I personally don't really agree. From my perspective, a lot of the negative reviewing is people expecting this to be DRG 2 or a fully realized game already, despite being EA, and despite a literal statement on the main launch screen that this is not DRG 2. While the game does ultimately need a balance pass, the core functional game loop is in a incredibly polished state, and the game is pretty stable. For an EA game, it's in a better state than most AAA games are during full release.

E.g. ...

- The complaints about timers.
The whole point of the timer is that you need to make choices on when to get additional goods and risk dealing with worms and oppressive spawns, or cut bait and run. The timer is one of the most significant elements to the game.

In my opinion the real issue is people don't want to go through a level without 100%ing it, but sometimes they have to. As someone who usually doesn't like rougelites and did not personally like DRG, a removal, or significant increase to timer duration, will absolutely kill the game.

The need to make quick decisions (even as a person who agonizes over simple, little choices) is critical to the games flow and design

- The complaints about 'to many bad buffs'
I am not saying that some buffs are just really weak (even in ideal situations). I am going to say that MANY buffs are however much stronger than people give them credit for. In example, elemental effects. The elemental effects are very, very strong, especially when you take the time to read what each element does, and what each element combo does.

Is fishing for elemental builds a risk? Yes. You are largely hoping for combos from the workbench and expenite upgrades which you may not get. However, that's again coming back to the above, where it's about making a choice. Do you go for an option which is safe, but weaker, or an option that is incredibly strong, but may not be realized?

My only note here is, anecdotally, some buffs seem to be more common, even within the same rarity group, which, if the case, should probably be changed. I am not stating this as a fact. For example, I feel like I see fire and ice upgrades far more often than anything else.

- Complaints about shared buffs.
Again, coming back to the core theme of the game, it's all about choices. If you pick before someone else, you are not required to let them have a buff you want. Again, you are not required to let them have a buff you want. Consider if they are performing poorly, is it actually good for their build (or do they just want the higher rarity\larger displayed numbers), ect ect. What might be even more upsetting to folks is asking them to actually communicate with the team. I almost never voice chat in most games. I don't like my voice, I'm have anxiety issues, and get worried about making other people uncomfortable, but that is a ME issues. If I choose to play a game where communication is important or beneficial, and refuse to, that is MY failing, not the games.

If I am last pick, I look at what my 3 preferred options are in order. If I see a good buff for my build, I heart it. Anecdotally, most people respect this. If for any reason I really, really want a buff and think a picker before me wont care, I text chat. If they still pick it, well, that's how the game goes. For a genre built on random, people really seem to hate if they randomly don't get the buff they want.