I think the pushback comes from how this announcement came out of the blue and the expectations set by the last poll. In this case, polishing and fleshing out pre-existing content, which in my view contains combat and enemy AI.
I think it would be better if the new devs were integrated into the VS team for the moment.
Give them time to adjust, learn, and properly integrate into the team goals and ideals. Not to mention time to adjust to the community and its expectations.
Let them help develop the things mentioned by Tyron, such as combat, improved enemy AI, and better NPCs, together with the main team.
Then, when these points were addressed in the "main" mode, separate the two experiences, making the necessary changes to fit the adventure mode.
I love the fantasy aesthetic and would love to see the adventure mode come true, but it's not what I am expecting to be a priority for the team, and it feels like the attention was split into two different projects (as much as they may overlap).
This feels too early to create two separate workforces that inevitably will need to work together so as not to waste development time.
I have no issues with more content, just how long it will take and if the content was created primarily for the core VS experience.