I get it, but what tended to happen too much is DMs flat out forgot to apply the advantage at all so in a practical sense the wolves had no boosted senses whatsoever. That's at least the impetus for the change. I'm not declaring anyone has to like it.
Mileage will vary of course but the simple explanation is Keen Senses as a trait with no other notation was too easy to be missed and become literal dead space on the page.
Your preferences are valid!
I suspect we'll see more in the full MM. These are mostly Beasts and other low-level critters so I don't expect to see much in the way of save proficiency.
Keen Senses has been a deprecated design element for a while now, looking at recent 2014 rules books you won't see it, going back to at least Monsters of the Multiverse. Instead, you'll see Proficiency or Expertise in Perception for creatures that used to or otherwise would have Keen Senses...
You can leverage Exhaustion levels in the same way. As an example, 2024 suffocation gives you mounting Exhaustion that all clears when you can breathe again (assuming you don't die first).
You can easily do effects that cause Exhaustion that ends on Short Rest or after some time instead of...
I created a Dracolisk stat block for the adventure but sadly it had to be cut for space. I still sigh sadly about it. Hopefully it will find some place to live in the future. A monster I wrote for the Book of Many Things had to be cut, but found new life in Eve of Ruin, so there's always hope...
Per the fireside chat they're in printout review stage now on the 2024 Player's Handbook. We're not getting actual previews until that phase is done and the book is out the door to be printed. Until the files are sent, changes might happen, and they don't like giving previews that they then have...
One of these days after Quests is out I might go through and total up how many pages of just stat block reprints it would be to include every MM creature in the book. Then we can talk about which pages from the book you'd want to sacrifice to make room for them.
I'm sympathetic to wanting the...
See I love learning this kind of thing about real world animals. I floated the idea of the sperm whale stat block in Rime of the Frostmaiden being able to stun things with an ultrasonic click, but understandably that didn't get picked up. Disappointing but I get it. :P
The issue wasn't time or effort, I could have whipped up giant crickets in my sleep. The issue was page space--there was absolutely no room in the book for even a small stat block for crickets. Sorry. :/
But for a noncombatant creature, it just wasn't even necessary. The giant frogs were the...
I love this setup, and great suggestions above.
Consider adding some environmental hazards like the asteroid shifting and possibly knocking characters prone. Minor meteor showers as smaller rocks drift through and crash into the bigger asteroid. Or even the scavver being cunning and on its...
I'm aware of a few people who left (laid off) and later came back, so it can definitely happen. I'm just not banking on it or even really considering it as a possibility, mostly for my own sanity.