As someone who has a pretty wholistic approach to the game (I was heavily invested in gyms, and I was and continue to be heavily invested in raiding, PvP and collection aspects) and also someone who tries pretty hard to consider perspectives and preferences contrary to my own, your last point is something I very often bring up when giving PoGo investment advice to new players. I recommend that they build budget foundational teams for raiding (because as you say - they are a means to an end) and save resources until they have a better idea of what they want to get out of the game, which could mean PvP, raiding, trophy collecting, hoarding dust forever, or something else entirely.

I'll also add that the old "team of 6x top counter" goal is much further out of reach now than it ever was before due to the XL system. Even if you're willing to put money into the game, collecting the XL to max 6 of one legendary has a huge price tag for both time and money, near impossible for the vast majority. And while there is of course no practical need to max out those teams, it's the implicit "need" for those subscribed to the "best of the best raider" playstyle. I'm glad that I never went for that - first as an idiosyncratic playstyle choice, then as it became clear that power creep was inevitable, and cemented by the XL system. Instead, I have a lot of fun fully investing in 1x of a huge variety of Pokemon, including useless trophies.

Edit: I also want to add, the thing that especially upset me was the introduction of Apex Ho-oh and Lugia. It's similar to the Zapdos Day fiasco, but with worse implications for my specific playstyle. My long-term goal is to max out exactly 1 of each legendary, and with that in mind it should be the single best possible one. Mainly that means waiting until I get a perfect, however long that takes. Apex forms really screwed that up, and I have no real recourse other than ignoring Apex entirely.