This is what the "corporate wisdom" tells them: don't just ignore the long term players (or fans). All that matters is the new players(fans)! Plus they would say the "old" people don't buy stuff. A lot of the short term gamers will buy anything with D&D on the cover. The long term gamers will lookat the contents of the product before they buy it.I really don’t think it reasonable for them to tailor the game to only long time players. Not even an expectation.
However, they have thrown a bone here and there and it is good enough for me.
I am reacting to mostly commentary here and elsewhere that suggests longer term players “don’t matter” for the company and that as a result, their opinion is not pertinent.
I call bullsh*t on that.
5E is a good example of a mixed game for "everyone" with the lite easy rules and the nice "DM just make stuff up", And the 'hard to kill characters" balanced vs the gritty variant.