Reignited needed FAR more things to be restored and brought to standard before it could be talked about.

I don't want to talk about the merits of Reignited as presented here. Nor do I want to talk about if anything even tangential to the basic idea would be good or not. What I am saying is that RS3 is still in enough of an undercooked state (especially for the lower levels) that even if we accept whatever premises are in effect to make a dedicated new player thing a good idea, there is a LOT of work to do to have those new players stick around for longer than the free trial period. What has been done with Road to Restoration already is good (albeit with some mixed results, the removal of DSF, WFE, and the sucking chest wounds those bandaged over not being adequately addressed spring instantly to mind), but at current pace I'd guess we are at least 2 years out from just the stuff sub-70 all being in an acceptable state, and that ignores that most of the relevant sections of the game is above that bracket, let alone conversations around how subscriptions work and how grandfathered rates have been repeatedly screwed even now.

The existing backlog is still a gargantuan list, and honestly if we want to attract new subscriptions and not just hold the line we need to go above and beyond that to draw them in. Runescape is not in a market of one anymore, and there is plenty of things in competition. The game needs to be competitive on its own merits far more than it is, and I'm not sure how much time it has before the music stops and we have to judge what exists rather than what is promised. I love this game, and have loved it for over two decades. I don't want to have to wave goodbye to it any time in the next decade either, and for that to be achieved things need to improve. Better and more honest communication is just a start, and it should have started when the Road to Restoration was started. Hopefully we turn in a better direction.