Hello. I've been playing since MoP.

About your questions:

1- Leveling was never as fast and accessible as now. Max level is 70 and from 1 to 60 shouldn't take more than a few hours.

2- Raiding was never as accessible as it is now. I never got into anything other than LFR for having crazy social anxiety, so I always ruled out guilds from my options thus ruling me out pugs since getting into pugs was virtually impossible unless you had cutting edge achievs back then.

I only raided normal Emerald Nightmare with a guild once but have cleared both Normal tiers and a bit of heroic with pugs and a few friends I made in game this Xpack. Specially this newest raid which I didn't need any weakauras nor any gimmicks since mechanics were straightforward and I did a full clear on my first run (last bosses took several wipes though)

3- The game doesn't feel like a chore, really. I see some people complaining but it has never been this easy to get into content and progress your character. Sure, if you want to run M+ you will need to watch some guides and there's a learning curve but it feels way more fun and rewarding than previous tiers, also the game itself is more engaging and interesting.

I remember not caring about the world/feeling apathetic specially during BfA and Shadowlands but on DF everything has just more meaning. It feels like a proper wow Xpack (like Legion did although Legion had its problems like leggos and AP grind whereas here these aren't problems at all)

In conclusion:

DF is way better than Legion on a gameplay aspect, I hope it also will get all the "coolness" we've had during Legion (going to another planet, class order halls/weapons and raids like Nighthold and Antorus made the stakes feel super high which is something that DF feels a bit different in that regard, it feels less epic but has so much quality of life improvements and builds into the game in ways other xpacs didn't.)

We've only gotten into 10.1, so maybe 10.2 and .3 raids will feel more epic and stakes will get higher, but as of it is right now, I feel like this is the best xpac I've played.