... but the years are ticking by and we've gone nowhere but downhill (and slightly sideways) since then.

Not sure where you've been, @drutter, but you must have missed MIRA's release. That little thing from STINC that dealt with STEEM scalability. Something that virtually no other crypto has done, so that STEEM continues to be just about the fastest and cheapest blockchain out there. Oh by the way the testnet is open to all. Did you do much testing before complaining like someone around here owes you something?