I agree with this time-wasting part needs to hit the curb. How does standing around or rushing through things teach me how to raid?
I have raided in FFXI and in WoW. FFXI is a god at wasting time, but Wildstar is reminding me of the one thing I hated about FFXI...wasting time to "move" to the next step.
I'm casual player. Currently, thanks to a broken ankle, I can log on a bit more. Once I finally get to return to work, that time is going to be cut to only a few hours a day/week. I will not have this "time" to waste.

Runes I understand when it comes to elemental slots. Makes people have to re-run content, thus making current content last long. Or re-buy, and thus becomes one of the many money sinks.
Extra slot rune, money sink sink (or have to re-run tings for drop). But upgrading lets you do just that, upgrade if nothing better drops for a long period of time.

As for the reroll element roll, I see this being a troll item. I foresee many QQ. If this new item drops from dungeons, why not let runes be rerolled an infinite time. It..... makes people have to re-run content.

If Carbine really wants to remove the "maintenance" with runes. Be the 1st to let people remove them :D

Is weekend runes, just for the "weekend"? If so, lame.

As to the bleach dye, I for one really only want it for Costumes. I would think all game costumes all share the same color pallet? I mean, until someone dyes their's, the Highway Man jacket is Blackish-Grey. Random quest item/drops I see "meh" to, and also to NPC gear. With the help of an add-on, you can go and see what the item looks like before buying. But being able to get back to default on costume gear, that would be a great idea. I might not be too worried to dye them.