I've tried to figure out how to say this in a productive way. I posted once, deleted it, then started another post and didn't post it. Now I'm trying again.
I have no faith in WotC anymore. The first card it was produced was of...questionable power. The second was deemed broken and was revised into obscurity. The third...I disagree extremely vehemently with the choices of the voting public. I think it led to a card that, while not broken like its predecessor, is a terrible card that will see little play. Given the Collective's first three collective failures (though I will at least credit ACE as being somewhat creative), I don't see WotC as being good for the game. If more participation by the public in the design in strongly desired by the public, I'd rather see the CC run MiS again, or issue more design-a-card prizes. I think getting individuals involved, as individuals, is less likely to result in jumbled messes - such cards can be the work of one vision (at least at the outset - of course Design and playtesters will then shape it further) rather a confusing clamor. WotC 3 fuses a character (Mudd) with an element he had nothing do with (we never saw him doing commodities trading / dealing bulk goods like Tulaberry Wine) and then combines with an unrelated gameplay element (the personnel who like being randomly selected aren't prime for a Commodities deck) for something that is unhelpful to thief decks, to commodities decks, and yet requires too much commodity commitment to just splash in decks with good "if randomly selected" personnel. It's a bad card, as best I can tell.
This is just my
on 2E design - I have no knowledge or opinion of 1E, and won't comment on whether it should have WotC still. I hope I'm not insulting anyone who loves the new Mudd. I'm also not trying to insult Design - I think they made the best of a bad lot, working with what the public gave them. What I am doing is criticizing the WotC process. I hope this is constructive.