Steps was different as it was MSQ (as you point out), so everyone had to do it to progress the storyline, and a large portion of the playerbase couldn't handle a fight where mechanics couldn't be ignored. A sad state of affairs, but I understand why they nerfed it.

A6S was only being attempted by a few anyway, and raiders are expecting to be challenged, so the nerf was a bit of a surprise, and, speaking only for myself, I didn't so much complain about the nerf as feel a bit disappointed. We were quite close to clearing, and just tightening up the last few runs. We have since cleared post-nerf, so I guess maybe our group was the exact sort of people they implemented the nerf for, but it was still a bit disappointing that we never got the clear before.

Think they were overly nervous they'd have another A3 on their hands, which did break groups, and there was a lot of other weird fallout with people moving servers and stuff trying to find groups