The difference between FFIV and FFX and games like FFXI and FFXIII is that you can still upgrade your equipment to 'endgame' levels without having to grind. The dropped equipment in FFIV is elite stuff that I see more as a bonus if you happen to come across it, not something necessary to beef up your characters. Anyone who grinds for this stuff is just a completionist and would never complain about FFXIII's system anyway (seriously, if you grind for the worthless Bomb summon you cannot participate in this debate).

In FFIV you can still get 'ultimate' gear via boss battles in the final dungeon. In FFX you can still get 'ultimate' weapons via treasure chests and quests. In FFXI you can only get the good stuff by fighting NMs until you get the drop. In recent times drop rates were improved but this wasn't the case in the beginning. In FFXIII you can only get top tier weapons and accessories by upgrading, which involves grinding for items and gil. Due to the lack of other options, this makes it a focus of endgame.

I would like to see a return to the days where each character had some 'ultimate' weapon that you acquire via exploration or questing. You can still include the super-elite equipment for those who have to get everything without detracting from the game. FFX did this pretty well with their upgrade system. I was very disappointed that you only acquired base weapons from chests in FFXIII.