Your average player I would argue is considerably better than they were back in HW. However, equally, the level of difficulty has not increased proportionately to the increase in skill of the players, so it feels that everything has gotten considerably easier. - That's just the blight of getting better and having more experience

I will say though, somewhat contrary to the point above. The mechanics in many respects have gotten harder, outside of a few outliers, e.g., Ivalice vomit, but on the other hand how hard they hit, and the punishment for failing just doesn't quite feel there, and to an extent where they just cancel out, e.g., feeling like you can just ignore some mechanics outright..