HCS had to do something about Despair. It was not functioning as documented, and by definition that makes it a bug. So they chose to fix it. A perfectly legitimate decision, even if not the best one. No reason for people to go ballistic over this. You don't usually hear a software company asking for permission to fix a bug.
This thread boils down to a request to put back the bug, call it a feature and document it. Given the comments above I have to agree, and given this outcry HCS will probably accept it. But remember, from the developer's POV, fixing a bug is usually the correct thing to do.