It's not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed speed runs, and it'd be nice if they were still in, but since we can't do them, un-bunch your panties and throw on some gear to spiritbond. If you use the meteor ring (or whatever it's called), and maybe even the spiritbond earring, you can turn extra gear into materia in a rather speedy manner. Make yourself some personal profit, huh? Now we can all get along again.