Yes, the change was done to prevent MQ usage completely. Though, I do agree that it would be good to put in a rule as I mentioned before where you can set the min status required to be able to target across a zone. Then, you could just set the new rule to status 0 if you wanted any player to be able to do it, or you could set it higher if you wanted only GMs to be able to use it for development.
Really, there will be no need for players to have access to target across a zone like that once the /invite <playername> option actually works. It isn't implemented yet, but I am sure it is on the list of to-dos.