Mary the Prophetess wrote:
"If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck,...."
At any rate, you can make whatever case you care to make as to whether LU-20 was totally unrelated to PvP or not. (and no, I do not stay up at night listening to 'Coast to Coast', thank-you very much for your sarcasim)
One thing that many of the posters here do not seem to have an appreciation of, is the impact that this has had to the solo Ranger, and the casual gamer.
When released this game was touted as appealing to the casual player. The working parent, who only has 2-3 nights a week to play and can only stay in-game for an hour or two per session.
I fall into that category. I would like to think that after playing MMORPGs for 9 years, and playing EQ2 since launch, that I know how to play my class competently (if not perfectly).
Post LU-20:
Can I still solo? Yes.
Do I still advance? Yes.
Do I die more frequently? Perhaps slightly, but not significantly more often.
So, what's the problem?
The problem is that becuase of these changes, the types of things I can solo has changed; significantly. And the experience that I can gain in a 1-2 hour session, a couple of nights per week, has slowed my advancement to the point of being all but non-existent.
Ok, you say, just do Quests.
No can do. All the HQs require groups, and are long and involved. Either that, or wait until you are 22 levels above the Quest to solo it.
How about exploring, getting those experience points from that? Well, since there are so many MOBS that see through stealth now, that that avenue is largely shut down as well.
Why don't you max out your AAs?
Great idea. I'll pay SOE for an expansion I can't use yet, (may never be able to use), so that I can try to get back *some* of the ability to advance that they took away from me in the first instance.
You Raiding Rangers who look down from your lofty positions at level 70, and pass judegement, should walk a mile in my shoes first. My character may only be level 49, but I can assure you that the person at the keyboard is not.
/disclaimer on
This is not a flame
/disclaimer off
My main is a lvl 65 ranger. I raid. I am in a guild with set in stone 2 days a week raid times. I am a casual gamer. I work 6 days a week 10 hours a day. I have a wife and son. I coach youth baseball and youth football.
I made lvl 50 mainly solo for those reasons i listed above. After lvl 50 i found that if I wanted to do any type of quest or lvl advancement I had to group. The fun thing is I've found that alot of the same people logging in when I do (after work) seem to be on the same schedule I am (can only play for an hour or so max) cause of RL responsibilities. I do juggle some things on raid nights but my guild is very international so all of us our on different schedules and there is always people on 
Any way...
I am not in full fabled. I only have the following AA points bounty = 1 Agi line = 4 - 4 - 4 - 5 and thats it.
Things I do that really seem to work. I have friends and guildies that are jewlers/alch/weaponsmiths so I can get stuff I need at discounted prices. I read the forums for Strategies/Gear Choices/Poisons/CA Combos. I read ogaming for quest spoilers so I know what steps I can solo and what steps I'm gonna need to make time to accomplish. I find a pick up group to get an hour or so of xp grinding or quest updates and I call it a night. And I raid. I do the best I can, have a ton of fun, and have never had people complain about me. If the raid is going long and I need to log then I log. If I have time to stay I stay.
The game is still very "casual gamer" friendly. If it wasn't I wouldn't be able to play at all.
/this is from someone who is closing in on becoming one of those lvl 70 raiding rangers and who doesn't have a complex with his dps