has been met with hostility and more than enough vitriol

I see this and agree to a point (I do have a job that has me in constant contact with John Q Public). I understand that the best way to settle someone's fears or concerns is to keep them in the loop on how things are progressing even if it is a simple "we are looking at X issue" or "we think that X issue is not in need of further review." The latter, at least recently, has been met with hostility and more than enough vitriol.

With that said,gold wow I see the other side of the coin as well. If they (Blizz/devolopers) are working on something and brainstorming why give a play by play of things you are working on when those ideas may never see the light of day and only cause more turmoil on these boards. Sometimes silence is or a short descriptive is all one can really give out until you are close to what you were tring to achieve.