Square enix headed in the same direction blizzard did with WoW.

[Dnc]

I would say pruning of the skills etc isn't the biggest reason why WoW is struggling, but rather the vapid progression system. Sure, they have admitted they have pruned skills too much and will(?) be rolling it back a bit at some point. But still.

Anywho, I have to partially agree. I did get some WoW vibes when I found out how much has been pruned from the jobs. Like an omen, a glimpse of the horrible future that might be. With that said, some pruning was necessary to avoid horribly bloated hotbars.

[Wawachume]

As someone who quit WoW just before BfA, I kind of agree with the OP. But on the other hand, I don't think it's as big a problem here.

The real problem with WoW pruning, at least for me, isn't that it oversimplified combat. It's that it oversimplified combat when combat was the only thing WoW had going for it.

WoW, and certainly modern WoW, has boring crafting, few transmogs I like, no player housing, antiquated graphics, an (IMO) ugly visual style, a minimal story extended by gating, and much less social interaction than other MMORPGs. Once the combat was hollowed out, there was just nothing left for me to do and no reason to stay subscribed.

(In fairness, I really miss WoW zone design. I wish SE would start putting little interesting places to explore in their zones.)