FWIW, I requested these features as well, back when V4 was a gleam in Michael's eye :-)

HERE

and HERE

In fact, I really wanted to use V4 with a non-destructive workflow for quick iterative designs.
As an Industrial Designer who more and more wanted to ideate within MoI, it just became too hard. For the most part, MoI is a program that can easily document a finished concept design-- and I've used it for concept work as well, but needed SketchUp or other modeler to be able to work out the proportions, filleting, and other.

And without a basic AO shader, it's really damn hard to evaluate the form. The current renderer just does not reflect light how you would like it to. So, I'll keep using MoI for CAD type work where I need to document a design in NURBS, but have moved to Blender where I can continue working out designs using non-destructive, realtime rendered workflows.

Personally, I understand the greatness of having a passionate developer who wants to focus on ease-of-use for new users. The problem is-- users can grow out of the limited functionality a single programmer is able to facilitate-- and for Michael that includes running a business, managing a website, having the best support in the business, and I'm sure a host of other jobs. Keep in mind Michael's goal is not to compete directly with other CAD packages-- not even Rhino. His sole differentiator is ease-of-use and workflow speed.

The CON side of the equation, is feature requests take years to evaluate and implement, and the product continues to fall farther behind from a capabilities standpoint. A public roadmap showing rough timescales and feature milestones *might* go a long way. Still, Michael's a perfectionist. The cake is done when he says it's done-- so roadmaps probably don't mean much other than set and dash expectations. Sorta like Sienfeld's Soup Kitchen, though with a much kindler, gentler person in charge! :-)