I'm not sure it's 'continuing to grind out serious theory crafting' as much as it's hand wringing and head scratching. Until it can actually be played by the masses, the debate as to whether the dire lord is inferior, adequate, or superior as a tank will continue to rage. I'm going to laugh really, really hard if we get to 'end game' and the dire lord turns out to be the go-to tank, though. :)