As I feared, things are worse today following the update. Lag is back, and a moment ago I was kicked out the game (dc/error). This is the typical experience for myself and many others when updates come around.

Maintenance to fix things only ever gets announced when my experience in the game is absolutely perfect and lag-free, and from my perspective nothing needs fixing. Then the new non-specific fixes arrive to break that experience, and it can stay broken for a couple weeks following an update sometimes. It's a weird inverse fix.

The way it feels is that some people will always get the short end of the stick, and improving the experience for some has a negative impact on others. I am one of the people on the side that has big problems when the majority are ok, but I am fine when those people aren't. My world is Ragnarok.