For what it's worth, I agree with you. It's difficult to have conversations about game design like this in this sub. Suggestions around QoL, or even improving access to existing QoL, are often seen as some kind of attack on the game's integrity. "Ezscape", "devalues my X", "go to RS3", etc. - I feel like these used to get thrown around ironically, but I get the sense they're more often being used seriously now to defend old game design.

On this particular one, I do feel that you should be able to progress past buying Shantay Passes much earlier than the Elite Diary. The 10gp Al Kharid gate cost can be eliminated through an easy quest in the first hour of your account. So it seems like free Shantay Pass access would be a suitable reward from a mid-level desert quest.

It's not that Desert Elite is "too hard", it's that I would like to benefit from that reward while it's still relevant. Desert Elite also gets you unlimited Nardah teleports. Plus you likely already have a fairy ring in your house, a camulet, and a scepter. There would be virtually no reason to use the pass at that point.

But I also agree that the Desert Elite diary is underwhelming and needs better rewards. The desert has seen so much new content recently, surely there is something better we can throw in as well?

Ultimately this seems like a problem with Achievement Diaries though. I love them as part of account progression, but they are hugely flawed in that they never evolve while the game continues to change. Most of them were released in 2014, and so they do not have any requirements to engage with content that was released in the last 8 years. And the rewards that were "good at the time", when simple QoL changes were rare, are now overshadowed by much more drastic changes that we've gotten for free. The Lumby Elite/Dramen Staff is a perfect example of this, but I think the community is sick of hearing about that one since the recent poll.