Eh, I'd put more emphasis on gear value than you might, but won't disagree some want overkill.
I mean, I look to Ambuscade as something meant to help new/returning players to hopefully catch up and get into the other endgame activities. However, since groups only tend to run VD or Intense, they're not going to want the guy in Sparks gear because it's mathematically impossible to have the appropriate ACC as a melee, etc.."Yorcia Skirmish is soloable!" some might declare, but then you throw a bunch of gil into pop items, convert some vouchers to fragments, and wind up with a bunch of gear you can't even use because RNG. Then, if you do manage a piece, the stones you need for augments probably aren't on AH or so stupid expensive that just getting "Ambuscade Ready" would have your desired month ending before you even could, presuming you don't no-life it all.
Then you realize there's even better gear past that, but even if you did manage a full Ambuscade set, people aren't going to want you in it for that very reason.
It's one of those **** ups of the current endgame system that I see some unwilling to acknowledge, often in part because they've stayed current or have reliable help at their disposal. Having been back and forth from the game these past couple years, the most common morale killer has simply been people not wanting to help get what I need between a mix of there being nothing in it for them and the rarely justified belief I can't contribute on my desired job.
And let's face it, the whole, "Just play a GEO until you gear up what you want!" line is bull, and was the case even when FotM was WHM, BRD, or whatever.
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