Makes sense. From what I understand you are saying, when Shimano went to the hidden (under bar tape) shifter cable routing, it increased the force required to shift the FD as compared to the older exposed routing. So the change in the 6800 series was to "correct" that (i.e., improve the shifting). As with all new tech, there are sometimes unintended consequences. The individual has the choose of embracing or ignoring the new tech. Just sometimes its not obvious what you are signing up for with the new tech.