The real problem is that SE did not care about FFXIV for 3 years, making it not a priority. They let too many thing pass for years, and now that they finally realise XIV was in a bad place, they began to do what they should have done 3 years ago. They never have let Mare become as big as it was, but like the player complaints, they just waited until thing got too big to ignore. Sure, Mare use obnoxiousness didn't help, but the blame also lie with SE that basically ignored their cash cow for years.