I feel that ShotJon and Aendri are on the right track here, but I'm going to take it further and look at it from the very root from which it's all come from.
The players are here to have fun roleplaying in the setting. It's why they are here, it's why I am here, and I assume it's why all of you are here as well. To have fun. However, if something detracts from that for a large portion of the playerbase here, then we can expect this kind of mess to happen every single time and without fail.
The bottom line is that being forced to RP as NH-31s or 33's
IS NOT FUN for a large portion of the playerbase. This issue has been a problem time and time again, and in many different forms. Body changes forced by use of an IC Plague was not fun for the players, was it? The same for uniform changes - I know I didn't enjoy that, with the same for many others. A lot of art even became obsolete as a result.
Sure, we have IC justifications, but the most raw truth? The IC justifications don't matter
at all. In the face of reality - that is, real life - they're completely worthless if they do not cater to the playerbase. We even have some OOC justifications for this change, but even that (simplifying the models in service and tidying things up) doesn't matter for the very same reason. The playerbase doesn't like it.
A playerbase which catering to is the whole entire Raison D'être - reason of existence - of this site. A playerbase that, if neglected, will not grow.
It's also why I find it hard to vote for
Changes to Neko Law because though it would eliminate this specific problem, I don't know what's more fun in the setting. Having the Neko still made for and be slaves for war, or to have them be free. Warmachines? It's just like why Terminator 2 and Robocop were good - the struggle to rise out of being a machine and become human. Freedom and Humanity? Now it suddenly becomes a free for all. See how player enjoyment factors in?
It permeates everything, and neglecting this has demonstrated again and again to be a road to ruin.
So do everything possible to avoid impacting the players with this and roll the order back as far as possible.