My experiences with MK8D are mixed, honestly. Keeping the community in mind, the game has led to me to travelling and meeting several legends in person. As corny as it sounds, it's been one of the best life experiences I've had. Bonding with folks here has been a rollercoaster over the years though, with the hype meetups comes the sadness of long term clans dying and disconnecting with people you've talked to for years.
As for the game itself, I'm personally okay with it as it is, mainly because at the end of the day, I know it's Mario Kart. I typically don't really gripe about items or lag, it exists in every game. Perhaps it's because I'm not nearly as active as others on the game, who knows.