Contrary to popular belief, since 2004, casuals are probably more important than the hardcore crowds. These games aren't like they were in 2001, where they could get away with 50-100k subscriptions and call it a success.

WoW didn't exploded, and completely reshape the genre for the next decade because they catered to the hardcore crowd. SE wants, and needs FFXIV to be successful, so they're going to cater to the casual crowd as much as they possibly can, in every way they can. What this means, is there will always be content for everyone and that's the way it should be.

Note: I don't personally believe casual players should be rewarded on necessarily equal terms, but the game isn't going to get harder outside exclusive, optional content (ie: Hard Mode Raiding).