So FDev makes a decision and we are all just supposed to accept it and move on?
FDev made a decision to have the ADS for 4 years and people didn't move on. They ed and moaned in the forums and continually badgered FDev into doing something about it. Same with Engineers - Fdev's decision to require commodities was changed by the forums, C&P was introduced because of complaints in the forums. Countless changes have been made by FDev because of feedback in the forums, but those of us who don't like the FSS are supposed to just accept it? Sorry, but that's not going to happen.
C&P was introduced purely because of the forums? Was it? Got the meeting minutes where this was discussed? Engineers too?
I couldn't possibly be that Frontier might also have wanted to make these changes, might not have been less-than-thrilled about a particular feature, wanted to improve upon it, but were bound up by their own time constraints?
This sort of thing really does happen in the complex world of development, and it happens all the time. If you already know what I'm about to share, great, this isn't for you - it's for those who don't or don't quite get it:
Let's look at Project A, a massive, multi-teamed project to produce a world-class software package. This package is being developed by a team, and that team is split up into different groups.
Group 1 is in charge of designing, developing and implementing the user interface.
Group 2 is in charge of designing, developing and implementing Feature A
Group 3 is in charge of designing, developing and implementing Feature B
Group 4 is in charge of designing, developing and implementing Feature C
Or, to put it in less abstract terms, but Elite terms:
Group 1 is the Menus Team
Group 2 is the Missions Team
Group 3 is Ship Design Team
Group 4 is the Exploration Team
These teams all have deadlines handed down to them by those above them. Periodically these teams have to give some sort of status report on the parts of the project they are responsible.
Group 1 says: Menus are done, tested, working as intended.
Group 2 says: We're about 70% complete, should be at 100% by the end of the week.
Group 3 says: We've finished with everything except the damage models, we've only gotten so far as getting them to work for the Anaconda.
Group 4 says: We've got the entire framework down, just trying to come up with the right tools.
Fast forward to a short time before this project phase is done. Group 1 has their work all complete. Group 2 has finished their work as well. Group 3 says "We've got one that works exactly the way we want, but it's taken us so long we're just not going to be able to do the same for all the rest in the time remaining." A management decision is made that says this is acceptable at this point, as it showcases what they want to do, and does not adversely affect the ability to proceed. They proceed.
Group 4 says "We've gotten everything done, but we're really not that thrilled with what we've come up with for tools. They work, but they could be so much better." These are reviewed, and a management decision is made - the tools are sufficient for now, and the team can refine them at a later point in time.
Because this sort of thing is exactly what happens, regularly, in the software industry. Deadlines are given, and best efforts are what make it into production, even when those best efforts are not really in keeping with the final vision. Those teams are, once that release is made, often tasked with other, new tasks, to advance the next phase, and the next phase, and the next phase, even when they bring up in the meetings "Hey, you remember that thing we did, that we weren't so thrilled with? When will we get a chance to revise it? Oh, Soon™? Ok, just wanted to make sure it didn't slip through the cracks."
Or, as a less theoretical model, and one based directly on what I actually do on a daily basis:
My project team is building a brand new datacenter. The servers have arrived, the racks have arrived, the climate control systems are in place, the customer's deadline for the project is approaching quickly, so the server teams get the servers set up, in the racks, and connected to the routers and switches. The cable teams have cables run to all the places they need to go. We're on schedule, but things do not have the neat, clean and polished look we want. Only half cables are labeled, the switches and routers are not mounted, and all that cable can still go into raceways and be organized much better. But tomorrow is "Go Live" day, so we sit down with our client and tell them "Yes, we can absolutely throw the switch and go live right now. But we'd still like to get this, that and these things done." So we schedule follow-up time to make sure everything has that final spit-and-polished look we want, and the datacenter goes live right on schedule. It might take us a couple of weeks to schedule the resources to come finalize everything, and that's fine, since it doesn't affect operations or delay the startup of the new datacenter.
Four years is a dreadfully long time for a particular feature to be updated, and yes, people, myself included, continued to inquire about it - in various ways. What none of us can say though, is what took so long. Did it take the team responsible for the exploration tools that long to come up with something that was what they wanted? Maybe. Were they tasked and retasked with other responsibilities that kept them from devoting time to finding that "ideal toolset"? Maybe. Odds are we'll never know.