ill preface by stating that ive done every expansion relic (currently all zodiac & anima are complete, some eureka, resistance,& manderville) and i can say with each expansion the method is somewhat different, so while some have a problem with EW relics im glad they did something different, despite the design for the last stage for some of the weapons (although perhaps its a bit poetic), these relics are actually quite the grind when you look at it through a larger lens especially of that of a new player, however due to the hivemind mentality of an mmo or perhaps it human nature, some players designate relics as mid core content & in doing so expect something worthy of that aspect even though this is a fallacy i somewhat share the sentiment but to a different degree.

Since they removed job quests & the story that follows i would prefer that for this expansion, the relics take their place in terms of individualizing each class.

The zodiac relics were a good model for this however theres some uniformity in the steps that id like the devs to stop doing, make each weapon step unique to the class.
a few examples would be have WAR run 50x dungeons, or WHM rez 20x in the Field op zones, have a DPS do 30x hunts (these are just examples not definitive) keep integrating old content but do so in way that reflects the originality of the class itself while also providing a story/lore that compliments it just as the job quests/story did.