I asked Salty in stream once about the time gated tasks. She admitted it’s a way to encourage daily gameplay.
Cannot agree more. I actually started my own guild because I didn’t want to have to be forced to use discord. I do have discord for my guild now but it’s optional. I don’t like forcing anything out of game when it should be in game.
F2P games often have a paid speed up mechanic, and I have no issues with those. The “wait” part is what I struggle with, and I think others too. If there was something I could farm, something I could actively do, even if it’s slower, that’s fine. Twiddling thumbs? Not so much. 