I finally ended up pre-ordering against my better judgement, reasoning that I've gotten at least that amount of enjoyment out of the game since EoD dropped.

I have yet to log in since the new one dropped, but my expectations broadly mirror yours: it's new content, and having it available means you buy it or you're left behind, but all the major changes to systems generally are all clear moves away from things I prefer to things I don't prefer, with the lone possible exception of PvE Open World legendary armor.