You know.. I completely missed that part when I was reading.

I'm inclined to agree with you... Adjusting game mechanics to balance frustrating, obtuse design is a tricky path to tread... and Yoshi seems to go farther into the convenience side than I would...

I think successful MMOs need a bit of that drudgery, the hard to find, the exasperating... It makes the really enjoyable parts more enjoyable, balancing the drudgery with the enjoyable is hard to do though.