The community/game staff have practically nothing to do with what ends up in the game, when we do it's after a lot of pushing over a long period.
The same applies to knowing what's going on with development, the majority of the time we're in the dark just like users until a new version lands. The rare time we do find out something is happening is because it's mentioned in passing, or we spot something new appear.

Wasn't always the case, turn back the clock 5+ years and it was a very different story.