18 hours is a lot. You probably got stuck early on in optional crafting and couldn't stop, even though it was going slowly. We're aware some collector-type players run into this. In the next update we've decided to simply lock the ability to build Workbench II until the player has progressed at least a bit through the story and has spare resources for it. I tested this myself playing as a greedy player — if you only get Workbench II after unlocking the Lunar Swamp, crafting the ENTIRE house takes at most an extra hour of grinding on top. Again, it's not required — you don't need to fully furnish the house or grind some crazy level to progress. You need to go through the story, which is occasionally interrupted by arenas. But some people just have to build everything... Hopefully blocking early house upgrades helps.
I'm afraid I don't know of any RNG bugs in my game. There are frequent misses against high-evasion enemies, like the Mosquito Swarm. If that's what you mean, try using skills marked as Certain hit against them. You are using skills, right? I'm asking because honestly, after 18 hours you should be strong enough to be wrecking faces, not just surviving. The game isn't very hard, plenty of people complain it's too easy.
It's true the main plot picks up very slowly. We got a bit too invested in the characters and their small side stories. But the bigger story with bigger stakes is gradually unfolding. The Capital episode is supposed to push the hero from "how did I end up here and what do I do now?" to "I'm now part of something bigger." Did you make it to the Capital?
We never had any alpha in 2018 — you're confusing us with someone else. The game is actively in development.