To be fair there are signs recently that that stance is starting to break. Things like the seasons length was expected to be a case of "modders will have to fix it", yet GIANTS have done it themselves and then some. And for the first time in a long time (perhaps ever) they're openly requesting constructive feedback and, for FS22 at least, have started acting on that. Hopefully going forward such community interaction is only increased.
FS22 was never going to be a massive change, despite the extra year compared to normal. Whether they intended that or not, as things turned out slow console rollout, chip shortages, recessions, working from home and so on meant it was always likely to be more of a sideways step than a forward one, albeit with some much needed and welcome changes (eg the gearboxes and sounds). I hope it's more a case of implementing technical features under the hood which will allow the following game to have a much needed rocket up the proverbial if they can finally lose the shackles of decade old hardware and start pushing instead.
Going forward there needs to be more focus on the environment (not just colours, but depth, size and richness), terrain and gameplay elements (that doesn't necessarily mean less focus on vehicles and equipment). The equipment looks stunning and to be fair has for some time now, but how great they look emphasises how dated the rest of the game looks and plays.
We've still got elements and traits all the way back to the birth of FS 13 years ago that really need to be reassessed or approached in a new way. The following game will see the two decade anniversary since FS2008's release!