I left Classic after many years almost solely because they reduced towering to the husk that it is.
There is clear evidence that they are trying (all the nifty box fort themes that came) but even if the "ngs" does come (which i never had any hopes of it happening since announcement), it won't happen for a long time and more and more people are going to leave without the presence of a group competitive scene that also acts as a great social experience.

I get the notion of "lol hoo evn cares for hat? but as you can see from the "Brasil Tower Defence" that we have now, the hats were a big deal. Why were they removed in the first place? Too many of them? I don't see the purpose of removing them before "ngs" from both a gameplay and business standpoint.