It's easy to think that as content is easier, it should be easier for players to become 'hardcore' or 'masters of their class' (so to speak). Another way of thinking is that the harder it is to achieve something, the more certain people will strive for it because of it's difficulty and challenge. If something is easy then lots of people won't bother going for it and would rather seek a challenge elsewhere. It's the reason hardmode raids exist, to please those not satisfied with the regular normal mode.
That's jsut my 2 cents on the matter.