i know it’s bad habit to repeat … but because you seem to insist … The tier system has been thrown away …
Without asking the community … and this was a “huge aspect of the game” too 
Why should i take that as a win ? if (and we all know i am) i’m a person who damands answers on a weekly basis … this is much more a big loss too me that there has been no more communication about this till now (again … 10 months).
To be honest … i know this is not the best way to get more informations from the dev if every word they say will be placed on the gold level but i like to get reliable informations and a frequent flow of informations. i have no problem IF they change their mind (the opposite is the case - when showing that something is/was a bad idea i’m happy if they change the road … but maybe the passengers could be informed that the next stop is somewhere else!).
Yes and No … While there have been changes in the backer-tiers already this would be totally legit in my opinion to say that all EA backers get the game without fees (or with a discount [e.g. 50%]) because they bought it this way. If the game will be a success noone will ever care that 10k EA backers don’t pay monthly fees. If the game will fail and dies noone will ever pay monthly fees at all and there won’t be a lost too.
On the other side … should we stick to everything they originally planed like the tier-system ?! No … When we are able to adjust one thing, we can adjust everything (also the payment-system). A lot of other MMOs made this (pay-to-play in the beginning and free-to-play later because they don’t had success). But if a game is not worth paying in the beginning noone will pay for it later … LOTRO is now free and I do not know anyone who is still playing.
I’m not that sure about this as you maybe are … there are two possible cases i could imagine
1: B< becomes the next Minecraft or WoW (as you say on it’s own throne) and there are millions of players (someone already thought about this ). This might be offbeat but noone thought that WoW or Minecraft would ever had success (WoW was “the next ultima online clone” and Mincraft was “toys”) but both succeded.
2: B< will have a hard start and die like so many other MMOs out there (LOTRO, Star Trek Online. Guild Wars 2, FF14 Online, TES:O, Rift … and so one…)
While i’m a fan of this game i tend to read the silence from the devs as “there is something really big in the shrubbery” and that this game will be a game-changer. While i’m also a pragmatic human i read the lack of information (since months now - even on direct demand) as “we do not know exactly where we want to go”. the second interpretation is the one that worries me 
I request a lot i know, but as you see i’m an active member of the community and i want to make this game the best possible (for us all) …
only if you have an idea tested, you know how good it really is
(and EA is acceptance test)
All my care may dissolve in air if the devs would start sharing information and stop the silence. I don’t request that they reveal everything. But they could reveal changes by itself and not only when prompted (like happend with the tier-system).
@Havok40k PS : Feel free to split my last two answers and merg them to “Relase Schedule” because i think this is off-topic at this place.