Boundless is a HUGE universe but the Hubs made it feel smaller than it actually is. New players wonder around on a new planet, walk through some portal and are instantly transported to one of many bubble-gum colored mega-malls.
The portal hub system became a double-edged sword that ultimately gutted local settlements. Jumping across the gigantic universe becomes effortless.
There were some nice organic player cities formed on individual planets with their own local economies, but not tot he degree that it could have been. Instead most everyone just gets funneled into hyper-centralized portal hubs.
Not to mention, keeping a portal open isn’t a passive ordeal. It requires a lot of hunting meteorites. If you enjoy going on these hunts, more power to you, but most everyone I have talked to that had quit the game became very board of using the same weapon to hunt the same exact small handful of creature types. Every planet, the same few types of creatures. It is a massive design-trap that burns many out quickly.
The portals are an important part of interconnectivity, but it came at a price.
I think the trick for Boundless 2.0 will be to keep more local identity while still allowing people to travel to experience all of Boundless. But the design-trap needs to be engaging, not a draining grind