Nope, your right. The whole thing is a grind fest, and it happened sooner than I expected. At first I argue'd about the objectives, but they didn't mean anything as the quest continued and there was still more things to do. Sadly, even then the mode was just wasn't taken into account that the community is famous for making things shorter than they appear, or then again, just showing how short minded things can be. I think what the devs don't understand is HP doesn't make content harder, just makes it longer and the more people you have makes it shorter.

Areas should have gimicks for starters, monsters should keep their hp "though I'd love it to be more reasonable for those who get separated from their group", special monsters with higher ranks should have mechanics that resonate with their environment, we have 90 mins in the spawn timer...give us timed special spawns too even with the day and night cycles. Caves should be more rewarding and engaging. I kinda see what they tried to do with dungeons and caves you can enter without queue times, but its not done exactly right. The mobs inside are bland (mostly crabs from what I seen) and there's no incentive to even enter one, except for a different atmosphere from all the zerg rushes.

All and all, this mode just feel like a giant FATE rush with a little sidequest at the start. I love the gear drops, but its not exactly fun is it?