Is there any explanation for why Halfling guards were nerfed?

[WokeCat]

I tried googling it, and can’t find anything. Considering they weren’t nerfed until like 10 years into Blue I have to assume it has less to do with being classic, and more to do with game balance?

I know on TLP they are still on a 6 minute respawn timer, where as the Treants in SK no longer drop plat on TLP

This leads me to believe that the halfling nerf probably isn’t classic (could be wrong, but again, I can’t find any information on why the change was made).