I didn't read the whole thread, but I want to say that communication and good faith from Y-P are needed for that to be possible.

Communication on the feedback they got and consulting the whole community instead of just listening to a few voices would have been possible. Instead they made these change without players ever knowing, dropped them with an expansion and told us it was too late to change anything.

The "Vocal minority" increased manifold since ShB design changes. some pro-changes, most against it.
These voices were lost into the void and not acknowledged for years, only to be dismissed without any compromise.

Now lately Y-P stated that they had requests to make theses changes, and that WE players must reach a consensus.
That seems like a cheap excuse for poor choices and avoiding fixing the issue. The game has a "huge" player-base, getting everyone to agree is impossible, and worse, the "silent majority argument" get misused to dismiss any change...