I cringe every time I see someone refer to Garrisons as a form of player housing. They aren't player housing. They're an instanced quest hub with a choice of buildings to place - and none of those choices is a living space for the player character.
While I know some older RPGs/MMORPGs had forms of housing, I'd say it was still rare until after The Sims became insanely popular for a time and even then it took a while for it to start appearing more often.
As you say it also depends on the type of RPG. Housing will make sense in some but not others. It makes sense when the player character has downtime in their story leaving them free to do optional activities (common in MMORPGs that are waiting for new patches to release). It would make less sense in a RPG where the player character is on an assignment to explore a remote area for whatever reason (when would the character have a chance to return home?).
I don't think that they're less receptive. I think the problem is that they have some very specific plans for 7.0 since it's starting a new chapter in the game's life. Things that players are asking for might already be addressed in those plans or may conflict with them. They have a habit of being silent about changes until they are ready to talk about them.
Complaints like the 2 minute meta might seem ignored but that 2 minute meta is so firmly woven into current job design that they can't just pull it mid expansion. They would have to rework every job instead of just the ones having the worst balance problems. They know players hate it. I am expecting to see it gone in the 7.0 job designs.
I think most of the community has forgotten why gshade isn't used anymore, assuming they were even paying attention in the first place.