Why not remove it? The concept of "op" was destroyed when the armor prot was nerfed its as balanced as normal, the problem was DIAMOND ARMOR AT PROT5 not prot 5 itself You didnt fix the issue you made it worseSome players do not like Hardcore and Normal but that's no reason to remove them.
Please understand that not everyone is going to agree on the same thing. I personally do not enjoy OP that much but wouldn't want that to stop others from enjoying it. Perhaps suggest something that could make OP more enjoyable? (=^ ◡ ^=)
Keep the suggestions coming ~