Beyond that, I'm still having trouble going more than a day or two without the miner hanging on a block...right now I firmly believe that's the primary hindrance to this coin's success. People don't want to have to constantly monitor their miners just to make sure they're still mining, and if they have to, they'll move on to a coin that doesn't require this.
While both you and QuantPlus make valid statements on the grant system, your last remark really hits the nail on the head.
No matter how the grant system is implemented, as long as there are stability issues the coin will not be mined by a broad audience.
Fixing the stability issues should be the #1 priority on FreeTrades list and instead he is focussing on 'fixing' the grant system.
What will happen when the big grant after block 8710 will not go to FreeTrade? Will he go on strike again or do another fork to 'fix' the grant system again?
As you said, people will always play the grant system for their own profit, and I don't see any problem with that since this would require someone to mine the coin intensively (or buy on exchanges) and not sell coins, which all benefits the value of the coin. The only way to get grants awarded that are supported by a large user base, would be to first get a large user base to start with, which can only be done by a reliable stable client.
Even though QuantPlus is a quite hard on FreeTrade, the basics of what he is trying to tell do make sense.