exactly, the problem is that after "nailing down the core gameplay early" the gameplay loop doesn't change at all. get signals, get hashcodes, send everything, repeat. The only change in this loop is that you gain the ability to upgrade signals, but it's just another computer that you insert disk into and it does stuff.
p.s: "need to step away from the game for a bit in order to refresh your experience" i played for ~1 week after release of 0.6.3, 0.7 and 0.8, "burning out" is not the case
the point of the game is to do other things while doing the tasks and signals, there's a lot of things to find out there and the entire focus of the game is not just "you get signals"
there's a reason why your base starts up covered in dirt and trash, it's for something you can do while doing/done with your daily task
there's a reason why there's an entire deco tab, you can decorate your base as a side-project while doing your job and save up points to do it, i could go on much more about things that you can do other than just messing with signals
the events in the story aren't just "haha look at this thing" it usually is meant to distract you from your job and make it challenging, but also to convince you to do other things than just sit in a room and turn dials all day
if you want a game whose pure focus is signals, you can play signal simulator
but there is really nothing else to do besides signals
you can clean entire base in 1 day 2 days (thanks for garbage bag nerf, nose), base decoing is just a filler "mechanic", you finish deco and yeah, that's it, now you collect signals in style
digging stuff with metal detector is unrewarding, you either get scrap or trash that you only can use for scrap, but there is nothing useful to craft besides omega and parts for mining rig, fishing is... underwhelming, farming is a joke, "cave exploration" is useless unless you want more omegas
but the story event are "haha look at this thing"; "look at this weird picnic" (the game almost forces you to see it, you don't find it because you "explore the world"), "haha look at that warp arrow" (you just get your mail filled with junk), "spooky sounds from the vent" ("horrors in vent" idea goes nowhere), "haha look at this weird treehouse" (arirals and their rep are useless, unless if you don't have points for food ~20 days into the game, and their "horror" element was ruined by dev's actions), obelisk and wisps are flashy but boring, just avoid them while outside, that's it, the don't "provoke" actions from you
i'm convinced you haven't seen day 30+, it gets way more interesting than just "look at this thing" or the wisps
it's fine if you don't like the stuff you can otherwise do, this game isn't for everyone, i'm not sure about complaining on it though
there's stuff you can do than just digging and farming and whatever, i've personally taken a liking to building structures using planks of wood and nails and stuff, you can do a lot with the tools the game gives you
so i should "endure" 30+ days until it gets "way more intresting"? with all those gameplay problems i described? sounds wonderful
oh, yeah, building, all the WIPs made me forget about that
also, "the thing isn't for everyone" is a such shitty argument in general, usually used to shield questionable decisions
i'm saying there's no adequate alternative option to just sitting in main room collection signals because there's nothing else to do, and even that gets repetitive really fast
EDIT: i am not saying that this is a problem, the problem is that it is this way for too much time, again, no gameplay changes for many updates
