Yeah, I've always been quite dissapointed with what ArmA 3 has brought. The only thing I really like is the new engine, but it seems like they didn't add a lot of the things that everyone hoped for in ArmA, while subsequently adding features that nobody really likes (Like the Michael Bay style car explosions that were dismissed as a no-bug on the feedback tracker).
Playing with mods solves a lot of these issues, but there are RARELY ever servers with mods up. While Life, Wasteland and similar are fun missions they seem to be the only thing 99% of the ArmA community plays. Vanilla co-op missions can be fun but they get old fast with the lack of new features expected in Arma 3.