Kudos to OP,
i think he got all important problems. I think that are the reasons people are somehow staying away from the game. I also lurk around and check the updates, but everytime i think they fix stuff i dont really care about. Like these monsters/water etc. that are not the reasons i dont play the game anymore.
I like to play other games too and dont like the AOE4 way of hotkeys. It feels like they are not really customisable and after i start a match in a new season to check the updates the game feels awkward (i mean input wise; hotkeys) then i check settings and can’t change them. After that i go on and play other games.
I’ll quote myself:
I even tried to fix it with mapping all the tabs on the same hotkey so “w” triggers all tabs “QWER” together + unique key like “s”. but the game only goes into the “q” tab even if the “s” key is only assigend in the “w” tab.
So easy fixes, it feels like all the feedback is a one way lane into the void. It would be so much better if just one Dev is checking these threads and gives active feedback. Communicate with the community.
Like the dev from manor lord, you can even write the dude on discord and he does polls about this or that and the community can decide and help.
That are just my 2 cents.