I don't think Dale has said anything especially contentious, and I have often enjoyed reading his many posts about PLD, a job he clearly cares about deeply.

I think this argument is just a by-product and clear sign of the depth of feeling that people have about the BST nerf. People are not just complaining about the nerf, they are genuinely upset and hurt about how it has made their job less enjoyable.

BST isn't really gimped, but it is less fun to play and more of a headache to play usefully. People are very upset about this, and it is hard to remain calm when you are very upset. Hopefully SE will see that many BST players are genuinely hurt by this update, it has caused more harm than good, and they will rectify it. In the meantime I don't think that fighting with other FFXI Fans is going to achieve anything, except causing upset to everyone. We all have our opinions and perspectives, and we are all FFXI Fans first, specific jobs second.