Just curious to see if other people noticed that. I've recently restarted the game to unlock another profession and the game seems much easier than it used to. I noticed a few spots where there used to be monsters and which are now empty. There are also a few places where NPCs are here to help you, whereas you used to be alone in these tough spots. I've been playing the game for a long time and I don't remember the PvE game being so easy since early BWEs where ANet was experimenting with difficulty settings.
Do you remember when Rurik used to drive us mad with his suicidal tendencies? Now he's just a slow & boring NPC you have to keep an eye on. Althea's ashes used to require good players and some sort of strategy. Now it's just bland and boring.
Don't take me wrong, I'm not (just) complaining or whining, I just want to understand when they watered down PvE and why. Did that happen with the latest patch? Did I miss a crowd of new/casual players complaining about difficulty?
Difficulty turned down ?
FrogDevourer
Kuku Monk
I've noticed some things were a tad easier...but maybe that's b/c I've become a better player... but who knows.. 
Dreamsmith
Most of the changes you're talking about happened between BWE6 and release. At least those regarding the extra NPC helpers, Rurik being less suicidal, etc.
For the most part, I suspect it's easier because you've been playing longer.
I have four ascended RP characters now. Each time, it gets easier, patch or not. I have a hard time figuring out why I ever thought some of these missions were hard. My last character to ascend did each mission, including the ascension missions, exactly once, never failed.
The game hasn't changed that much, so apparently, I have.
For the most part, I suspect it's easier because you've been playing longer.
I have four ascended RP characters now. Each time, it gets easier, patch or not. I have a hard time figuring out why I ever thought some of these missions were hard. My last character to ascend did each mission, including the ascension missions, exactly once, never failed.
The game hasn't changed that much, so apparently, I have.
Silmor
They did tone down several areas significantly, probably because people were complaining about them - Althea's Ashes is a painful example of that. First her ashes were in the temple in the southeast of the Diessa Lowlands, forcing you to deal with 50+ Charr flooding through a chokepoint. Lots of fun.
Then the ashes were moved to where the quest actually indicated they should be found: the Charr Flame Temple corridor. Evil place, packs of 5-6 Charr you needed to take out one by one, slowly inching your way to the main temple, where the heavily guarded ashes resided. Different, still fun.
Then suddenly the packs of 5-6 Charr were halved (literally, to small bunches of three), decimating the challenge the Charr Flame Temple corridor had to offer, and it became yet another vanilla quest you rush through with henchmen.
Generally the missions up until about The Wilds, excluding Frost Gate (the last leg of which still got simplified) and Borlis Pass, were made easier, and countless quests got simplified to the point of redundancy. This is more than just a hunch or feeling, it's just additional NPCs to help you, reduction of opponent numbers, braindead clues on where to go, etc.
Then the ashes were moved to where the quest actually indicated they should be found: the Charr Flame Temple corridor. Evil place, packs of 5-6 Charr you needed to take out one by one, slowly inching your way to the main temple, where the heavily guarded ashes resided. Different, still fun.
Then suddenly the packs of 5-6 Charr were halved (literally, to small bunches of three), decimating the challenge the Charr Flame Temple corridor had to offer, and it became yet another vanilla quest you rush through with henchmen.
Generally the missions up until about The Wilds, excluding Frost Gate (the last leg of which still got simplified) and Borlis Pass, were made easier, and countless quests got simplified to the point of redundancy. This is more than just a hunch or feeling, it's just additional NPCs to help you, reduction of opponent numbers, braindead clues on where to go, etc.