Hi John - Your question is fair, building/modifying reports requires a good amount of expertise with AL. If someone is a learner, it is an uphill climb to be able to successfully code reports, that too when multiple Dataitems are involved
Having said that, there are no plans illustrated by Microsoft to "move away" (in your language) from what is current. All objects written for BC are done via AL Code and so are reports. It's just that building/understanding/modifying reports takes you into a deeper dive in AL, what will make reports easier to comprehend/understand is how much time you've spent building/understanding them. Trust me, more than half of the topics in this forum revolve around report building and no one says it's a piece of cake
However, if there are new reports you need building, many customers/partners now prefer connecting their BC environments to Power Bi and build reports there. Microsoft has given an alternative already, it depends upon who uses what. I know some customers using JetReports too. I'd suggest transition your reporting to Power BI slowly if BC Reports frustrate you out
