It didn't happen much back in the day, if at all, but it's the sort of thing that happens when a game gets analyzed as thoroughly as Vanilla has been for well over a decade.

Gamers care much more about making the absolute most out of everything they can these days, whether it's min-maxing stats, party or raid compositions, or finding the quickest path through a dungeon or raid, nothing goes to waste anymore. Everybody cares about these sort of things these days, where as back then it was only the top players.

The private server experience is already very different from what it was in retail Vanilla because of this shift in mentality (and more), and obviously the same will be true of Classic.