Quick key (option + alt) for brush hardness changed to opacity

I have been using Photoshop professionally for well over two decades and now and every now and then there is a very arbitrary change which can cause havoc in workflows. I'm not sure how many users change the hardness of a brush by using the Control+Alt keys, but that has been taken away, and replaced with changing opacity.

I know that in my workflow I frequently need to change the hardness of a brush, sometimes on a per-stroke basis, and it's usually very small increments. The quick keys allowed me to change this setting very quickly and fluidly. I now need to bring up the brush panel and use the slider, or input a hardness percentage to change this setting.  This may not seem like a big deal, but it completely disrupts the workflow, for no good reason I can see. I know we can also change the hardness with the shift + { } brackets, but that is only marginally less time consuming to use than changing the setting through the brush control panel and only changes hardness in 25% increments.

The shortcut keys were working right up to the release 25 Beta, once I moved to the official release the shortcut keys changed and I don't see any way to change them back. Please return this function to it's original configuration for all the veteran users who depend on tools functioning approximately the same between releases, and please stop making changes just to be able to say you've made changes.

Thanks,

Phil