Way to miss the point and jump conclusions. People like you give sandbox fans a bad name.
Why is it if one finds fault with Xsyon, one MUST be a theme-park MMO lover? Maybe we find fault with the game because, in its current state, it is a boring empty box with nothing to do that has any meaning, Here are MY suggestions to improve the game:
1) Get rid of safe-zones around totems. You want to squat inside your little home crafting endless mats, you better make sure you have people around that can protect you...
2) Add meaningful item decay. Make it so crafted items degrade rapidly ( we are making stuff out of junk after an apocalypse after all). Would give a reason for crafters to keep grinding away making items.
3) More mobs with better AI. No sandbox game can flourish without a solid PvE base.
4) Make having a city MEAN something. Control of a city unlocks rare resources in an area. Allows the controlling tribe to set taxes or tariffs on all trades (which would require the game to create a currency of some sort).
5) Now that cities are important, lets create some siege mechanisms so they can be attacked and conquered...
6) Improve the PvP. Right now by most accounts it is quite lacking...
Just a few ideas but ofcourse they will be dismissed as "theme-park" elements...