There's a major difference between individual L-1 petitions filed with USCIS and blanket L-1 petitions/visa applications filed with U.S. Consulates abroad, with the former much more challenging than the latter. This is the case now and has been the case for many years. The main change with blanket L-1 petitions/visa applications now is the result of a policy change (put in place about 6 months ago) limiting where an applicant can apply for a visa, essentially, limiting visa applications to the applicant's country of citizenship or legal permanent residence.