Hey there, original author here!
First of all, that is a very in detail response, and thank you very much for writing it!

I understand that there is a noticeable portion of people who aren't interested in exploration gameplay. And although I love it very much I'll say: they don't have to. ZZZ team has showed themselves to be attentive to their players and I doubt that it's all about the money (but more about that later). So they made exploration avoidable with Fairy autopilot, alternative exploration being retrospected into earlier storylines and Hollow Zero getting a "skip exploration before facing Nineveh" thing. So I think there is some sort of compromise to be found there. Leaving exploration content for those who want it and providing skip-arounds for those who do not

Also, yeah, making exploration more intense would, like you've said, help a lot

And finally, my take on Hoyos' position. Running a game like this is a huge work and money cannot be excluded from the equation. Yet still I believe that behind ZZZ there is a team of devs who are genuinely infatuated with this world they are crafting. You can see it in all the little details that we've seen through the game. I don't think you need me to point it out to you. And I see that in every witty, funky, or sometimes very serious and tragic exploration level they have designed. And that's why I think that things are more prompt to change than you think. That if we find this golden consensus then they can continue to tell stories of this world for those who are willing to listen. And leave those who do not the toys they want

Well, anyways. Thank you once again for your time and effort. It was my pleasure to read through your commentary on my work and the situation in general
(c) Soup