The big difference is that Disney did not predict was a global pandemic that shut down cruises, the parks, etc.
I don't think they were discouraged by people being turned off - if you look at the sales numbers pre-pandemic, they were just fine. The pandemic is the big unknown here - Disney may have previously been able to afford to play the long game and wait, but with revenue hurting, I don't think they can play as long of a game.
So if the sales don't rebound, I think they may end up re-considering the resale restrictions as a promotion to help make more direct sales. Or if they really want to stick to the resale restrictions, they could turn up the promotions and reduce the price of Riviera.
The documents for Riviera say they can turn it off or turn it back on anytime they want though - so even if they turn it off, they could turn them back on in the future.
I do agree with
@chicagodisneyguy in that if sales don't improve - Disney could decide to replace leadership at DVC which could bring changes.
If you look at other businesses, they're having to roll back some pretty anti-consumer rules like airline flight change fees to try to get people to buy flights. So it wouldn't surprise me to see Disney doing more pro-consumer things to attract people.