I hate to get in the way of a good forum firestorm but..

[PondHollow]

They plan things well in advance. Looking at response times from patch to patch, easily a solid two patches at least. You're right in that regard.

However, complaints have affected their decisions, particularly when they last very long.

What we need is a deluge of complaints for at least 14 months (four patches), basically. And even then that will bleed into 6.0 development.

Before they come up with plans to implement changes, they need to be pushed to make those changes.

Blame the devs for the firestorm. It's unique in the history of the game, so if they take notice, that's for the better. Let it burn.