Have fractals changed?

I came back to the game a few months ago after a 4+ year break. I havent touched a fractal in over 4 years. I just ran three without breaking a sweat. Did they make these fractals infinitely easier? I ran a low level one, but Im not even talking about the damage as much as I am about the mechanics of the fractal.

If I remember, for example, didn't cliffside used to have a boss at the bottom with the hammer in the beginning? And when you had to alternate breaking the two seals, werent there more mobs that healed up the seals ?

Did a lot of this change?

I remember nightmares of fractal runs, taking 45 minutes to an hour. It is why I have stayed away from fractals since I came back to the game.

We completed 3 in 40 minutes easily. I understand they'll get a bit tougher as the fractal level goes up, but way back in the day it was the mechanics of the fractal, not the dmg of mobs/bosses that gave us trouble.

Fractals are split into 4 tiers. T1 and 2 are essy, t3 has the game's worst pugs and 4 is where mechanics matter if you don't do enough dps to skip them. Also the most challenging fractals are in t4: shattered observatory and nightmare challenge motes.

Same as Orr, HoT and any other not fully-afk content in GW2 :

1) players who couldn't do the content easily demanded it be made easier2) content is made easier3) players overall get lazier and worse because the content allows it

Then they pretend this is how GW2 must be. Everything must be easy and super trivial for casuals, frankly if it's possible to fail they'll do it AND blame game design for it. Yes, fractals are much easier than before. You won't notice this in your T4 pug runs, they're just as slow if not worse. Players automatically adjust to the ... lack of difficulty in content.

But if you do CMs then suddenly T4 fractals are a breeze, as long as your group doesn't fall apart ;)

Some were streamlined to flow better and not get so bogged down. Swampland was improved greatly with easier trap section and mossman, but mechanically improved end boss.

Cliffside lost its first boss yes, but not because of difficulty. Fractals also have tiers, so early tiers will def feel easier as some of the mechanics were moved into mid/upper tiers. It was never a case of making them easier (although player skill has improved so they often mistakenly) think it has been, more streamlining them to make them more what fractals should be - short bursts of dungeons.