Quests make this game so god damn good. Objectives are key to keep people coming back, working through the steps. I think too many people moaned back then that they needed all quests to be 'accessible', but the whole point sometimes in games is that you have to do something unique to get a certain weapon or piece of gear.
I think the grind has gone which overall means its better...but when they started teh Seasonal model, its a bit like a TV series we've watched over the years. May start well and people enjoy it as its a routine but over time will become stale. They knew they had to shake up seasons at some point, just don't know why they weren't already planning for that - i'd have started planning at the start of seasons or even before to know whats next.
Most possibly the best experiences ever lived at FG. Raids are insanely good. Nothing beats 6 players cracking a puzzle together, relying on teammates to help you and you stepping up to help in return. So many epic fails, we should've recorded far more often for the memories.