I think people are exaggerating a bit with the complaints about hunts. It's true you can get the sands and oils of time that previously were a Second Coil difficult drop, but it really was too difficult to get them when there was no Syrcus Tower drop nor hunts. Ilvl 110 soldiery gear shouldn't be super difficult to obtain, there's the High Allagan gear from Second Coil that is better.

You need to buy an ilvl100 gear with soldiery tomes with a weekly 450 cap and then obtain the sands of time with hunts to upgrade. This means a lot of hunts for 750 allied seals. 1300 soldiery tomes plus an Unidentified Allagan Tomestone are needed for an ilvl100 weapon, then the sands to upgrade. Not quick. Gearing ilvl110 now is not easier than gearing ilvl90 when there was a 450 myth tomes cap some time ago. And at that time the best gear was ilvl90 from Coil (that had a weekly limit too and was the most difficult fight available.) What I mean is that it's not super easy to get the ilvl110 gear, in fact it's a bit more difficult than it was to get the ilvl90 gear when it was the equivalent to the ilvl110 now.

I think things are getting better in fact. The atma grind was worse, the myth farming for animus books was worse than the alexandrite farming. As you (a generic you) didn't need to spend all your playing time farming atmas nor needed to spend all your time doing SR Brayflox HM, you don't need to spend all your playing time doing hunts. But the fact is hunts are the easiest way to get the sands of time so some hunt time is nearly needed for gearing up.

Not that I find the hunts especially fun nor I like arriving late and seeing the mark is dead many times, or being unable to see it or tag it. But better than atma farming (or waiting for hours to a FATE spawn for a book), for sure. And people keep doing a lot of other things, not just hunting.