RWBY has some of the most cursed production for a series.

V1: No budget
V3: The lead creator and animator dies
V4: Switches graphics program, first volume without Monty
V5: Budget siphoned, rushed script, and 14 episodes. Led to V5 being terrible and fractured the fandom.
V6: Terrible Glassdoor reviews for RT.
V8: Covid and Texas power crisis from the snow storm.
V9: Continued production issues from Covid, made at the same time as 2 crossover movies, production issues with rigging, more workplace misconduct. Led to a 2 year hiatus.
V10: Isn't even greenlit

So V2 and V7 were the only volumes without major problems

I think that if WB wasn't in such a huge mess with Zaslov, the DC crisis, being in debt, etc… RT would have been shut down or sold off a while ago. Like, they have so many bigger problems to worry about that they don't even notice all the problems RT's having with RWBY. They probably would have shut RT down and given RWBY to their animation division and in the hands of more experienced writers.

At this point I think the series is just too far gone, the story has become too dark and too bleak, turned off too many people… if Volume 10 does get made, it's gonna be a rushed as all hell finale.

Really I think the show suffers because, as said above, the writers were obsessed with making RWBY an animated Game of Thrones/new Full Metal Alchemist, rather than just being a fun action comedy like it should have been, they made the story too dark and too bleak and very poorly written, made too many mistakes, volume 9 was mostly filler, pandering to the rabid Yang/Blake shippers, terrible glorification of suicide…what a shit show!