I feel you!
I fear fixing the gameplay will be a make it or break it scenario for me and I bet a lot of casual players will be put off by that same thing.
If you want change, what you can do is weigh in on the topics that cover this point here on the forum and in the process flesh out your opinions even more in the process.
In the topic i linked you will find a well fleshed out opinion on gameplay that you can start to ponder and compare with.