First of all, I’d like to point out that the development team and I don’t have the mindset of trying to force people to play all types of content that we bring to the game, and by this I don’t mean just crafting and gathering.
This is interesting because I was certain the crafting and gathering changes were intended to encourage people who didn't like crafting and gathering into trying it. I see no other reason for simplifying it and making it so easy.

Did they actually think what we have now is what the dedicated crafter/gatherers wanted?