Most of the dev team is for removing ladders from battle mode, but as Paul said already chadz is against it.
So all we have to rely on as answer to our repeated questions is hearsay?
I suggest that the developers employ some kind of community manager, who posts regularly, and official answers could be posted in a certain colour. So everyone can immediately see what's the matter with some suggestions, questions or other stuff of interest.
Next to much more detailed changelog (e.g. "Changed speed bonus of +5 to damage bonus of +5 for masterwork Thor's Hammer of Awesomeness", and not "Items rebalanced") and perhaps free heirloom points for everyone who owns a tweaked item.
You know, just those basic things, like taking notice of other persons, answering when they talk to someone, being kind and fair, and of course all the other things you needed to do in past times to not be fucking beaten to death and the corpse being hidden in the ground outside the village, somewhere in the forest.