye.

I mean, what if the pandemic had struck before the release of 5.1? Does that mean they should have released the relic content in 5.0 instead as something to keep the players busy?

You're misinterpreting. No one is faulting SE for the delay but merely using it to highlight why the current design philosophy is extremely flawed. A two month delay should not have the game crumbling under its own weight. People already complain content simply doesn't last long enough, and the staggered releases make it especially worse. For argument's sake. Say Covid never happened and 5.3 released on schedule. Almost everything in that patch can easily be done within a handful of hours; a couple days tops if you're slow. That patch is supposed to last six weeks following an already lengthily fourteen week cycle where content longevity is once again quite sparse. Releasing the relic earlier and not making such a paltry step at least gives people something to focus on should they choose. And had they done that, then this delay wouldn't have felt nearly as bad.

Look at the Heavensward relic and how much better spaced out it was. Sure, it had problems but the dev team should be working on improving the criticisms people had not cutting them out entirely.