Do the devs ever respond to forum questions/comments?

I think they’ve said what they are doing to say for the time being in this thread which you’ve already seen:

Given their history of not saying anything until they have something definitive to say, you are basically shouting into a black hole at this point. Take it from someone who has been shouting in the black hole for over a year.

If you are that bothered by the update, then I would recommend you uninstall the game and if you want, keep tabs here to see if they change anything.