I think the OP meant those to be two separate questions -- a) has lifting the invite limit changed much, and is there any (general) feedback from invite players about HL.

lol I was in Thailand and some zoo had the little guy, charged 150THB (like 5 bucks) to feed/pet him

http://i.imgur.com/H3VVW.jpg

Just a point to Mustard as to why I wouldn't want to swap a Spy or Pyro for a Scout 90% of the time:

Highlander lends itself at the higher level to situations where those classes need to be useful. With ridiculously high level Snipers playing, it's not uncommon for your Heavy to get Sniped. With that, your team is automatically at a disadvantage, and smart players on the enemy team will proceed to bomb in on your Medic.

There's just... no way you can agree that a Scout is a better pocket than a Pyro.

As for Spies, once again, at the higher level... it's rare for teams to make mistakes when holding points. This means that teams are often forced to overheal and support their Sniper through a choke so he can (hopefully) get a pick. Another, just as valid, tactic would be to coordinate aggression from your Soldier bombing once your Spy is in position behind the enemy. Say you've got a top-tier Soldier, as more and more teams are getting. The entire team (especially the Pyro) would be focused on denying the Soldier's bomb, leaving an opening for a Spy.

It's just not nearly as easy and much less likely that a Scout could get by a flank with 9 people watching it. Invisibility is better than speed 90% of the time.