There are 2 problems with this :
- there should be no reason someone who is dedicated enough (or makes enough sacrifices, however that sounds) couldnt get all of those much faster than now
- the campaign is relatively unrewarding as it is, gating it behind Excelsior does not change that, it only artificially inflates the time needed to complete it which is completely unnecessary (unless BB has no alternatives of prolonging the lifetime of the game).
and/or map fragments. Maybe you have had no use of them for so long you have forgotten they exist?
Bottleneck is because of gems from short letters. Thats why they cant rebalance properly when they add new content in Excelsior. As you visit test server you should know this.
Current goal seems to be adding up to 5 quests for a total gain of 20-30 extra crystals a week. For a non premium player that is a significant increase. Also the shards are not supposed to be the main reward of those quests. I think the players wont see it that way but there it is.
Did the new version on test and its pretty simple now without whirlwind requirement.
Pros
It gives free buffs
It gives free crystals (eventually)
It paves way for similar quests
Cons
I might have to run my fairycastle again after all these years
Any new content is good content in my book, just ask the anno players in your guild.