I cannot be the only one that notices a pattern here:
1.Year starts, new version with bug fixes comes, people are a bit upset that gabe is not finishing the storymode of the game.
next update Story update and people rejoice, even if it lasts barely fifteen minutes of gameplay, most of it spent running from place to place and it has been several months since we had a legitimate boss fight. People get hyped thinking this may be the year Gabe focuses on the story.
2. Gabe announces right after that she is working on assets and mini-games again.
People get pissed because nobody asked for it, but overall people are hyped for the new art.
3.Gabe releases a new update with a new location but not advancing the story.
half complain a bit but a lot are fine with exploring.
4. Gabe releases another fifteen minute story update around summer. People rejoice and get optimistic.
5. Gabe spends the rest of the remaining year implementing random things or updating assets nobody had a problem with.
6. New Year comes around, and Gabe announces that the next year she'll focus on story.
7bonus. every three years Gabe says "this is the year this game ends development!" and then she proceeds to ignore her own words and not focus on finishing the game with the expectation that everyone forgets what she announced.
I really like this series, but the development feels like a weird purgatory sometimes.