I bought the game at release, but only really started playing a couple of months ago.

I would say that most of the game has gotten much faster than it was at the start, from talking to the friends I play with. I am now iLvl86 - and only now do I have to start learning to play well. Everything else was a speedy cakewalk. Older content has gotten faster and easier, be it from tweaks the devs did ( the hunt system got me to up to iLvl86 soon after I hit 50 ) to the fact that the people you play with are all really well geared. This is fine, because it means new players get to where the action is if they play enough.

Soldiery is much faster than relic grinding now, I think (stuck on atma). With newer stuff this will only become more so. As the player base grows, to keep relics relevant, they will need to speed them up.