I really appreciate you checking out the game and taking the time to write all of this.
I agree that a slower incremental game eventually needs ways to automate or retire older systems so they do not become repetitive busywork. I already have both short- and long-term plans for automation, including automatic completion of some earlier areas and systems once the player has sufficiently mastered them. Some of that is fairly close to implementation, but it is not quite ready yet.
I am not opposed to creating a Discord server either. The difficulty is that I am one person working on both games, and this is still technically a side project even though I currently spend around two days a week developing it. My main project takes most of the rest of my time, so I do not think I could reliably moderate or participate in a Discord community yet. I would rather wait than open one and leave people talking to an empty chair.
Thank you again for the advice. Feedback from people who know the genre well has already been extremely useful.