Difficult raiding content is expensive to make and serves small proportions of MMO communities. The cost of making games has ballooned compared to earlier giants of the industry that boasted impressive, challenging raiding. Hardcore raiders were the obvious first niche for the chopping block to cut costs while also broadening the appeal so that the games can return a profit to investors. This is industry-wide, not just here.

The sad truth is that the only reason any hardcore raiders came to this game in the first place is the absence of games that cater to that audience.