[CarCdr]

The way the code is done means you have to edit it.

This is only true precisely because Jelsoft has yet to provide extension support. There is no good reason for it to remain this way. There is nothing inherent in the use of PHP or the implementation of vBulletin that would preclude decent extension suppport.

My sense is that they understand how disfunctional the current approach is and that they are planning for support that would not require hacking code for many types of hacks, or at least, for the most common features of hacks (i.e., admincp, phrases, settings, options, templates).

This is not difficult to accomplish. Other software does it. Systems have been dealing with and solving extensibility issues for decades. All the various solutions move contributors away from having to change the installed code base.