Radiants are an issue that have been discussed to death multiple times.
Here's a little backstory:

When I joined Spiral Knights, it was because a friend IRL had showed me the game.
I got to the Advanced Training Hall, and noticed that my friend had a cutter.
In my mind i was thinking: "Whoa that's so cool!"
Questions flooded my mind. Questions like:
"What skill is that?"
"Where do you find the scroll for that?"
"Is there no cooldown?"
"Where's my mana bar?"

I walked through Haven and also had questions like:
"Where do I get my quests?"
You see, I didn't understand the game. I didn't have the basic knowledge of the game, and that made it really hard to figure things out. I had to hunt for recipes on my own, and I didn't understand the point of my game. I couldn't level up my character, couldn't get new skills, only upgrade my gear.
It's a really frustrating thing that many new SK players have to face.

However with the Hall of Heroes and Missions now included, the game is alot easier to pick up.
It's pretty user friendly (to the point where I think OOO is treating the people like idiots).
The new SK players that join don't have to go through the struggles I went.
The new systems that OOO implemented are great. The forge system is cool, the crafting system is cool, the reviving system is cool, everything is awesome!

Radiants
The new players get to the point where all their gear is 5 star, and guess what?
No radiant fire crystals to be found, no way to continue their progress into this game.
It's just a huge wall that says "Pay me money or stay here"
Many people just throw away the game at this point.
why?

Why does OOO go through all the trouble of making this game "noob-friendly" if they're just going to chase them away after maybe a couple weeks of playing?