They opened it up to 3-4 lootboxes a month, and 1 lootbox per week, instead of just 1 lootbox per month. Blizzard probably had to fight NetEase hard for it as they have final say on monetization.
An improvement for FTP but gem power remains fully paywalled.
Which was something that YouTube content creators missed in their reviews. You're guaranteed at least "some" gem power if you do choose to spend money, but the amount of gem power you get per dollar is nothing worth talking about. A creator could have done a spreadsheet using a 100 crests purchased and used the % chance for gems, then calculate how much gem power you could get at minimum if they wanted to expose the so-called "pay2win" system.
There isn't a lot of winning. Just paying. It was never about getting a 5 star gem. Even powering a 1 star gem costs quite a bit of money.
Glad you are getting caught up on the thread though. We learned Cheng can call shots on D4, which is relevant to your interests (D4).