I'm happy to see games moving away from the idea of other sapient species being just evil and I think that as a rule that's better and more interesting
Whereas I see the abandonment/denial of another tool in the DM's toolbox as a tragedy. Certain games will go one way and others will head in the other direction, but there's room for both interpretations and everything in-between. Finally, I feel it necessary to point out that no one is lesser/dumber or morally suspect for featuring unambiguous (thinking) monsters in their campaign.
