From looking at the things that changed the most I don't think it is something that really could have been done piece by piece. It was sort of an all or nothing thing since so many parts are tied to or rely on each other. Something that should be encouraging are the devs are still working on balancing, it is not as if they said here you go new game now we are done with it.
They are making tweaks here and there and they are taking input we just need to give them ideas of what we think would improve the game. This game has a future and it is doing better now than with the old update now we just have to mold it to the finished product that we want.