There is no way for these "relics" to create the same "problems" that were inherent to FFXI's.

Let's go down the list, here...

FFXI

+Entire event created with the intent of promoting Relic Weaponry, "Relic Armor" as an incentive for better participation
+Created a strong economical flow, often paying out proportionately to the group's skill and giving others a chance of investment
+Outstandingly above other weapons, were vibrantly different to look at, and contained their own WS
+Continued to be THE weapon for each class (well, okay, not lolClaustrum) for the entirety of the game's relevant life

-Were reserved for the LS' inner clique (Some LS sponsored people in exchange for gil, comparatively rarer occurrence)
-Required a very large mass of people over a 6 month period for the sake of 1 person
-Final Destination for most endgame players, ennui generated at a rapid pace once you got one (Unless you're Kirschy)
-Drama. Oh, the drama.

FFXIV

+Unique animations, wholly unique models, several have particle effects
+Procurement pulls from several different sources of content
+Future-proof in a productive way
+Content designed with a tight-knit group of 6 players in mind

-Requires RNG favor or being excessively rich
-Are significantly underwhelming stat-wise (particularly for the effort involved as opposed to the Garuda weapons)
-Do nothing special for their Jobs (slight cooldown reductions and song durations is minor and unremarkable)
-Introduced no actual content outside of a cloned boss fight


They don't follow the same path at all. There is no way that these can ever be the same sort of affair. Why? It took great efforts by a collective force before relics manifested in FFXI, and they were a huge deal to everyone once one was made.

The only thing that stopped hundreds of individual players from having all FFXIV relics in the first month was the artificial extension of the quest via the patches. You could count on one hand the amount of people in pre-abyssea FFXI who had every relic after years of nonstop commitment.

I still suspect that "AF Weapons" were rushed into being "relic weapons" as a means of resource allocation and sort of an "eyecatcher" to keep the hardcore playing during the doldrums that was XIV post-1.21. For too long they referred to them as "AF weapons", and we already get to see them equipped on all of the "AF quest" NPCs. They don't feel unique or special, they don't have stories behind them, they're just pretty and have solid (if dry, mechanical) stats. Sounds like an AF weapon to me.