This is just an objectively bad statement. You're acting like just because he can script well NOW means he could script when he was just starting.
To add on to this, it's a thing in literally every creative endeavour to try and do things while setting your own constraints. Even if Aevin could script while he made Hero's Memory, why would you assume he'd do it? There's a lack of logic there.
And even if you're not convinced by logic, you can just freaking check the quest to see if there are scripts. I've been told devs can trivially enter passworded quests, so that's not an issue at all. Empirical evidence trumps all logic and all theories.
This brings me to another point brought up by a fair few - taking a public pre-made script or asking someone else to write the script for you and then putting it into your quest is, from my experience, undesirable. First, there's plenty of scripts so you'd have to know your way around the script database and you don't even know if what you require even exists at all. You could be going on a wild-goose chase. Second of all there's the whole process of figuring out how to integrate your script into the quest using the ffc things. Might be trivial for a seasoned scripter but its a nightmare for a beginner. Third, you always worry about whether its going to work correctly in your quest. If it doesn't, maybe its your fault or maybe its the scripts fault - you don't know. If its the script's fault then you're going to have to ask people to re-write the script for you. Finally, what happens if you want to make small tweaks and adjustments to the script because it just isn't right? Once again you're going to be dependent on whether or not other people like you and if they support your work. I can't imagine anyone writing scripts for my Insanity Unchained simply because they know that their hard work and effort will all be for zero since they won't enjoy the final work. How am I supposed to go around asking people for help in such a situation? I've got strong hunch I'm not the only one who feels uncomfortable with such a situation but also many novice want-to-be quest makers.
I can only give my own experience, but bear with me:
I was 11 or 12 years old when I found ZC. Started my quest in 2012. I forget how much later I learned to put scripts in, but I can't have been older than 14.
Now I don't want to further the idea that young teenagers are idiots, but I worked out how to add scripts at that age. How to actually script? Not really. But copying and pasting things into a text file, saving that with a .z after it, importing it into ZQuest and then putting FFC and Item scripts into slots is not that complicated. If I could learn it at 14 (probably earlier) then either I'm a genius (I'm really not) or someone older should be able to learn that process comparatively easily, no?
And you act as if learning to use ZQuest is a piece of cake. It's not. Even the difference between combos and tiles is confusing to someone without experience in this kind of thing. Warps take time to learn. Strings take time to learn. Whatever the hell you do with Dmaps to set things up with those takes time to learn. Screen secrets? Yup. And, unless you have literally all the items from Zelda 1 or all the items that are in the game, you need to set up subscreens that work for your quest. It's mandatory. More mandatory than scripting, by a long shot. And even for someone who's worked with this program for ~seven years by this point, that stuff is a nightmare. Like, a proper one. It's the epitome of "is this my fault or the program's?" in ZQuest.
I also disagree that it's harder to tell what's a 'good' script. If it does what it should (like, uh, not softlocking your game when you step on the wrong kind of a combo, for example - that's an issue I had to deal with for a bit), then it's functional. You can argue about style and glitches in fringe cases, and I'd agree there.
But, as a musician, I've got to challenge your assertion that you can judge music to be as black and white in 'good' or 'bad'. Just listening to it can give you an idea of whether it works or not, just as just playing the game can give you an idea of whether the script works or not. But if we're going into style and fringe cases in scripts, then why couldn't we go into musical techniques? I dunno how much you guys know about music, but if your harmony's a bit weird or your rhythm is a bit off, it comes across. It still works and stuff, but it feels weird. I suppose it's definitely not your fault if you put it in your quest and it doesn't work musically, but that's not the thing I'm arguing .
Just had to argue that because that's one of those things I take offense at I guess. It'll be the same for graphics too (where more often the issues may lie with the questmaker - importing graphics is also kind of complicated).
And, lastly, even if ZC is dying (arguable, but I'll humour you for a moment), why should those of us who are still here not keep doing what we've been doing, making quests with and without scripts and keep developing the new versions for the small number of people who are still here? If it dies (I doubt it very much) at least we had fun. If anyone here does believe it's not worth it and believes ZC is dying, they can (and I don't doubt do) leave. The rest of us can keep enjoying it and maybe keep using ZC until we lose interest ourselves. And when it sees some kind of resurgence when 2.55 comes out (again, I don't doubt it) we can welcome the influx of new members (which there have been a few of in the last couple years, if you didn't notice).
I mean, it may be your job to predict things, but I assume you do this with extensive market research, right? I'm seeing a lot of empirical and anecdotal evidence that goes against some of your premises, let alone your conclusions. With respect, and hoping not to be too patronising, I'll quote some literature back to you:
"It is a capital mistake to theorise before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgement."
--Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia (Arthur Conan Doyle)