I think - from my experiences since the 3.0 release or so - the core dev(s) just have strategy to put a big shield around themselves while working on critical steps, as to not get dragged down by forum ramble & the usual lame cat jokes, or be distracted by the urge to justify descisions made. I can understand this, it is a very small project and has some “special” userbase. Imagine yourself being deep in some code work, and then having to deal with all kinds of ramblings by users afterwards…no good thing. Big projects would have a tightly organised timeline, and someone dedicated and instructed precisely how to communicate with the public. But renoise is a smaller thing. Also there seems to be some “its done when its done” philosophy, and one not to raise too many expectations before they can be fulfilled.
I take it as a good sign that communication is pretty sparse currently - only the necessary forum support right now and a lua tools sector which seems to have a user feedback strategy in development. In the past main public communication about the core happened in beta phase and for some time after release.
so keep calm & post lame cat pics. last year santa brought some betas, who knows who will bring the next.