I have been buying guns for almost 7 years. This is the best experience I've had when I had an appointment. Many others have said the same. Knowing when to go and not waiting in a needless line is amazing. DMV, etc all use appointments.
Yup I tried to swap and it didn't work. Was still far better overall than previously. I've had many successful appointments with no issues. HPD seemed to be happier too, much more efficient.
There are other factors:
Permit and Registration has been separated into to physically separate areas. No longer have everyone in one line.
Number of officers servicing us has increased -- necessitated to man two areas now.
No longer have to stand in the same, single line to pick up permits. Basically took one line and split it into three: Permit applications, Permit Pickup, and Registration.
Many forms can be printed and completed online now. Before, even if you tried to use the online forms, depending on which officer you got, you probably had to redo them using the forms they handed you.
Most of the process is digitized now instead of using the old multi-copy forms.
Fingerprinting is all digital now. Before, only out-of-state registrations used the digital for submission to the national stolen firearms database. All other "normal" permit applicants used ink printing.
So, you can pretend online appointments made the difference, but we all know that's not the case.