I don't think the balance can ever be "dialed-in" as the players will never agree on how difficult the game should be. There will ALWAYS be players saying it is too hard or too easy not matter what they do. The devs should either stay true to their original vision and make the game as they intended accepting the fact that you will never make 100% of the players happy or they should let the players decide by allowing them to directly manipulate difficultly via server controls and options.