Sounds like an instance of 'bitcreep': https://www.gwern.net/Holy-wars#bitcreep Yes, all the binaries are still there and runnable in a VM, but everything around them can't be run in a VM, and those changes impose negative externalities on those who were happy with the previous way of things.
Dwarf Fortress has similar “breakpoints” where major releases that had to drop save file compatibility have separate “version” pages on the wiki to support those who remain on the older version to continue running the fort or mega project they’re working on.
Typically players get upset because they like the majority of the quality of life changes, and new content, but don't like that something was removed that they can't enjoy in that new version. Community knowledge also deteriorates over time; you can ask questions about recent versions, but antiquated versions require meticulous code diving / commit log scanning to figure things out.