The good news is that, once you wipe the device and re-associate it with your Google account, much of your information will automatically return. Data is precious, and we carry around a lot of it in our mobile devices. The reason why Google's dropping the ability to reset the password is obvious: security. You can either enter the password/PIN/pattern incorrectly 10 times, or you can go through the Android Device Manager. That's right - a reset is the only way to get around the lock screen. You have 10 tries to enter your password/PIN/pattern correctly or the data will be deleted and the phone will be reset. Once upon a time (Android 4 and earlier), you could intentionally enter the PIN/password or draw the pattern five times and then have a reset code sent to your Gmail account, but that is no longer the case.
I cannot tell you how many times I have been contacted with 'I've forgotten my lock screen password/PIN/password and can't get into my phone! Help!!!!' Some of those missives were suspect, but some were genuine.