Like SE said thanks for you years of patronage, dedication, hard work and camping here is a Hauteclair. Oh if you want a knock off mr noob swing this sword at a few things and il give you one.
That is where the problem lies. SE went too far with magian trials and Abyssea gear. When you would do events pre-abyssea, any upgrades to gear that you got were minor. Maybe some added attack, or 2-3 extra STR.
Then came Abyssea. Any joe-blow could kill a few hundred mobs and get a weapon that beats what serous end gamers would camp or work towards for years. And what was SEs original reply to those with relics and mythics? 500-2000 Relic WS kill shots, for a minor increase in damage.
Same thing with Emp gear. It was too good, so when they made NNI, they felt they needed to trump it, and they did. Now all the newer gear from Neo limbus/salvage/Odin is considered side grades with a few exceptions. If they hadn't originally gone overboard with the emp and NNI stuff, the newer salvage gear would be seen as awesome.
As always, it comes back to Balance. Abyssea blew balance out the water. It bred a generation of players that want fast rewards with little effort, and when something difficult comes along, they whine about it, and try to get it nerfed, so they can get their Participation Award.