Last stand has the best difficulty tuning out of any game mode I remember wargaming releasing (playing since 2014)
All the posts complaining about the difficulty of the game mode (especially of the last stage) reveal how many people play the game for the rewards, not to actually have fun.
It seems that many people grind the game mode despite not enjoying it all that much just to reach the higher tier of rewards. But I don't think that many of them realise that the 20+ hours of game time it will take them to grind it out isn't really worth the like ~15euros worth of rewards they will receive. Logically thinking, is it really a good deal to do something you don't enjoy and receive like 0.7$/h for your time? Might as well go to a job and work for 2 hours and then just buy those shards or crew members you are sacrificing your sanity and enjoyment of the game to grind out.
While the first two stages are accessible to be beaten by almost anyone, I think it's awesome that the last stage of the game mode offers actual challenge and requires high level of cooperation from the team (even if it still is somewhat rng because depending on the spawn place of the boss it might make some of the runs close to unbearable).
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On a side note, another unpopular opinion - I think it is great that there is an actual reason to platoon and play with other people in this MULTIPLAYER game that we are playing, if you don't want to spend hours gambling and waiting to get good teammates while qing solo!