[2022] Game used to be

Originally posted by Toadwart: It used to be 30 + people in a server, popular servers were full with 50 people playing strong together with no major issues.

Just a note on this.

The game has never supported a player count higher than 8.
It is known that the largest stable player count you can reach is 20, or 30 if you have pretty powerful hardware with an extremely high disk I/O. Above that requires the use of mods that aren't exactly what you would call "legit".

How long it has been in development or comparing it to something rather simple written in Java doesn't change the complexity of this title. It is the complexity of the structural integrity, ai mechanics, and the way data is handled that imposes these limitations.

The game is designed to be for a small group co-op played together with close friends. It isn't designed to be an MMO.
You trying to make it into something else won't change what the developer is making the game for.