"That's not the kind of civil response that encourages productive conversation, I doubt all Lindens are aware of all the discarded/shelved/de-emphasized Linden projects of the last 10 years."
Agreed. That is an unreasonable expectation of an employee in a company of any size.
For a community that so vehemently attests that they want Linden Lab to listen to them, quite often those same complainers dive in with accusations or sarcasm when someone from the Lab does try to make the attempt to engage in conversation. Frankly, I don't blame any Linden for approaching a resident exchange with caution.
If you want constructive change, that begins with constructive and respectful dialog.