Some of the complaints herein make it quite clear why Arne said some are just noise around the fringe. I actually think he may have been quite generous to only consider it noise. Cacophony seems a bit more appropriate for some.
As @
khabah put it quite succinctly, some herein are never to be satisfied. Here's hoping those move quickly to Hyatt so they can better spend their time complaining about the immense breadth of the Hyatt portfolio or about how those Globalist concierges aren't all they're cracked up to be, either. Or they can move to Hilton, IHG, or Accor so we all really can laugh.
Cobalt is just another mechanism for Marriott to invite those who might not stay as many nights or spend as much but might have outsize influence or connections otherwise. Marriott already has in its terms the ability to invite anyone it chooses to Ambassador status, so this is just an obvious business corollary to that.
Not really big news. Unless one is bitter about not having the shiny new object that just hit the headlines.
Cobalt really doesn't offer much more than Ambassador unless you're staying at Ritz-Carlton (since Club access is of value to many), unless you enjoy meeting hotel GMs (I can't imagine that's going to be worthwhile for any but the first stay for most, anyway), or unless you enjoy a local F&B experience that doesn't sound like it's going to be particularly significant (and which I can't imagine most will want to enjoy more than once again!).
A lot of getting worked up for nothing to me.