Transparency Discussion: Shadow Nerfs

Hiya everyone (staff in particular),

Throughout a bunch of years on this server, I've tried to cling to the belief that staff is relatively (take that with a grain of salt) transparent.
As an extension of this, I'd like to believe that 'Shadow Nerfs' as such aren't a desirable thing.

However, the past years have shown numerous cases where 'shadow nerfs' have (supposedly) taken place. E.g. this post just recently.

The point of this thread is twofold. The first wish I have from this post is a clarification/confirmation from staff that these shadow nerfs do occur.
Secondly, a broader question towards the community, are shadow nerfs a problem? Is it more desirable for these changes/nerfs/fixes to get their own channel through which they are mentioned/confirmed/announced, or is the current state of things (guesswork, really, unless you're logging vast amounts of data regularly) fine?

Feel free to discuss.

Kind regards,

Ainz