just my take, but any seasonal event is just bonus material, its free and pretty much everyone can partake. it is not required for anything.

if they have an event, thats AWESOME.
if they dont have it, so?
if its not more extravagant than previous years... so?

I id not start playing FFxiv for the seasonal events, they are nice. thats it, something different to do, even for a brief time.

I have a difficult time understanding the constant complaints for something that the developers do not have to add in at all.