As most players have already indicated FATEs in general are kind of tedious and do not really provide much benefit any more, prior to the changes FFXIV ARR felt more like a community. There were always people in zones running together and looking to create FATE groups. It was a great way to create relationships with other players and FCs, to form stronger raid groups. However, now zones are bare and we are forced to queue dungeons as the only means to level with any significant results.

I have been playing for MMOs for a long time and minus GuildWars 2 which has a similar implementation with open world events. This was one of the best mechanics about the game as you could grind for an entire day make real progress and get to know good people that were doing the same. Not to mention taking into consideration the long queue times for most people. Lastly, do I really even need to mention the horrible drop rates for Atma in FATEs.