There is some truth above, as well as in many of the responses to it. The game is ridiculously easy now. That is good and bad.
Remember when we had to complete a trial to respec? When was the last time folks ran Tree of Thorns Respecification Trial without a weekly prompt? I've done it once since coming back.
@nihilii has something with "I still think the weekly TF was one of the best changes ever introduced to this game. Driving focused activity, bringing players together. Extending that behavior to more areas of the game could do so much." +100
@Excraft yes, "People have different preferences. Options are a good thing."
@ShardWarrior yes, "Trying to paint AE, farmers and farming as the sole reasons", I agree. It's not as simple as one thing.
I think the point is:
For a new person, everything in the game is new content. Skipping all or much of that content in a race to an endgame which doesn't exist could be a disservice.
Absolutely folks should be able to play how they want. This is not the same as the game disproportionately rewarding play that over capitalizes on specific game mechanics.
We're all familiar with the challenges of finding balance.