They’re converting “Lifetime free” to “Next One is free”.
It’s a rip off.
And, as has been pointed out… if you’re doing the new zones, you will almost absolutely positively need either NO-DAZE or SAFE-FALL because of how they’ve changed things.
So in a nutshell, no one doing ‘current’ outdoor pve content will have water walking equipment slotted. “One free” means nothing if it’s useless.
We ‘gain’ the freedom to choose how we deal with a brand new impediment. We ‘lose’ the ability to have 1-2 mounts that could walk on water.
Just leave the water striders the heck alone.