I'm not sure how RM is but, I can say something about Steps.
All Steps was is READING WHAT THE NPC SAID. That was it.
People I guess didn't know what to do that so they dropped like flies.
In fairness, expecting people to read and digest things in the middle of an intense fight (messages that are not on your screen for very long, for that matter) is a little unreasonable. How often have you had someone completely fail to read/react to a mid-battle tactics message that you typed in the chat log?

I know I'm guilty of it too, particularly as a healer; when in battle my eyes are glued to the party list and usually not looking down at the chat at all.