Seems to me people complained about cone aoe's being inferior for years and years and years as though standing at one side of a mass of enemies and aiming inwards was somehow difficult.

Devs unfortunately listen and see the sustained complaint over such a long period and wonder "why would they want the worse aoe pattern that has half the range in exchange for hitting behind?" but eventually cave in anyways and now the complaining has turned the other way because complaining is apparently the only thing people on forums are capable of