[2023] A Decade of Development, but Where's the Progress?

Originally posted by Ankido: Can you help me understand something here?

Maybe...

Are you honestly wanting to understand or was your question rhetorical and all the suppositions you shared are actually what you already believe to be the truth? I don't want to waste my time giving answers that will just be rejected because you've already made up your mind.

Short answer: They started as a very small studio with low to moderate goals. This is their first project and they experimented a lot with different systems and implementations of features. The game's huge success led them to set their sights higher and although they've increased the size of their team, they are by no means a large studio. Some of the things you've mentioned like UI are on the list to overhaul now that they have a dedicated art team but A20 and A21 were all about environmental art and assets and POI overhauling. Character animation and UI are both getting overhauled very soon.

Most importantly, thousands of players have been and are continuing to have fun with the game despite its incomplete status and nobody can claim the devs have abandoned it.