I find Oystercards easier than the old paper tickets; it is a little bit faster and this means less crowding in rush hour. Also the plastic Oyster cards are much more durable than the paper tickets, which means they don't get munged so easily in pockets and so on. With paper weekly and monthly season tickets I was forever having to get the gate attendant to let me in and out because even keeping it in a little plastic wallet, I managed to wreck the paper ticket enough that the machines would not read it.

I can't compare to the token system you were using as I have never used it.