They have explained where they are coming from with the "data", and they have other places where they monitor and talk with players.
agree or dont, they have some information about the situation. There are also other points that can be made:
- if a player has something going on IRL, anything not rewards based would probably be the first thing they dont play.
- not everyone will use it. plain and simple, a mode like this will without a doubt have the lowest % of interaction compared to modes that give rewards.
- unfortunately there is no "simple compromise", once it is in game people are going to ask for upgrades and QOL, its a game feature and it would need attention as time moves on. in for a penny in for a pound.
I think the last reason there is one of the main reasons we have been dragged on for a while with a maybe, and now its more of a hard no. At one point it was considered, but now the long term investment of resources is just not something they want to considering investing in, because it would start to limit their ability to put out content.
Think about it, since the JG has been introduced, how many times have you redone events just for something to play?
from a business sense (not $$) it makes sense, its a large (and continuing) investment for a lower/unknown gain.