Itās easy to say āsomeone screwed upā but keep in mind that people arenāt the same. Keeping on the theme of āvampiresā ā Twilight vampires are very different from Interview With a Vampire vampires and both differ from the vampire as laid out in Dracula which differs from vampires of mythology. Would a vampireās reflection show in a modern day mirror since it has no silver backing? Rhetorical, but Iām just pointing out that different developer interpretations donāt necessarily mean someone screwed up.
A clear design document (which is what they have now) doesnāt prevent mistakes, but it does make it so that thereās something to reference for consistency. Otherwise it is open to interpretation. Even if itās only mostly correct on a go forward basis ā laying out āthis is how it should beā is a much better step to consistency then āwell, immerse yourself in 25 years of conflicting code by multiple developers and then make a judgment call.ā
In my opinion, not knowing the right answer and making a choice isnāt screwing up.