New headwriters!

The first quit before the first episode even aired. Her partner, I know, had just been brought on by her as her writing partner, so even though I don't believe he quit, it likely was only a matter of time.

As I understand it, their reason for hiring those original writers was because they needed experienced soap writers who could crank out stories in a relatively short time, due to their production schedules. But now that they've reduced the amount of episodes airing per week, and the production schedule isn't as intense as it used to be, they can now slow down and develop long-term stories.

The new writers were hired because they are a better fit for the new online schedule. If you look at their credits, they've done a lot of work on primetime dramas/soaps. The new schedule is more akin to a primetime show than a daytime soap and these new writers are more adept at working in that arena than the previous writers, who have worked mostly in Daytime.

Primetime dramas/soaps have serialized long-term storylines just like Daytime, but they're able to adeptly tell them over the course of 13-22 episodes per season, whereas Daytime storylines tend to last months on end and cover 80+ episodes. That usually dilutes the story and drains the excitement out of it. Because primetime shows work within a 3-9 month period with only so many episodes, they're able to get straight to the point and have very little filler. That seems to be the aim of the shows.

I've been a fan of comics since I was 8 and creative shakeups happen all the time. Often shortly after a writer and artist come on a title. No matter what the particulars are surrounding the shift, a lot of times it's for the best. Stories that are designed to last for years and years needs to constantly have new talent come aboard with new ideas. You can't have the same people writing for years on end because they're run out of ideas and end up repeating themselves. Shuffling the creative team brings a fresh approach to the characters and the stories. Also, with new creators comes new characters and as much as I love old characters, I also enjoy new ones for their storytelling potential.

Anyway, to sum things up, the original writers were hired because they were skilled at handling a heaving writing and production schedule. But, they were dismissed because they probably weren't accustomed to plotting a show with fewer episodes. These new writers were hired because they are and they are a better fit for the current direction.