After over a week of trying to get a meeting with @TeamYouTube we finally have one scheduled for an hour from now. If you have any constructive feedback to share with them regarding the abbreviated subscriber numbers (via the api), reply to this tweet.
Well I believe they should implement a switch to toggle the display, having off by default, so the ability to view the sub count is still there and also isn't effecting third party companies. As well as take down the subscriber wars videos... that's not what YouTube is about.