It would be great if the developers actually cared enough checked these forums and comment on user feedback.
Well, this is an users'forum. Maybe in the Desktop Team blog you have better luck receiving feedback from someone from Opera.
Why is it that there is no place to report bugs
There is one. But the subject of this topic is not a bug.
or send feedback directly to the development team?
They get feedback from here and from the comments on the blog. And also from social networks.