4.85 was epitome of discovery. 4.86 was also pretty chill even if unpolished gem to say at least.
I am one of those bitter vets you describe but I saw guard systems at large as nothing more than artistic impression of those systems owners. All they had to do was to be thrown though QA and kept out of the way. Before my thread was locked, I proposed Omicron Epsilon, the Order Guard formerly as a gateway to wild untapped Nom worlds. I miss Omega 50, the Reapers of Sirius homesystem before Cayman came to being. I miss Duesseldorf, the Unioner Guard even if it was boring in design - all it needed was adding more substance to become a quintessential passage system for smugglers around Hellfire Legion lands. Yes, there was bad (entire GC planet while I miss too, was somewhat stupid) but what was to be lost? If nobody ever went there, the system did not detract from the activity hubs. If anything, removal of those systems and among other things detracted from exploration. I am playing Elite Dangerous to sate my explorer vibe. I rather play Freelancer for this purpose too.