In my opinion, the issue is just the speed of gear progression. There was a lot of content we sped past and other content we came to a halt and grinded forever.

In terms of ilvl, let's compare the 2.x cycle with 3.x cycle
August 27 2013
Philosophy was iLvl 70 Darklight armor and accessories.
Mythology was iLvl 90 Armor and Accessories.
BCoB ilvl 90 and 95

March 27 2014
Soldiery item level 100 upgrade-able to 110
SCoB item level 110 and 115

October 28 2014
Poetics level 120 upgrade-able to 130
FCoB item level 130

June 23 2015
Law item level 170 upgrade-able to 180

July 7 2015
Alex drops item level 190

Jul 21 2015
Esoterics item level 200 upgrade-able to 210
Savage item level 210


ARR
95 -> 115 7 months later
115->130 7 months later
Gained 20 ilvls every 7 months

HW
180 -> 190 2 weeks
190 -> 210 2 weeks
Gained 10-20 ilvls every 2 weeks

Then we have the much slower progression in ilvls initially. I remember getting the first ilvl 70 pieces took awhile, and then upgrading to 90 was a big feat. Conversely, ilvl 170 and 190 stuff was thrown at you so fast that you could easily be max 179 gear in less than a week from HW launch (I was), and 190 before August.