The real shame is that even if all the players were in favor of some
change and you guys, yourselves, thought it was a really good idea....
alot of things you can't change because you can't touch the software
engine (which is pretty old, I'm guessing) that the game runs on... I am
correct in that assumption?
Yes - although others might think that it us that is the weak point... 
Richard, Chris and a few others have come up with variant games (we've created a scenario for new players to bring them into the game more slowly) with which we can modify the way the game is created - but the basic game is nigh on impossible for us to change.
We're working on a Create your own 1650/2950 set-up but that's for a while in the future as we need to make sure we can do the programming that affects the database. (Then 4v4, 8v12 with extra points for s/up etc can be played out). We're seeing if we can add encounters or change them as well as many other aspects of database management but at present that's a pipe-dream.
We have lots of good ideas for changes that could be done, but seeing how much debate the Ratings had it would be a nightmare to actually implement them. The only way to get the rights to change the software (as GSI are very conservative when coming to such changes) is to own GSI, with Decipher and Tolkien's permission. Very hard to arrange I can assure you.
Clint