I wish this little project had turned out better. One reason I posted so early to the forums about my ideas for implementation was to hopefully avoid major clashes with the authentication code going in. The necessary communication didn't take place.
So much development is going on in private, with no access to the code until it's completely done, that it's almost impossible to contribute anything meaningful to the core, especially if you're an independent developer.
I don't know that TIPs or increased governance are really going to be an answer to get more of the "little people" or "worker bees" to contribute more than just simple patches.
I'm currently following another project with literally dozens of people making meaningful, useful, and rapid improvements and additions. Anyone who sees an itch to scratch has all to tools they need to get their work done and still be current with the newest developments of the main branch. In addition, their work is easily merged into the main development line. I hope one day we will have such a system here.