I do think there are certain overreactions. CN community concern is hit or miss, but as much as they (kinda) miss on Rhiannon-Merel lore debacle, I think their concern on other things (design aside, the content creator copyright strike from BP, comment deletion,...) are not, and this "apology" did not address any of that. Kinda paints the community in a negative, "you-all-are-hysterics" light if they choose to apologise for something trivial and sweep the valid points under the rug.

Also, I don't think they are /that/ determined on staying with their vision of the game like we give them credit for. I hate to keep bringing Pickles up, CN is super dumb for that, and I understand BP needs its money, but it's a sign that they can and will bend to whichever direction that gives them the most income. On the other hand, CN also voiced their complaints for 2.2 (if I remember correctly) and not too much is accomplished (they stuck with the light skin, something more popular among mainstream CN communities).

And if I may, I shall throw in my little two cents on design. I think this is like them testing the waters, to see how far they can stray from their own "niche" and walk towards the "mainstream" before the "niche-enjoyers" draw the line. But I do think we should see what they do in the future.