> This coming from one of a handful of core devs is discouraging.
I don't think so. Refactoring is actually a decent way for new contributors to do something meaningful while still learning their way around the code base. As long as there are people possibly willing to help, then I would hope the core devs focus their energies on more interesting topics. Appropriate delegation is a sign of good leadership. Speaking of, I need to block out some time and try to contribute some refactoring... ;)
