Taking the big picture view, I remember reading that SE is paying close attention to clear rates in regards to development for 4.0 and beyond. At this rate, we're very close to having raids getting scrapped entirely SWTOR style.

Personally, I'm ambivalent to any such change. I have cleared soph ex many times but due to rl time constraints I can't do anything more than fill in once in a while as a temp for a savage static. Hence I probably represent a sizable chunk of "casual" players who don't need raid content to be able to play. But I suppose if you have lots more time to play, not having raids or viable PvP makes it dicey.