Alliance raids have no business being a relic step.

[KeshLives]

Crystal tower has trouble filling to this day unless you're doing a PF for BLU,

I call BS to this. I just went through the end of ARR a couple weeks ago, and I was getting 5-minute queues as a DPSer for each the three pieces. Sure, I just needed it for 2.x completion, but they were full of people, for whatever reason.

EDIT: Also, like anything like this: You're not *forced* to do anything. If you don't want to do what the relic takes, then you don't want the relic, do you? Yes, it's intentional, imo. Grind for it or don't. End of story. At least they give you more than one route.

YMMV