Lo and behold this interview with Yoshi P.

"With regards to the changes for Viper, we had adjusted right until the last minute and we did have in mind the possibility that some players might provide feedback that it was too busy to play," Yoshida begins. "We did release the job in that state, and then we found a lot of players say it was very busy to play to the extent that they were not able to see mechanics.
Correct. There were several posts on the official forums that mentioned just how busy Viper is.





A lot of players also said that the changes are good:



Yoshida explains that while the team eventually went through with the adjustments, this was "unrelated to the community feedback," although he thinks there "probably there was some misunderstanding on the community's part" in regards to this. He adds: "I do remember on social media, especially in North America and in Europe, some people were saying, 'Hey, Yoshida, you're listening too much to community feedback,' but that was only a little bit so really you don't need to worry."
This is a very positive direction for Square Enix to go. Square Enix is avoiding the classic pitfall of MMO developers of listening to community feedback. The Viper changes is borne out of their vision for the game and not silly ideas like "feedback".

GamesRadar's journalist also writes a completely factual fact in a factual piece reporting on this news, that:

Clearly, the team had the community's best interests in mind, even if there was no way everyone would be pleased.
This is not opinion, but fact. Square Enix has the community's best interests in mind and knows better than us. Unfortunately, the FF14 community does not understand SE's design choice. But not to worry, Square Enix does not need to listen to feedback and are making changes for our own good, despite our protests.