I can see a lot of people being really angry about this, but if you take a step back, you will realize this was absolutely necessary for GvG to work at all. It isn't like battling was even remotely a challenge with how OP the attack GBs were anyways. That being said, I do have to wonder about the numbers here. Those watchfires and monastery aren't looking nearly as stupid now I suppose.
At the same time, I think this is kind of an odd move because it only further discourages battling. Given the fact that new merge system has killed any motivation many had for battling, a further chilling effect seems a little puzzling.