Unless it's somehow signalled that the core design philosophy of Darktide has shifted from exploiting whales through hostile mechanics to meaningful, rewarding gameplay, players simply won't return

[Lexa]

To be precise, the design intent has to change first because this design (philosophy) is a product of design intent.
These things (e.g. RNG all over the place) are a consequence of deliberate design choices. They are not bugs or some unforeseen consequence of interactions between complex systems in the game (e.g. Economy).
I’ve said this already:

@Lexa

I am more worried about the stuff that’s in the game (because it shows intent through game design) as opposed to stuff that is missing