I think the issue is more so that these patches are releasing things that are altering the fundamental rules of the game in a way that just won't be perfect on release, or in the case of Endwalker queues, the game simply never reaching a higher peak in its population; and even then, it was less messy than Stormblood's launch. For housing, the approach to a new and different kind of system altogether. For DC travel... that goes without saying, did anyone honestly believe that system would have no problems on release? That's probably the single biggest step in terms of extending the community that they've ever attempted.

The simple answer as to why a lot of pre-Endwalker patches didn't have these issues is that they weren't as ambitious in changing core aspects of the game. I think it's kinda weird to act like they're losing their touch or something, based purely on the fact that major changes require some patching to get in order. Frustrating, sure, that's fair; but doomsaying? Eh.