I understand developing takes time. I also understand building an api onto something that wasn't initially molded for it is difficult. Behind closed doors, regardless of what you know about developing, there are multiple variables to consider. Personal skill, ambition, conflicting interest, ect ect. So I'm humble enough to admit I have no idea if they are working diligently, or at their leisure. It is also not my place to know such things.
What I do know is that 1.8 took close to a year to come out. Now, we are 4 months in this year, and not even the first snapshot for 1.9 has hit. I know 1.8 was big, but I also remember when full releases were in months time. Combine previous releases within the year they were put out, and tell me just how big 1.8 was compared. Updates are for sure moving slower. Slower than ever before.
Whatever the excuse, whether justifiable or not, does not change the fact that this is the longest span of time the community has been without anything new to work with.
What does anyone expect? Frequent updating is one of the biggest reasons MC has done so well the past few years. Take that away, and obviously things are going to look different.
People are starting to get flashes of disinterest. A lot of people have been with this game for years, so they're nervous. Not nervous about when the api is coming. Not nervous about when 1.9 will start showing life. Not deep down. Deep down, they are nervous about their own disinterest, creeping up behind them. It shows in the form of complaints, relating to their preferred upcoming features. "When will the api get done?" "When will we get anther snapshot"? They don't want to lose interest in a game they have put years of playtime into. Complaining is just a symptom.
Personally, I'm all good right now. But I totally get the frustration here. And it's all shrugged off with labels like "entitlement" as if this is not a give/take relationship.
It is, it always has been, and it always will be. I never understood this notion that Mojang updates MC out of the goodness of their hearts (even though I'm sure they have good hearts). Sure, the updates are free, and that's awesome. But come on, Mojang is a company. These devs "work" for this company. They don't work for free, and their work has to be lucrative, otherwise, what would be the point? Updates are for relevancy. Relevancy sells more copies, more merchandise, and all the other peripheral products associated with the IP.
The community keeps MC alive and relevant. If we lose interest, it crumbles. "Entitlement" has nothing to do with that fact at.all.
Nobody is entitled to an api, or any new updates from here on out. That is true. If they stopped, then that would be that, and MC would decline in popularity.
Interest is something we can't control. You either have it, or you don't, and it can go at any time. MC has been going strong for years, and the community has been going strong for just as long.
Regardless of the complaining, or those who do feel entitled, one thing is certain: If things continue to be "soon", people will move on. Yeah, it'll be spurts at a time, and a lot of folks will say "go ahead, see ya", but that's not really looking at the grand scheme of things.
No game is fun forever. The magic of Minecraft is that updates make it feel like a new game. The way the game is setup, the format, the world, the possibilities. Just about anything can go into it. It's just unlimited potential, and it most likely will never hit the peak. Hey, that's okay. However, it needs a consistent flow up until the end, or it will come quicker than it should.
I say none of this with malice. I enjoy the devs as people, and the community as a whole. This is all respectable criticism and middle ground observation (as middle ground as I can go), so I hope it's taken as such.