Rasgnarok. I have mixed feelings. I like the way you said what you did; very diplomatic. I also kind of agree that an idea should be pulled apart to examine and improve upon it, but that's not what happened. What happened was the devs looked at it, reduced it to a pathetic shell of what it could be, and said, "Maybe we'll do this". That is not how you go about improving an idea, that's how you go about ruining one. Furthermore, unless I am misinterpreting your words, you claim that if we add trees(not redo, why would we redo trees, we'd just need to add them) we need to have an absolutely undeniable reason. It needs to be the only option. This logic makes no sense to me. It seems to suggest a philosophy of doing the bare minimum amount of work. Shouldn't the goal not be to accomplish the function in as little work as possible, but rather, to accomplish the intended function in the most fulfilling and worthwhile way? The way that is best for the players? The trees should be a fun feature that makes the world feel more vibrant and alive, not supposed to accomplish any specific practical purpose. As for the "difficulty" of creating the trees, I'm afraid you've lost me. How difficult can retexturing, or hell, even recoloring, already-existing trees difficult? The Japanese Maple feels more like something they'd have to make a little more from scratch, but the Cherry Blossoms could easily be retextured birch/oak trees. I mean, yeah, maybe that would seem a little lazy, but it doesn't really matter because they can just go back and update the textures later if they want to. There's really no argument for cutting out the majority of the idea in favor of some cheap... what would MrM's version of the idea even be?
The argument suggesting that the Honey Trees would be OP-that's a fair one. I mean, I'm not sure if it is or not, as I didn't really think about it too much in that way, but that's a fair argument to make. I'd be glad to hear any ideas regarding how to nerf it, although... which part of it is overpowered, exactly? The Pokemon I suggested spawn? The rarity of the trees? I didn't put much thought into those, so that seems plausible. If it's something else, you're gonna have to point it out because I've completely overlooked it. >_<
One more thing; I've heard a rumor from a credible-yet-trollish source that the developers have stopped caring about this forum and even the opinions of their mods and helpers. I would dismiss it as said friend trolling me, but my experience in my last two forum posts has indicated that this rumor is true. The staff have seemed dismissive and seem to treat my opinion with little regard. I realize I am just a mere member of the community, but even the average member shouldn't be so dismissed if they have a valid and well-articulated point or suggestion. I grow concerned that if this rumor is true, it could lead to frustration in the player-base over the disconnect between the developers and community, and could become a negative influence on the well-being of both the mod and community. I understand the developers are probably exceedingly busy, but if this rumor is true, please please please do not take the input of the community for granted. It will only lead to a more toxic environment for us all and will be detrimental to the community, player-base, and mod.