two things tho.
1. you have the exp required to get into any group. new and returning people dont. and not every class can just choose a piece and its just as good as the other
2. whatever belt you want, you still have to repeat a single dungeon until it drops. my point is that FC could have made it drop in several dungeons to give an alternative to just doing the one. ie the feel of repetitiveness would be less.
Of course but there are better solutions than the ones presented right now.
As mentioned, Khitai gear could be dropped in more than just one single dungeon per item.
There could be a better variation for factions quests and there could be more options for solo dungeons to get rares.
Normal modes could offer a bit more/better reward(Ie imperial insignias/moas and rares) to give new players a better base for hm experience and give veterans a reason to bring newbies once in a while.
old world raid gear could be redesigned to be a good alternative for khitai gear for all classes giving another option for end game content.
FC could even start selling rares and such in the in-game store to give an option for people willing to pay to get some gear faster. of course not t4 but certainly for khitai rares and up to t3 tokens.
I know you veteran players probably will say thats p2w but remember it doesnt really affect you anyways(you can still ask for AA/exp in groups) and it will bring increased revenue to FC.
If FC had bigger revenue maybe you would get new content as well faster.
All of these could give us new and returning players a better reason to actually stay and pay for a sub. even if we just stayed for 6 months its more than 0, right?
you may disagree with these suggestions but its a lot better than: join a guild and accept the repetition.