Dulittle -
Thanks for the feedback... unfortunately I've been out of the country on business this week. This is why you didnt see any "major" changes over the weekend, though we did put in the 'repair leather and studded armor' as requested on the uservoice site.
The faction changes are in the work, which will include new bases, shrinking of the existing TB base and bringing an overall better reason to join factions. I'll be in a better position to provide an ETA when I return the US this weekend.
Thanks,
Ryan