Some people just don't seem to get it.
1) The game was purchased because it has replayable sandbox Single player, I couldn't care less what happens in Multiplayer, how to train for it and so on. I have never touched Multiplayer in M&B and never will.
2) The auto-blocking feature was present in every Warband game to date, it is an option, nobody is forcing it on you
3) Some of us don't play the game to "get better" and "practice", we play casually in between real life matters
4) Some of us are old, slow, have disabled fingers or have other health issues preventing us from "mastering" the manual blocking. The auto-block feature is the only thing that lets us play the game for what it is - RPG, adventuring, economy and so on, with occasional fighting. Which is not that stressful with auto-block option enabled.
5) Auto-blocking does not make the game block for you, you still have to time your blocks, you just don't care about the manual direction of the block. It is not completely easy as you paint it and still requires certain amount of twitchy gameplay, which is already pushing a limit when you cross to 50 y.o. and have reflexes of a seal.
6) The beauty of this game is that it can be played exactly as anyone wants to play it. You can duel whole world, run caravans, serve a king or become one yourself, or do whatever. Nobody is forcing you to play it a certain way. So when you say "the game is supposed to be played a certain way" it's nonsense.
7) If you are afraid that some disabled kid will kick your ass in Multiplayer with auto-blocking feature on, do not worry - this option has never been available for Multiplayer. Your e-peen is safe and secure.
For a change, think about other people before you post the egoistic "git gud, adapt, that's the real men's way to play it" and so on. We just want the optional feature back which was present in single player mode of every game of M&B series before this one. Without this feature the game is downright unplayable for some of us.