The developers have said that dual spec is intended to be a convenience, not a necessity (see also: swift flying mount) and hearing them directly address the some-trees-are-meant-for-specific-roles possbility is reassuring to me.

I wasn't worried so much for things like the "we'll design an encounter that that requires 8 tanks" example, as a mindset developing along the lines of "Frost isn't designed to be viable for raiding; Mages should just swap out to an FFB or Fire/Arcane spec to raid".

I like being a Frost mage and I like to raid. I'm lucky that Frost has been a viable enough spec to run the current content with, and I don't want to be sidelined or have to respec/dual-spec in order to progress into Ulduar.

(Now if I can just figure out why this other Frost Mage I run with does about 300 DPS more than I do...)

frost raiding is fail raiding. for only 50g, you can boost your damage by at least 500 dps. What are you thinking?

I'm thinking that I like the Frost spec and I like to raid, and I'm trying to maximize my performance in the latter without giving up the former. I'm not hardcore and the people I run with are not either. I am well aware of the current limitations of Frost raiding, and I'm eager to see if the proposed 3.1 changes on the PTR are going to help.

The replenishment effect will be a snap in 10-mans: Blizzard has said they're now designing encounters with the idea that you will have replenishment in your raid, and saying I get replenishment when I cast Frostbolt is kinda like saying I get replenishment when I breathe since frost raiding consists 99% of Frostbolt spam.

From what people are saying, the new Glyph of Ice Lance damage on bosses isn't good enough yet to justify weaving it into a Fingers of Frost/Shatter combo. I haven't had a chance to test it because people seem reluctant to take someone who is only sporting ilevel 200 gear along...

If you have something constructive to add that doesn't resort to the very tired "fail" meme, I'm all ears.