Almost no one says it was harder, it was just more involved, it took time to do things, there was NO instant gratification, and many people like that... The world felt big, right now it feels tiny. The world felt dangerous, now it feels pathetic and weak.
5 mans were definitely more involved than they are now, requiring CC, pulling carefully, now it's just pull group->everyone spams AoE, even when doing mythic+ at +10 or +15, whatever the max is for reward chest ilvl at the given time.
Leveling was definitely harder, I enjoyed that, you had to, much like 5 mans, pull carefully, CC any additional adds you accidentally pulled so you wouldn't die. Now it's just, like 5 mans, pull whatever->spam AoEs or 1-2 hit kill everything.
Leveling should be an anti-power fantasy, the
world should feel strong, not you, and you the player are fighting through it to prove your worth, to
become a hero, you aren't the hero from the start, leveling should be your journey to try to get there. Anti-power fantasy gives things meaning, makes it feel like there is actually danger, like there are stakes, like you're really needed. If everything is a pushover, it all feels pointless, 99.99% of the time it feels like there is no danger because we're basically invincible murder machines running around with god mode toggled on.
Being able to kill same'ish level mobs completely naked shouldn't even be remotely possible, let alone
this easy (so far that monk is up to lvl 68 and still kills stuff while naked that quickly, it's not fun).
my 2c