Yeah, but at the same time players in "the good old time" put up with it. So why are players so enraged about grinding nowadays Torghast for 30 minutes each week, even if they can even choose when to do it? Probably because of multiple factors:
Players don't want to put up with what they perceive as "stupid grinds" anymore, especially when the game feels like full of them, and most of them are on a daily schedule: rep grind here, renown grind (which also feels randomized), world quest grind, soul ash grind. "Do this or you're not flying."
Also, bringing in catch-up mechanics for these grinds for all players just sitting out x.0 devalues the grind earlier players do. This led to the sentiment to wait until x.3, where all catch up is in place, play for a month or two and come back at the next expansion. This feels bad for players who really want to play the game now: "Why do we have to do all these grinds, when it's obviously just arbitrary design to keep us logging in daily?" Blizzard allowed players to peek behind the curtain, and now the magic is gone. The grinds don't feel rewarding anymore: When you see another player who went through that grind you don't feel kinship, but ask yourself if he got it easy by waiting it out.
Flying is another thing: Players expected that, but The Maw felt especially bad: Not only removing mounts, but also having a (perceived) timer breathing down their neck, limiting their time in the zone. One of the advertised new features of the new expansion felt oppressive, especially on the casual end of the players. This was the first time the casuals felt the "we'll make a timer to make it harder" mechanic of M+, (even if it wasn't a real time) and they hated it.
