I am sure their idea was, if they attracted talented "Creators" then the players would follow. However I really think they got that absolutely backwards. If they had a great game that was also easy to mod -- as examples, Morrowind or Minecraft or even Rimworld -- then the popularity of the game will naturally attract modders/creators adding to the overall success of the game. But not the other way around. It doesn't matter how good the editor is, if the basic gameplay is flawed and buggy and broken then it is useless to think creators are going to come along and somehow magically save it. I suspect most of the best creators, such as Red Eagle, originally came for the game and then stayed for the editor. But that game is gone, now.
The game started as an Exploration game. What did you do with your original "Exploration" staff the past many years, when the editor was taking full attention at all turns and the game was literally falling apart? Did you keep your full dev team over the past few years while focusing on creators? Or did you let them mostly all go and hire instead the current editor team? Who I am sure are all perfectly nice people but I really wish some of your hesitation at not firing staff, had also applied to the original team of developers who designed the original game. Someone high up apparently thought they were no longer important or worth saving jobs for.
I am still hopeful for 1.5, because I would like to see one day that game again that I originally fell in love with, many years ago. Long before Steam. Long before free to play. Over the past few years, it has decayed and been neglected.
My hope for 1.5 is that they reverse their mistakes, and focus on players and gameplay first and creators second. I tried out the test editor for the beta but it is, alas, clearly (again) designed for the creators not the players. I can't save and if I try to edit in a boat to test sailing, I get stuck in the edge-of-the-world 10 feet from shore. So clearly not yet ready for me to do any testing, which is ok. I can be patient, but you may have already lost your window of opportunity in attracting players. A lot who left, have moved on to better things and it may not be possible to lure them back, especially if they see your priorities are STILL backwards.
Fix the game first, please.