Job action combos one button

[Shurrikhan]

PvP too was also more engaging on the gameplay level before they did this.

Again, though, you're conflating actions with buttons. Those changes did not just consolidate our actions. They reduced them by nearly half.

A HW PVP DRG, for instance, effectively had some ~20 real, separable actions (no, I do not count but one move per combo among those, as we'd still never rush or reset them even in PvP). It then added 5 further (much more interesting) PvP skills atop that, for a total of ~25.
Now, a PVP DRG has just 12 separable actions, and then just 2 (much less interesting) PvP skills, for a total of 14.

That pruning was in no small part because they felt the button counts were overwhelming. Had they just consolidated the bloat beforehand, that wouldn't have been an issue, nor an available excuse for action/decision pruning.