I think charting a future course for CF will be, as it has always been, a bit of a struggle and balancing act between opposing concerns.

For example, the "killer" contingent of players (to use Bartle's MUD player types) would prefer that there really aren't any secrets to speak of in the game -- the formula and factors all known, maps and quests and stats and everything under the sun on a wiki somewhere. That's fun for them, but that isn't fun at all for the players who like exploring and big PvE challenges and figuring stuff out.

For some people empowerment is their favorite part of the game, other people can't stand it.

Some people like being part of an active religion or other RP-centric activity, other people aren't interested (and rage when the first group gets any kind of reward, regardless of what for).

Some people want leveling to be even faster and less risky, whereas other players miss the days when heroing was actually an accomplishment.

Some people think the hardcore/risk factor of CF is what makes it unique, others would rather have a more casual game, maybe even one in which you can't loot other people or can't loot them very much.

Some players want us to make unfavored or uncommon combos more interesting, others mostly just want us to buff whatever it is they personally enjoy playing.

And it goes on. There's never making everyone happy, but we'll continue to try to strike the best balance we can between these and many other competing factors.