though soft methods are available. where by the pools get to vote.
nodes matter. if there are not a good amount of nodes validating the data diversely than data could be corrupted by one party saying "follow me" and non validators blindly accept them. this is a risk

nodes are important. and we should not aimlessly let the node count be turned into a TIER network of one brand setting the rules and other brands playing pass the parcel of data its not checking.

some soft methods are acceptable because its not changing anything fundamental and still allows the PEER network to check the data and strike off blocks it doesnt approve of.

however in a TIER network some nodes are nothing more then unreliable data stores. so worthless as a security measure and thus no point being a node.

when something rule changing occurs its always best to have good node acceptability first for security purposes of avoiding corruption and to give pools confidence that what pools build will be accepted with full validation.

core however bypassed letting full nodes have a vote on what should be valid. by implying a TIER network where core implementations validate the block that core set new rules to. and then core will strip that block and twist the data to blindly pass other nodes.. not as valid or invalid.. just out of scope of other nodes tests would pass or fail, so blindly kept not due to being fully validated but by not triggering certain old alerts.

this is dangerous.
also by making it easier to do soft patches. is a network security risk because thats where trojan horse attacks can happen even more easily..
by simply not triggering the rules due to finding the hole in the defence to continue unnoticed

core think its good because it allows them an easier life.. but it makes it an easier life for attackers too