so the understanding here is that everyone is just going to remap esc?

Up until macOS 10.12, it was difficult to remap the ESC to CAP LOCK. Now it is an option in the keyboard settings.

My biggest complaint is since macOS Sierra, it is now so hard to create a Hyper-key.

http://brettterpstra.com/2016/09/29/a-better-hyper-key-hack-...