If Hybrids do 10-20% less damage

Q u o t e:
Yup. The Devs can't seem to understand that to players statements like "if your DPS is to low we will buff you" reads to us "if your DPS is to low we may buff at some yet to be determined point in the future".

Actually, it's more like "If Blizzard thinks your DPS is too low then Blizzard will buff you." What players hear is "If I think my DPS is too low then Blizzard will buff me."

We do make changes a lot more quickly these days. For some players it will never be fast enough, while others are already unhappy about the whiplash that comes from frequent balance adjustments.

For a lot of players, sadly, what it will take is for them to be the top of the damage meters, regardless of skill, gear, buffs or the encounter, before they are satisfied. We don't balance to single numbers though, because single numbers don't exist. Some situations are going to favor some classes more than others. For us it's not a problem until we get to the point where groups start seriously discussing replacing a player because their class (not the individual player) is holding the group back, no matter whether you're talking about a heroic, a 10 player pug or an Ulduar hard mode.

Q u o t e:
I wish someday you would release your spreadsheets.

These forums would then become nothing but arguing about how we derived the numbers. :)

Seriously though, we also think the game benefits from some amount of mystery. Theorycrafting brings great enjoyment to a lot of our players. If everything was just out there naked, then the risk is a lot of that goes away. We'd rather you show us what you can do rather than we tell you what we are allowing you to do. The former sounds a lot more fun.

Q u o t e:
I think the problem has less to do with the feedback time due to the need for more data rather than the refusal to fix a problem because of PvP implications. Ret paladins and rogues stand out for this problem.

Ret paladins and rogues are not being kept low in PvE because of PvP concerns. We do however have to make certain adjustments to prevent balance in one from screwing up balance in another. A lot of the utility that both of your examples have in PvP do not translate directly to PvE where sustained damage matters a lot more. Yet increased damage for PvE makes PvP too good. So we have to be creative. Righteous Vengeance and Hunger for Blood inflate PvE damage without having a huge effect on PvP. There are other examples you could name.

Q u o t e:
So once enough dps hybrids lose their raid slots to constitue a trend you'll buff us again?

Or you can make a compelling argument that this will likely happen in the future. The problem with saying that part though is some players expect to post a couple of parses (or theorycrafted numbers or personal antecdotes) and expect the issue is resolved.

Q u o t e:
Mages and Sunwell comes to mind for me. Just a small patch saying class x has spell y dmg increased by z%. When it's clear action should of been done.

We screwed up in that situation. A few things have changed since then however. We have instigated tools and policies to be able to make changes faster. We care a lot more about parity than we used to. Also, the mage problem wasn’t as simple as needing more dps. The buff system heavily favored stacking warlocks to bring Curse of Shadows which benefited... more warlocks. If you brought a mage but could only fit them in the melee group, you were wasting your slot. The new buff system makes that situation much less likely.

So while it is totally understandable for players to raise the concern, and some of you rightfully feel burned, we don’t think we are heading into a situation even remotely like the Sunwell raid stacking problem.

Q u o t e:
Not odd at all. The player base is just that much more sophisticated and better at theorycrafting now.

Also, this. If it seems like raid balance problems are more pronounced now, it is only because they are being discussed more now by more players.

While it is not perfect by any stretch, and while I am sure plenty of you will doubt it, PvE damage among specs is closer than it has ever been in WoW. With just a couple of exceptions, most specs are raid viable and their dps spread is actually pretty close. It is fine for, and we encourage, you to bring up potential problem areas. Let’s just keep it in perspective.