I think we're just living in an age of malaise, especially in the United States.
Counterpoint, we live in such blissful times, that a bit of discomfort feels like the end of the world.

I figured, when you look at how completely nonsensical the Endwalker/Dawntrail story was, that's partly because we can't imagine that kind of society in real life anymore. Really, people just giving up their centuries of hatred because you offered them a steamed bun? That's ridiculous. It wasn't just because part of FF14's writing went downhill. I think it's also because this game is now situated in a very different culture and climate.
It has to do with the reduced attention span. Because of constant distractions from digital media, we can't imagine people would hold grudges for more than five seconds.

I mean, can you imagine anything like the VA drama happening during HW? I certainly can't.
One can aruge that they didn't have the large playerbase as the game has now. More players, more exposure, and so a VA drama gets blown out of proportion.