I think they're pretty much dead right when it comes to evaluating these changes. Personally I think there wouldn't even be a re-review like this if SE hadn't jumped the gun and added many of these patches. As time goes on I think it'll be less likely the new changes will get any new press coverage.

Review Update
3/23/11

Here we are, so close to the sixth month marker in the pivotal first year of FFXIV's existence, waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the months since its initial release, the game has seen a new development team and a plucky producer who seemed well on their way to enriching the lives of adventurers in Eorzea. In this review update we'll take a look at their output in the form of the recent cluster of updates: 1.15a, 1.15b and 1.16, and weigh in on their capacity to enrich the experience.

Love Letters

Shortly after taking the helm, Yoshi-P promised us more frequent but smaller updates to the game – and we certainly got them. Patch 1.15a, which I lovingly dubbed "Phoenix Down," was a surprising list of welcome changes. Chief among them was a dramatic increase to the number of skill points obtainable from stronger enemies, which made grouping far more attractive. Behests were now major contributors to character building and fostered a real sense of community, as players were eager to band together for these hourly hunts. The love didn't end there, either. Crafting and gathering also saw a significant boost in skill point gain for more challenging synthesis and accrual. The developers were even gracious enough to speed up the gathering animations to reduce tedium. To put even more icing on the cake, they also boosted skill point gain for ranks 20-24 (previous patches saw a boost for 1-20) so new players would have a smoother leveling curve.