Two of the quotes which reflect my feelings precisely:
Where is this game heading for? Right now I'm afraid this good looking, semi-scientifically accurate Galaxy with its unique, great sounding ships and huge potential for sci-fi adventures is heading to become the backdrop for 24/7 combat mayhem that you have to grind special weapons for to survive. I'd really like an answer to that question soon(tm).
The big complaint about the Engineers is the grind-RNG aspect. But one additional complaint has to be the motivation behind using them. The only reason to craft stuff is to counter the power creep the Engineers itself introduces. Not to mention that the crafting mechanic itself is very basic, apart from the scavenger hunt, the player isn't really required to think or react in order to craft.
They could have done so much more with the Engineers. Where are the enhanced surface scanners and limpet controllers? Where are improved heat vents and the custom built SRVs and hover bikes? They could have even implemented mechanics mentioned in the past as being new technology offered exclusively by them. Take for example the heat map showing an asteroid's resource distribution, which could have been made possible through a module exclusive with an engineer, and could have completely changed mining both from the viewpoint of the gameplay mechanic as well as the profitability of the occupation itself.
Its a shame the Design Discussion Forum was scrapped. It had a wealth of experienced gamers to pitch ideas to and get feedback from. Yes it wasn't perfect, but nothing ever is.
Whenever the DDA is mentioned, people keep saying that it did not represent any kind of promise, that FDEV are not obliged to implement anything from it. This is true, however I believe one thing needs to be said: a lot of people purchased the game not because they were expecting the DDA stuff to be in the game, but because they were hoping it will. The DDA is full of good stuff, stuff which has been already discussed by like-minded customers and which shows FDEV what the customers want from the game.
I wish they would bring this kind of discussion back, not to carry out design by committee, not to give any kind of power to the community, but to "take the pulse" of the community, see if they approve of new ideas or outright dislike them, so that the company can focus its resources on game additions which are guaranteed to be a hit with the existing playerbase.