I think Humankind' biggest problem is that it's a bard. It has a lot of good ideas but doesn't go far enough with any of them to pleas any one. They are focusing on competitive multiplayer, immersion and RP, making the game board game-like, and competing with Civ. What they need to do is pick one or two of those things and just focus on expanding those. They just make sure the other features aren't broken and functioning properly and then just forget about them and focus on the chosen two. I think any of the above is valid, but personally I think they should focus on immersion and RP. I think a turn-based 4X with Paradox levels of RP and random events would certainly be more capable of competing with the Civ through it's sheer uniqueness. It certainly be better off than the master of none we have now.