Agreed. I suppose we just have a minor disagreement in how often.
I agree, and Civil War is a great example of when it works. I think in large part because there was no central single-minded villain sucking up all the attention. Maybe I just prefer wordier comics, but the conversations and memorable dialogue is what I liked most out of it. The philosophical disagreements and straining relationships. I totally get what you mean now with the interconnectedness, I love that too, I guess I'm just more skeptical of the execution and whether strong villains are necessary for that to take place. I remember thinking, for example, that Blackest Night was going to be much better than it ended up being because of that first issue. Ralph's possessed body was tormenting the Hawks with his memories, taunting them in such a personal way, and invoking their tragic prophecy. I couldn't wait for more characters to come back from the dead and wreak havoc on the consciences of the living heroes by filling them with guilt. But no, what we got was a power ranger like endowment of different color rings left and right and a speech by the guardians about Earth being the center of the universe and the cradle of life and blah blah blah. Still enjoyable, but an example of why I think big events should be done sparingly, to better ensure that they're done well.
I guess because I stopped reading shortly after the New 52 and just started with Rebirth, I find the solo adventures getting back to the core of the characters more refreshing. I'll go back and read the recent era of big threats soon enough.