To be quite honest, I'm not exactly sure what "the market" even means in this context. I said earlier, "how can the market enforce a quota that the market itself does not want?" But what's not clear to me is if the "market" that wants the increase is the same "market" that needs to enforce the quota.
Anyways, I suspect by this time next year we shall have our answer. My hunch is that, yes, there is only one market and if that market wants an increase (i.e., Qmax is to the left of Q*) then it shall find a way to fork the protocol.
One man's 'operational parameter' is another man's 'quota'.
By the way, I am still taking 1 BTC bets (subject to deposit in a 2-of-3 escrowed wallet) that the longest proof-of-work chain will contain a block larger than 1 MB by this time next year.
And still with a high degree of vaugeness about what is meant by 'the longest proof-of-work chain' I see.
I will say that in my mind, a change in protocol which is not agreed to by ALL of the currently active core contributors is not valid and it does not matter if it is long enough to reach from Earth to the edge of the solar system.