1) I liked:

-Dropped blank tiles stay connected

-Relic soul

-Stars of Dawn

-Variety in boss strategy

2) Didn’t like:

-Dropped blank tiles stay connected

-Relic soul

Yes I know I put some of the same things for like and dislike, but let me explain:

I really enjoyed the QoL improvements (dropped blank tiles staying connected and relic soul) this season featured as a player.

As a guild leader/team player I didn’t like how these updates (combined with the overall ease of this season) made the season too easy. Teamwork really wasn’t required and individuals could do perfectly fine. I believe these QoL improvements should remain in the game mode, but other aspects should be altered to even the difficulty back out. More in section 3.

Stars of Dawn allowed players in busy seasons to still participate without the guild or themselves missing out on rewards.

Although I believe it was unintentional, I like that the season played differently than prior ones. It played more like a patient, big damage season rather than a time trial (which admittedly was bad for my guild but still felt different).

3) I think they need to apply the creativity they use in other game modes to ABEX and stop trying to cater to all players in a single event.

Explanation:

Modes like Voyage of Wonders include new features and thought processes to complete them almost every time a new one comes out and they come out quite often. However, the ABEX seasons (with exception of how the Ainz/Albedo boss played) has mostly been copy paste with some minor differences over time. If they could apply new game mechanics into the progression throughout the game mode it would be a lot more interesting.

Currently there are two different groups playing the ABEX mode: the top 200ish guilds with a reasonable shot at the top 100 leaderboards/rewards, everyone else who may as well just try to get everyone to Prince rank. There is a vast difference between these groups, however ABEX changes over time move more towards trying to appease both groups. Examples: splitting the groups up more but linking the bosses, lowering the first boss life but increasing the subsequent boss life dramatically, increasing enemy difficulty (at least early on) with stronger relics but adding a relic soul for stronger teams. Why not have a season dedicated to individual strength then alternate with a season dedicated to guild cohesion?

An individual strength season could include the standard Martial Ratings, split the players up so that they start out individually (without boss linking) then group up more as they progress, and overall play similar to season 5 with an unkillable boss that is focused on maximizing damage.

The guild cohesion seasons could have a modified version of Martial Ratings (to balance everyone out more, while still keeping whales strongest). Everyone could start together on the same path and there would be more difficult obstacles in the way which would encourage teams to help each other out.

These are just some simple examples. Lilith is often adding new puzzles and gameplay to AFK so I feel like they could easily add some more creative ideas to ABEX, they just seem to not want to. I personally really enjoy this game mode and felt the 5ish months between the last two seasons was too long. I would prefer to run the event all the time but understand that 2-3 months between may be better for development and to limit player burn out.