First up: I like that they're doing this dev blog sort of thing and be a little more transparent about their thought process while designing this game. Kudos to them for that.
Now as to their responses to the feedback...ehhh. I don't know. Sounds like they really wanna stick to their current design, maybe making some slight changes here and there. Don't know if that will please the fans in the end.
RE: Damage, what's the point of raising damage if you plan to tone it down later anyway? A little silly. Besides, I think the impressions of high damage is also partially the fault of the awful guts system. The first half of the health bar is worth much less than the second half which makes early combos/hits look super crazy, wish they just got rid of that garbage mechanic entirely. Why not keep the health bar simple if your goal is to make everything simpler?
Gatlings, I don't think they fully understand why people have an issue with the new system. They think restricting it makes players have to learn fewer mechanics but is that really the case? The gatling system was more open in previous games. Sure that may make it seem more complicated at first glance but once you understood the basic gist of the gatling system there was really not much more to learn. It was intuitive. GGST version has you basically have to learn multiple mini gatling strings which makes it much less intuitive and more difficult to grasp at first glance. Their response makes it seem like they don't quite understand that part.
The camera I haven't had any issues with but I can understand that it might be too crazy for some people. Good that they're looking into that.
Battle UI, so they want to make the hit counter easier to see but not the risc gauge for some reason? Because the risc gauge is one gauge too many and could overwhelm casuals? If you are this concerned about that maybe reevaluate having a risc mechanic in the first place. This feels like them trying to have their cake (more complicated, higher level mechanics) and eat it too (trying to fool casuals into the thinking the game might be very simple by making crucial mechanics like risc hard to discern in the battle ui).
They should play to their strengths instead of doing this wishiwashy stuff that benefits no one in the end.
Lobbies...guess they're sticking with their current design. As it was in the beta it was not good, both from a visual and a usability standpoint. Dunno why they are so attached to this given the feedback they've received. Since they seem to continue having this lobby system I hope that they're improving the usability a ton. Fingers crossed even though I'd rather have their old 3D lobbies back (and just standard menu based matchmaking for those who want it).
Yea, once again I'm happy they're being more open but their response to the feedback hasn't exactly alleviated all my concerns. Gotta stay cautiously optimistic I guess as they at least seem to be listening somewhat.