[gamegoblin]

I agree that RCV is better than FPTP, but only marginally. It's not clear to me if the marginally better system is worth the complexity (in the eyes of some voters, at least).

As you allude to, RCV is fine when the minor parties essentially have no chance at winning. They get knocked out in the early rounds and then don't matter. In cases where two candidates have similar vote shares, the result is fairly chaotic.