FATEs are currently lackluster due to...

1) Poor level sync scaling (it should be lower, less than 2 level differences)
2) Poor scaling based on the number of participants
3) Uninteresting enemy tactics, even after the first 20 levels (unlike those found in guildhests and such)
4) Gold medals being too easy to obtain
5) No mechanics to counter players stacking AoE spam.

A group of people spamming their favorite AoE into a mass of enemies that will be dead in the next 2 seconds is not meaningful, to be sure. The developers should not be so quick to patronize players, they are smarter than you think.