I don't think I would say it was TOO user friendly near the end. And I think a lot of the reactions depend on how long you had been playing. I started right before I3. I have a TON of fond memories of trying to get to Steel Canyon Icon without getting pummeled. I took it as a challenge, and made it into a minigame. Same with the train lines not being connected. After a while though, I had created so many alts that all I really wanted was a quick way to accomplish the things I wanted to do. Not the levelling up part. I was fine with how long it took, even in the obnoxiously slow level ranges.
The problem was, with the new people. OK, poor wording choice. What I mean is, new people never had to deal with any of those things. For them, these benefits simply made everything easier for them, and was normal. There are always going to be those who want everything now, without having to do any real work for them, but at least on Guardian, those people seemed to be in the minority. The changes making things easier just made the game that much easier to enjoy, for newbies as well as old timers. For some of the old timers, it engenders feelings of "When I was a kid, we walked to school, uphill! Both ways!"
I don't think they made the game too easy. I think they made it more enjoyable for more people. i do sometimes feel a bit sad that newer people didn't get to have some of the fun the earlier players had. How many stories have we all read about hovering all the way across the Hollows, or the long trips back from the hospital after getting smacked down yards away from your mission entrance?