In retrospect. They should never have changed anything from GD 1. Sure it had flaws. But the community was strong and the worlds were filled. They should have added fluff , like more stats or better or more colorful charts. People like some change if it's minor like those.
But regardless of the always many complaints, they were sticking with their teams so they must have liked the game enough to stick.
Like Hookem said, after every major change people would be disappointed and leave.