It was pretty much the same story for me (although much earlier, in the 1.2 days I think).
Gnome was great but you couldn’t rely on anything. They loved removing stuff to make it more “lean” or changing it to match their “vision”. They didn’t care about their users, only their circlejerk.
I’m not sure it has changed a lot in since then. I’m glad I dropped that dumpster fire. I still have no idea why it’s the default on so many systems.
At least there are many great options for those who want something else.