I would love to have this board in hotswap. I don't understand why people on this site insist hotswap availability is a negative. Hotswap is a feature; I don't see car buyers scoffing at any car that dares come with Leather seats. You want to solder, go ahead, but if I want sockets, why does the make me a jerk?
Hotswap offers several disadvantages over solderable:
(1) It hinders compatibility of layouts, so much so that we wouldn't be able to offer an ISO-compatible PCB by other means than making one ANSI and one ISO, confusing the user and making logistics and kitting harder, hence ramping prices. This considering that each socket costs ~0.12USD and in a 100-key board like this, it would mean 12 USD more in sheer materials
(2) Hotswap sockets are friction-based and have a considerably low life of a couple years before start giving up. That is not to mean the countless examples around of sockets just popping out of PCBs hendering that key unusable
(3) It is very expected from people that are going to buy a 500-dollar keyboard that they know what they are doing or at least will buy the recommended equipment (a good soldering iron and a good tin). Although a huge chunk of the R1 buyers were first timers we did help them get the tools and the soldering
(4) Just like you said, hotswap is a feature, that is, something that sould be added on and not offered in the first place. So much so that 99.9% of GBs that offer a hotswap version will deploy it as a add-on and the default kit as a solderable PCB
(5) If you absolutely want hotswap, you can use those Millmax sockets
It doesn't make you a jerk for asking at all and we always love feedback, but the reasons for not adopting hotswap are crystal clear and very fundamented from user, vendor and GB runner standpoints