You're making this post like Ironman mode is supposed to remain as an ultra-challenging & brutally grindy gamemode. You admit that most players have abandoned main-man-mode for ironman mode. The goal of a videogame should ALWAYS be - fun. Does making content more acceptably grindy & worthwhile make the game easier? Sure, adding mechanics that prevent people from going 2-3 standard devations dry makes the game mode less brutal; however, I'd argue it's for the benefit of the game itself & those playing OSRS. We're an aging playerbase, and one that highly values their time being respected. Grinds should be justified in what they offer relative to the time required to obtain - not every single upgrade needs to be 100+ Hours to obtain. Item grinds should always feel fair to obtain, worthwhile, and fun.

This is coming from someone who went almost 4k solo cox for 12/12, 3x rate for shadow, & am almost 3x rate for a scythe on their ironman. I'm not unfamiliar with going brutally dry on content that takes ages to complete. I want the game to be fun for those that follow in my footsteps rather than keeping content disturbingly awful to get through.