I agree  

To each their own, yet Single players should respect the fact that multiplayers have a lot of experience playing sins to the maximum, and that the game is very fun to play at this level.  I can't stress this enough!  You don't have to like the people who play well (hell even I don't like me sometimes! lol), but you should enjoy knowing that if you really want to get good at the game, you will get taught a great many things by a group of people who are willing to teach.  We truly want you single players to dip your toes into the water and have the fortitude to lose a few games in a row.  Trust me you get better, and once you know you can hold your own you will join the few, the proud, the ...multiplayer community! lol...

Not only that, everyone can achieve that level of play if they actually try it out.  I'm a casual online player, yet i'm still a potent force in a game.  By casual I mean that I have maybe 1-4 full games a week(not counting minidumps/desyncs and the current beta situation), and i've been known to take months off from playing the game. 

Once you get good in online play, the game starts to play as a chess game and allows you some really awesome strategic decisions, as long as you keep your front lines from folding .

Why is there conflict?  Two fundamental reasons:

1. Players have difficulty understanding/respecting/sympathizing with motivations outside their own...
2. SD cannot competently balance the game, especially while adding new content...

The first problem is the core difference between the two groups while the second problem explains why such differences result in conflict...

Let us look at the first fundamental reason....

SP guys are not playing against a challenging opponent...as such, they (the human) can still easily win despite using "poor" strategies or underpowered elements...overpowered elements like phase jumping orkies isn't as problematic in SP since a human player with superior thinking can outplay the AI...additionally, SP guys are playing casually...they don't have as of high expecations for game balance and aren't as likely to throw a hissy fit when things aren't perfect...

MP guys are playing against other humans...while not all MP guys have to win, the point is to try to win...this ultimate goal inherently means one must adopt only the most successful strategies, even at the cost of sacrificing diversity...that the same ship types have to be spammed may not seem fun, but spamming 2 ship types is more fun than building whatever seems "cool" and getting killed in the first 15 minutes...

Quite simply, the SP guys are in it for the immersive experience while the MP guys are in it for the strategic challenge...it is rare that a well-implemented game change will benefit one experience at the cost of the other...however, it is also rare that a game change beyond bug fixing will enhance both experiences...

In general, adding content predominately benefits the SP experience while balancing gameplay enhances the MP experience...

This is where the second fundamental reason comes into play...

Because SD is not particularly good at game balance, it is difficult for the company to both add content and balance gameplay at the same time...as Monk has pointed out, this leads to a questionable assumption that parts of the community must "compete" for SD's attention...not only must your feedback/request be good in its own right, but you are seemingly forced into either being ignored or arguing why the other group should be ignored...

This competition, or illusion thereof, leads to hostility...to make matters worse, not only is the other group one with different interests, but they are interests that are hard to respect or sympathize with if they aren't your own...the SP guy cannot respect the arrogant jerks who do nothing but play on ICO all day while the MP crowd cannot respect the stupid noobs who don't know what they're talking about and contribute nothing but nonsense...the groups simply cannot contend with each other, leading to stereotypes, hostile bashing, and animosity...

To make matters worse, SD actually does listen to the community every once in a while, and no one knows for certain which parts of the community SD listens to the most....as such, MP guys have a vested interest in tearing down and debasing "trivial" or "nonsensical" suggestions lest it be implemented into the actual game...so, even if SD had unlimited time and resources, there's still the need to dismiss bad ideas or suggestions..

Since it doesn't seem like the devs actually play the game competitively themselves, it seems reasonable that they must take much of the communities' feedback on faith...and what happens if the community disagrees?  Each side has an incentive to tear down the other's credibility or position in order to further its own agenda...

Well, even if the devs played the game frequently, they aren't playing at the level of skilled ICO players....their ability to evaluate it's balance is just as limited as the casual SP guys...

They like making games and playing for pure fun...I have yet to see anything to indicate that anyone on that team plays Sins seriously or competitively...hell, I don't think anyone knows for sure who exactly is in charge of game balance...odds are probably no one...its a small company and so you likely got a lot of multi-role personel (ie the guy making textures is also coding, the guy doing marketing is also reviewing feedback on the forum, etc.) where no one is solely dedicated to game balance...

There's really a lot of uncertainty in that regard...about the most detailed statement about their division of labor was from Brad and went something along the lines of "I couldn't even tell you what is done by SD and what is done by Ironclad"...if CEO King of Micromanaging Brad doesn't know who's doing what, not so hard to understand why the game balance may be in shambles...