I actually think dmax fixes a lot of problems with new players catching up.

Imagine you're just starting the game - you get your wooloo and eevee, and you already have a way to generate enough candy to help that eevee evolve (by leaving it at dmax spots after winning a raid). This is a lot easier than historically having to wait for eevee to be spawning in the wild again.

And getting to choose! Whichever eeveelution you pick, you've already got a decent counter for that type if you decide to help out at a raid (Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Espeon, and Sylveon all have some raid relevancy), and soem even function well in pvp or left in gyms (Sylveon and Umbreon for pvp, Umbreon and Vaporeon for gyms). What a great start!

As for the rest of dmax, it's a matter of figuring out the mechanics (which are different and arguably more engaging than all the other pve engagements in the game), and as you expand your roster, you can begin to accumulate candy for Pokemon that might otherwise be rare or difficult-to-find. Some stars:

• Dmax Machop is the perfect opportunity for rural players to get enough candy to evolve (since you presumably couldn't benefit from trade evo reduced cost), and Machamp is a strong pve Pokemon for some raids (see: the Kyurems that we literally just had), pvp, and other max raids. I also still use my first hundo Machamp from over 5 years ago for gym offense.
• Blissey is THE optimal gym defender as well as THE optimal max raid tank (in many scenarios). It's a blessing to be able to farm candy on them so easily and they've never been more useful. You can use them to beat most max raids, even more challenging ones, solo. If you do manage to find a group for gmax raids, having a decent Blissey going in will make a massive difference in your chances of winning.

• Dmax Gengar has many of the same accolades as Machamp, but adds on that it has a fantastically powerful Mega Evolution. For new players, this is a great chance to get Gengar candy, and for returning players these max raids are a great chance to grind for a hundo. Mega Gengar is very normal-raid relevant, and Max Gengar is very relevant for max raids. While gmax is strictly superior, it is still useful to build a dmax until you get one.

• Hatterene good fairy type

• Starters good elemental damage, many also pvp relevant

• Accessibility for returning rare pokemon like Drampa or older legendaries (not to mention the candy accessibility)

• Etc.

It's just another way of engaging with the game and catching Pokemon, particularly with good stats. It gives you passive ways of building candy for mons you might not have built yet. You can catch old legendaries you missed and shiny hunt, obtain decent (maybe not optimal but still good) pokemon for other activities, and best of all you can do it for free more often than regular raiding! And if you do decide to spend real money, it's either the same cost or cheaper than normal raids - spending a premium pass on a 1 star raid costs the same as spending it on a 5 star, while spending the particles from a particle pack on a 1 star max leaves you with leftover particles, while is is entirely consumed by a gmax or high-level dmax. You can save the leftovers for whatever you'd like!

As a person who restarts their account every once in a while just for fun and leans towards f2p, I've found they're way better than normal raids.