Why were many of the pre-merge named mobs removed from game?

I particularly miss Fang. I really liked running up from Aug to Wolf's Paw as a lowly level 50 char and having my heart race in panic bumping into him. I think I more enjoyed running up the same road as a level 80 and kicking his furry behind along with his 2 buddies.

Crankenspank. Wow....as a level 20,3 friends and I*attempted* to kill crankenspank. Those of us that survived the onslaught raced back to Dalimond for our lives, being chased most of the way by a bunch of enraged skeletons. It was intense, to say the least. Similar to Fang, one of my fondest memories was heading back into his camp as a level 80+ solo and slaughtering each and every single one of his camp followers. Retribution never felt so good.

Original AoP. Come on guys. What was more exhilirating than porting into ML, Lerena or Harro and landing on the pad only to see the AoP and his buddies stampeding through town. How about the AoP running in and around the roads of ML with easily 25+ mobs trailing after him.


And not as named mobs, but I'm sure that I am not the only one that misses the old Marrows, Bone Golems (out of Kira and Tazoon), and Cursed Wolves.

Was there a reason these old favorites were removed?

I must say that there is something missing in the lack of danger now in attuning to the old player communities (Harro, ML, Lerena). It used to be almost scary as a level 25+ character running toward Harro and dodging werewolves, and the run to ML....saving up sprint to run through the village...and then, oh no! ROOTED!!