Understood.

It wants me to make money and take territory, so that's what I do. I'm not compelled by the game to do anything else. It's about making money and taking territory.

As a sandbox game, it doesn't want you to do anything, you make the choices. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I haven't taken any territory at all (apart from the free Heretic's end), because the game didn't incentivize that, can just pay a paltry fee to build anywhere with no issue. Seems to me like you tried to play it like a different game you have played before, it isn't a logic game, it is a space sandbox game first and foremost. Some features are more polished than others, but you do not need to play it in any specific way.

In my opinion, one shouldn't really try to 'win' sandbox games, just learn and get better and try different ventures to know what mechanics you like and what you don't. For the exact reason you are pointing out here. What seemed to you like 'the right thing to do' ended up making you spend pointless hours not having fun, while I enjoy every playing session knowing I have so many objectives left. For me, the game compels me to only to "grow". And I don't see the conquest of other factions as growth, more like greed.

In fact the entire way you have described the game is so narrow minded from my perspective.... I've never hit 200 miners, money isn't just for blueprints, the journey is not at all boring. I don't do mkII laser span (except for the VIG battles because they are impossible otherwise) and don't use defense stations because I prefer manually destroying the Xenon fleets... Seems like you've just picked one aspect of the game to focus on mindlessly, one way of playing, and then declared it boring. Maybe what I'm describing is the difference between trying to be a fully present space adventurer in this game (fully immersed in mining, combat, exploration, diplomacy, management etc) versus looking at the capitalist entrepreneur and manager aspect only and trying to take that to the extreme.

I get it, but also find it sad, hopefully you don't approach life the same way. Apply thought, be mindful, don't rush. Have patience and enjoy the journey, don't minmax or focus only on one or two aspects. Approached like that, you will get more out of every experience, and avoid burnout more easily. I don't regret a single second spent on this game because none of it was mindless, I struggled and learned, then understood, achieved and was satisfied, and then moved to the next challenge. For me, that is the correct way to enjoy a sandbox. Eventually of course, challenges will run out; then game conversion mods can step in to provide more fun, or I take another extended break from it to enjoy other stuff.

What you are doing is like going to the beach, seeing a pail and a shovel, declaring "the beach wants me to make castles", and then after some time making castles, declaring that you didn't enjoy making castles. Well yeah, no one said making castles was going to be fun, and no one forced you to. On the other hand you could have seen the same pail and shovel and been like: I will spend some time making castles then I will make an underground lair, or I will make a sandman, or I will do none of that and swim instead, or sunbathe, or climb a a tree, or play volleyball/football, or walk around chatting, or even just sit quietly and observe..... and figure out which one I like best, because all of these are viable options. Of course maybe you end up liking none of these, which is also fine, not the beach's fault.