[2023] A21 is good and all but where's the *game* iteration?

Originally posted by MrPlowjoy: ...Updates should be introducing scale, removing the familiarity that players build and introducing a level of unknown factors to keep us on our toes...

I see this as a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of what the developers are setting out to do with these updates.

This game is in alpha. They are not and should not be changing things for the sake of recapturing and sustaining players' interest for another year. They are looking to complete the game. They are pushing towards a 'gold' release, in other words.

When they added a zillion kinds of doors in A21, it's not because they got tired of looking at the old doors, per se. It's that the doors they had were limited, temporary placeholders, and now the final, 'gold' quality door assets are fully implemented. That's one thing off their list of things for the finished game to have.

Many things - gore blocks, the crafting grid, learn by doing, secret stash, throwing spears (I could go on) - were experiments that didn't turn out the way the devs wanted. But nothing was removed to shake things up and keep the game fresh. Things were removed or replaced because the devs think going in a different direction is better for the ultimate, finished game.

Lastly, they are iterating on gameplay as well as graphics. Have you really seen none of the spirited discussion around 'learn by reading', or removing empty jars in favor of dew collectors? People have mixed opinions but no one can say these new developments in A21 haven't changed the gameplay.