What they said was that their intent with the newly announced "Ranger"-talent in the SV tree, is not to make a ranged SV sub-spec as part of SV itself. Very different from what you said.
There was literally no spec fantasy overlap between MM and RSV. In WoD, the last expansion before the rework, MM and RSV did not share a single signature ability or effect. The only common fantasy was the actual core class fantasy of being a ranged weapon fighter. Using that as a basis for your argument of "they were the same..." is like if you were to argue that all mage specs are the same because they all cast spells, just with different colors. Same thing with warlocks.
I mean, feel free to read the OP in this very topic which you're posting in:
https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...-a-modern-spec
I structured/compiled the concept so that it would maintain the core of what was RSV's gameplay up until WoD. There's enough in there to the point where you could pick talents and paths so that your gameplay would be, well, about 90% the same as it was before, just more of it.
Again, look at the concept I've proposed. Do you honestly think all that could be put into MM, while still keeping the core theme of MM itself, the fantasy it promotes of being a sharpshooter? It wouldn't even come close...
Serpent Sting is there yes. Just, it doesn't have any of the interactions and added depth which was available through RSV.
Explosive Shot is in the class tree, but it's been reworked from the core design it held for RSV, into a 30-sec use-on-CD AoE spell, not at all the same as it used to be.
Lock & Load isn't in the class tree. Nor does it's new design interact with anything that was RSV in the past.
Black Arrow, you might not care about the elements of RSV, but many others did/do still. As for it being a ST DoT, again, see the concept in the OP. It's designed so that you could add A LOT more depth to gameplay involving Black Arrow, if you so wish.
Based on the things you've said, either you prefer ignorance, you don't actually know what the gameplay was like/amounted to. Or you simply don't care, and are just here to troll.
In theme(fantasy) old RSV portrayed the idea of a munitions expert and trapper. Mechanically/gameplay-wise, it was about DoTs, rot-gameplay, concistency.
MM was about being a master archer or sharpshooter. Mechanically/gameplay-wise, it was(and still is) about frontloaded damage and heavy burst.
BM was, well, the beast master. Mechanically/gameplay-wise, it was(and still is) about a mid-range of burst + a more concistency-focused profile, much based on buffs and power boosts.