And the way I see why these areas were eliminated was because people complained they weren't getting invites to 6 man parties and failing to exp was killing the game so in order to keep leveling interested was to expand the limit to 18 man alliances which would make certain areas popular and full bringing the majority of the player base to certain areas.
Just the same as I mentioned before the rope has 2 sides, if the adjustment is made for a good cause a sacrifice is always made.
Speeding the leveling phase to less than half a day made most auction house gear irrelevant.
Allowing 18 man alliances and GOV pages sacrificed leveling at old maps and 6 man Skillchain groups.
Adjustments are made based on a general view of what can benefit the majority.
Most events today is based on keeping big groups and the majority of the playerbase together than fall apart.