Custom Fields change behavior after upgrade to 4.2.11

Hello all,
First post/question.
I have been an RT user for a number of years now. I originally started with
a v3 and have been running 4.0.4 for quite some time now. Recently did the
upgrade to 4.2.11 and with a little adjusting here and there, now have it
running quite well. One difference I have run across that I would like to
get fixed/adjusted.

I have some custom fields setup. Example: Customer Name, Customer Number,
Contact Number, etc… These fields are all validated fields to prevent
employees from entering bogus values.
Previously, I could select a ticket and click on “The Basics” and it would
allow me to change the any of the basic fields and update the ticket with no
issues. After the upgrade, I must enter the validated custom fields or the
ticket will not be updated.

I would like to be able to go back to the old behavior.
Any help would be great!

Thank you in advance,
Ron Fancella