Anyway, my biggest complaint about Rimworld, and I've probably already posted it in here at one point, is how tower defense-y it feels. It's definitely gotten better over the years, but I kinda wonder what the game would look like if the primary challenge wasn't "people show up outside your base and try to burn it down."
I think one of the main reasons for this is a disconnect between how the Tynan is trying to design the game and how many, if not most, players end up playing it.
He sees Rimworld as a story generator. And it is great at that! But the developer has the ideal story of "survive and struggle just long enough to escape by the hair of your teeth", with plenty of loss and turns along the way. This is the point of raids and the like. To throw a wrench in your story, to create conflict and loss, and to pressure you to pursue a victory condition. Like reading a book with lots of major character death and struggle. Sure, some people don't make it and others have a bad time, but the point of it is to create a compelling experience for the reader.
Players often see Rimworld in ways along the lines of "create and prosper in a huge megabase." I know I do. But this turns raids from "generate conflict, loss, and pressure" to "obstacle to my
Victory that must be
Beat." People will game AI, savescum, and otherwise pour tons of effort into ensuring that they do
Beat the raids and other enemies. Where "my base was overwhelmed by a raid that killed two talented colonists and kidnapped another" would be an acceptable and desirable outcome for Tynan, it's considered a complete failure for many players.