You're right, it isn't the Dev's job to make the vets or the newbs happy. However, taking out the grapple means taking out the core of WF. Everything is based around the grapple.
Think about this. I am a WFA vet. I have played the game for 3.5 years, (this is going to sound conceited, but whatever) I play the game very well, I am one of the few people who can play every class well enough to start for any clan and I do not enjoy other games. When someone gets locked into a game long enough to become good at it they don't want to play other games simply because they don't want to start back at square one.
Threewave Capturestrike for instance, I am not superb at and it does not have a grapple. There is much less to it and I am nothing great. Whether you have a grapple or not, players from other mods simply won't be as good in WFA as they are in their own mod. People like to play what they are good at. Take out the grapple and the vets of other mods still won't want to play this mod a ton because they will be back at square one.
- Z