You are being too kind.

The thing is - they aren't balancing the fun of playing with the challenge of achieving. They are balancing playability with the best route to monetization.

Every single playerbase reaction that you cite here is a reaction to the monetization component. They are in this to make money, not to create an enjoyable, fun experience for players around the world who are largely stuck at home due to unprecedented historical circumstances and thus unable to complete a very prominent, regular part of the game since its inception. If they actually had that motivation in mind, they would have made changes that would have catered to those homebound players from the start, that would have been in line with safety procedures the world over, and that would have been the slightest bit conscientious instead of reactive.

They didn't. They are like everyone else in the world, trying to earn a buck, and doing a pretty fair job of it from what is a relatively privileged position as far as jobs go. If that "really sucks," just look to what 99.999% of the world's population has to deal with every single day and gain some perspective.