I've done a 180 on hunts. I hated them at first.

But New & Shiny wore off, and folks at least on Leviathan have organized a semi-decent community around hunting (with linkshells and all). So unless you're a weirdo that doesn't like to interact with other players in this multiplayer online game, they're quite enjoyable now.

Most of the time...

But it seems to me that many of the people who are still complaining about hunts are people who are simply mad that they can't passively get involved in the activity. They need to talk to people and ask for invites and communicate with others. That's scary scary stuff for nerdly nerds.