What does Heavensward actually bring to the table as an expansion?

[Aeliott]

There is a lack of medium-core content....extreme primals fill that role well, but we only got 2 - one of which is merely a gatekeeper you'll rarely do again - and will likely not get more than one for subsequent patches. Alexander normal mode doesn't really cut it either, because it's an essential gear stepping stone it's more or less something you barely think about doing - not really taxing. Before, Coil was definitely hardcore content but it didn't really feel inaccessible for medium-core players to chip away at either - I successfully led a static through it despite limited availability, but Alex savage upped that ante significantly, especially with A3 and A4. 24-man content is generally easy...the middle-ground is a hard place to be in. Apart from 2 extremes, everything else is faceroll and savage is even more exclusive than coil was. I'm not the kind of player who gets bored then comes back on new patches - I do enjoy the odd bit of PVP, Triple Triad and leveling other battle classes - but at the moment I still feel in this limbo where it feels like only the extreme wings of the casual/hardcore content spectrum are catered for.

To be fair Alex normal was _almost_ there, but at the same time if it was any more difficult people would rant about how they couldn't get their loot but they kept wiping.

In terms of actual gameplay content Heavensward added nothing really. There is nothing new to do - dungeons, extremes, a raid, all the old saucer stuff. That said, the team for this game DO throw out patches faster than other MMOs. I have faith that a lot of good things are coming - 2.55 compared to 2.0 are significantly different after all. I just hope they're not another brain-dead part of a daily/weekly grind you do out of habit.