Has anyone else noticed that the feathers on the shoulders of the Divine Mantle have, horribly... disappeared? Most of the old players might remember that the Divine set was one of the first (5*) sets to actually have unique art, which remained looking the same until sometime within the last few patches (perhaps the latest one), and so this difference seems like it would be more of an accident.

Regardless, I can tell you, from the depths of my soul, that the feathers which once fluffed up my shoulders have been dearly missed. Spiral Knights has not been the same without them.

In my opinion there should be some incentive to create a party and not just so u can do co-op play.
For that i would have 2 suggestions.
1. First suggestion would be to adjust the rate of crown drops a bit when u go in with a bigger party (the increase in crown drops should be roughly about 35-45 Percent per player in the party in my opinion so that solo runners still get alot more crowns out of one depth but teamplayers should have enough crown drops to keep going too in lower lvls).

In the early previews, people seem confused about why the crown/energy exchange rate varies.

The Massively guy didn't seem to know about it at all, and even the guy explaining it in the comments was confused.

"And also interestingly, excess energy can be swapped back for Crowns. This system is dynamic. You might get over 3000 Crowns for 100 Energy one minute and only get 1900 or so the next. I'm not really sure how the system determines the conversions."

Some of the early previewers seem confused on this point. They imply that spending energy is the only way to get back up when you've fallen. New players who joined after that system was added might need more instruction.

Since RL $$ for CE happens, account security would be stronger if we used character names on the forums. =)

Like, you'd receive an extra bonus for wearing all of the items in a series.

It wouldn't just be mashing the numbers of the two armor items together, it would have a bonus that neither pieces can achieve alone. (unless you have like a unique variant of that kind on one item.)

Like say... for example, Wolver Cap and Coat together increase your attack speed of sword, or Salamander set has less weakness to ice when together.

I think it would be a great idea to be able to see what recipes my guild mates and friends have learned.

What I really want to see though is an in game list of recipes with the names of guildies who are looking for that recipe. This way when you reach a crossroads you can just whip open the guild wanted recipe list and see if you have anything available to buy that someone is looking for.

A way to sort items/arsenal by quality/star amount would be useful immensely useful! A way to preview how equipment looks on our knights would also be appreciated : )

If you don't know what a Spider Tank is, I suggest you check this out.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpiderTank

Anyhow, this Puppy is a Spider Tank that is armed to the teeth. Missles, Guns, Elemental Bullets, Flames, Oil jars... etc.
It should also have turrets that shoot things similar to charged Alchimer shots, which may split into two (similar to lower level alchimers) or four (higher level) shots. They can also bounce around the room in predetermined paths unlike the Alchimer's randomized bouncing trajectory.

well seeing as I've played this game for ages and know most of the strategies of getting past mobs, i was just thinking there could be some new status effects that armour/ weapon lines can be based around.

First off: Waterlogged

Status against the player: after getting waterlogged by a mob, the player will struggle to move properly, in which a player will continue sliding in the direction they were moving in, and further will bounce off walls.