It was the best of times - and the worst of times! Wait, scratch that first bit on reflection...
So, I managed to get into the mushroom instance. The mobs inside appear to drop 3 out of 4 mats for getting in subsequently, so noobs not needed for gathering those low-mob mats! Yes, one mat is crafted using stuff noobs can gather, but I have a feeling the balancing will turn out to be "§$% poor again. Why only a feeling? Because the blasted instance was so laggy I couldn't even do it in safe mode - and have now crashed out a couple of times after screen freezes of a minute or so! I've not logged in again from my last crash, so dunno my loot composition and whether it effs up AG mobs' mus. It may do...
There is at least one more instance, accessible from AG, that's the Muloch (or whatever), but getting the mission done to get in isn't quick - and no idea what the rewarded armour line will be like. If it's as laggy as the mushroom - and tougher to do, then forget it! The gorgon is FAR more accessible and inviting! Apparently there is info in the lore, which is nice, I suppose, but not a substitute for gameplay - and you tend to only read lore once anyway...
Whether or not firepower gets diverted from AG, and for how long, remains to be seen, but I'm not very happy right now.
edit: oh, adding a buff bonus to whoever provides the sweat for a gorg/shade run is a nice step, but I've not heard what the given buff is. Dunno if I've missed anything else I'd call a positive in this vu, or even if the the buff can be called a positive... sorry, that's the state of things for this NI/AG inhabitant at this time...