It might
not only be you...
But no, that's not what you've joined
Like it or not, you've joined an 'act of faith' in a particular design team. And I think that has been clear throughout (it's been clear to me). I'm not sure where you thought there was some sort of formally defined review process in this.
The original conceptual outline spec is just that, a concept and an outline. It's not a 'predefined feature set' it's simply a starting point for whatever will follow.
So there is no controlling 'finance group'. Heaven forbid - "who votes for green and who votes for purple? Carried - orange it is". If you want a formal approval process you'll have to start your own company and run your own development projects. This design process is neither.
I don't see responses being ignored, far from it. Possibly John is a little too willing to listen to responses
. I do see that whatever response is received and however it is interpreted it can never please all of the people all of the time.
Far from the the use of this (or any other) forum being a cause for sadness, it provides an insight into what is going on in a particular design process and an opportunity to communicate with the designer that is seldom seen.
Based on any prior evidence the timetable was always destined to slip, so no surprise there. But it's always interesting to see which goodies have been added as a result of the additional time invested.
Sit back and enjoy the ride. This is up to John. We're all spectators. John's designs and his design process have always been entertaining and simply require a little patience