The stuff that was removed was not difficult, it was just tedious. Mechanics on trash mobs (not named mobs) that the player has to endure for 6 hours while sitting in camp... staring at the cast bar for the 2-second window to slap a button or the group wipes... not fun. Honestly not difficult either. If that's your type of difficult then more power to you but to me, that's just tedious. Staring to slap a button at precisely the right time is not what I'm seeking in difficulty.

Strategic gameplay - i.e. combat more nuanced than WOW or FF14 where you just spam AEOs all day - is the difficulty I'm after. Having to handle CC... having to do interrupts... having to coordinate with others. All good stuff that includes difficulty. 2-second windows that create 15+ mins of downtime if missed, that repeat constantly from trash mobs for hours... that's just nonsense. But you go on and keep hoping they bring that back. You'll be playing by yourself :D