A rise in difficulty in the monthly EQ is fine
...but the rewards need to reflect that change. Whether or not you personally struggled or not is irrelevant. No one can argue that there’s been an increase of complaint posts regarding this month’s EQ therefore it stands to reason that the difficulty increased. Adding back in a completion reward would be a great way to motivate people! Of course another option would just be to release thronebreaker difficulty and dial back cavalier difficulty.