I think the same thing has happened with regard to the Noble kids. People don't want to be spending so much time with characters they don't care too much about when they could be spending it with the awesome characters they already know. I've seen a lot of bitching about them lately. Apart from Roxy. Everyone ****ing loves Roxy. I myself am eagerly awaiting when John and co come back into the spotlight.
Personally though I enjoyed Alterniabent and beyond a lot more than the previous acts because there was a lot less faffing around with sylladex bullshit and was more of an actual adventure story with a plot and conflict. Plus the trolls were so interesting and had ~Vriska~. 😍