@n0btc So yea seems they do have retweet and retweet with comment.
And yes I did hear before (though I dont recall from who or if it is true) that the reason eugene left off the features was as you describes.
Eugene is extremely opininated about mastodon, its his project so his right, I am welcome to fork it, and well, thats why I did, I want some features he doesnt, thats my right.
Users will use whatever they enjoy in the end.