DCWP, is THIS
the bulb you bought? (Or one really similar to it?)
I agree that they are not as bright, but take an amazingly small amount of energy.
Mostly, when people talk about "harsh shadows" it refers to a light source being a very small point. this makes the edges of shadows very sharply defined.
If you build your own LED arrays, you can actually lightly sand the tips of the LEDs to frost them, and diffuse the light.
If you purchase an LED array bulb, a simple diffuser can be made from a small piece of parchment paper or similar material that will defuse light and still be fire resistant (even though LEDs put out very little heat, you still want to be safe!)