Rob,
"many of us have strongly defended it as a very powerful and feature rich DAW choice."

RB is not a good DAW choice. It is not popular and actually almost unknown to wide audience because mainly it is used by people who rely on niche features related specifically to RT/RD. To me it is useless. I rather use a 12 year old Cakewalk Sonar than RB as a DAW.

December 2018 (2019 edition) - I opened RB for 15 minutes, closed it.
December 2019 (2020 edition) I opened RB for 5 minutes, closed it.
It is ages behind leading DAWs.

To be fair, I respect your passion, and who knows, maybe one day RB will become something more. I think PG has to keep program patched and running to keep loyal base in check, but for most people I think preferred way would be BIAB + VST Plugin and their DAW of choice.
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How do I see the future of PG software....ideally
A standalone BIAB, with re-designed, modern, MoDuLaR GUI, clean-easy to understand menus.
With features that actually work out of the box as intended, WITHOUT user suggested workaround acrobatics.

and VST plugin, that would have at least 85% features of the BIAB standalone.
Right now, after a year, VST is still not stable, which is a shame, but hopefully it will build proper muscles. On the VST note: Dear developers, if nobody mentioned this to you, I will. The transport buttons on VST plugin are UGLY! smile

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One last looong thought. I think one of the biggest issues with PG is that people who are responsible for design are not trained in this field or just do it "on the side". There was an issue raised recently and some folks voiced concern about "fresh" blood using PG products to keep it healthy...
I am "semi-fresh" member, probably upper 25% of the age group of users. I dumped the program about 10 years ago when I first tried it, because it was a scary looking beast... And almost dumped it couple of years back. I stayed only because of several dedicated key members of the forum helped me to cut through the fat....
There were touchscreen phones way before ip*ones. They used to be called Pocket PCs with modems. Steve Jops, stole the idea, calling it "revolutionary" by paying pennies to designer J. Ive to make old concept look like a candy. He is probably smiling in his grave now. Kindly stay focused it is a single thought, I am almost done.
What I am trying to say, looks sell. PG should hire (or consult!) somebody who is good with design. I believe new kids are just scared of one million menus of BIAB and mid 90s looks of some items. Me, I am old enough to remember black and white TVs and rotary phones - I will survive smile But to get things appealing to younger folks MAKE THE GUI AND WORKFLOW WORTH THE YEAR 2020! smile

More customers=healthy product, right?