User blog comment:MiraMajin/Now that FT is about to end.../@comment-25111584-20170526132902

It... depends on what your expectations are from FT. Mashima changed his priorities after Tenrou arc.

Uptil then, while one could connect most arcs (Ultear, Balam Alliance, etc.), they were mostly self-contained. Due to this, Mashima didn't have to worry much about character roles and relevance. He could do what FT promised since the beginning. Some feels, awesome action and a barrel of immature laughs. Post-Tenrou (technically when he started to write it), he apparently decided that the manga needed an endgame, which is understandable. However... either he had too many ideas and simply got himself confused (alongside creating waaaaay too many characters) or he simply didn't get used to the change... or he found himself going the Rave way and pulled back, making everything look half-arsed. Or, most likely, a combination of all three. Whatever it is, he simply wasn't able to piece together a proper plotline and ended up making up BS at the last minute (which, much to my chagrin, pretty much sums up Gray's role post-Tenrou .-.).

And, of course, there're the more condemnable changes (imo anyway). Mashima decided to pander to the shippers and hero-worshippers. Family feels and common sense were abandoned in favour of shipping material, friends hardly interacted, and newer characters were nothing but fodder for wanking the characters the targetted audience liked. Things took an even worse turn after Ajeel vs. Erza, with proper action being replaced by big booms and punches because that's what the targetted audience considers badarse. *glances at the incessant demands for E.N.D. and Dragon Natsu*

TL;DR: Mashima targetted a certain part of the fanbase post-Tenrou. If you belong to that, good for you. Otherwise you have to fend for yourself as best you can. He also decided to write towards an endgame, but that is irrelevant.