It's funny to me because after over 100 hours in this game, I'm not really bothered by any of the things you pointed out except for the research mechanic. It's a big game, it's new, some things are going to take a while to get used to.
Following are my top reasons why I believe this game is not even remotely close to ready for release:
- Disconnects between the UI and reality are so pervasive that it feels like the developers are trolling us beta-testers. I complain a lot about mystery mechanics but I don't even trust the UI to tell things accurately. I've had to reverse-engineer pretty much everything I know about the game and every release I have found new and ingenious ways that the UI lies to the player.
- There is still really only one viable strategy - prepare for war as expeditiously as possible. The other mechanics are mostly annoyances and really only matter if you are sandboxing. This includes the afore-mentioned research mechanic.
- The "blocking" UI for events, trade deals, etc. makes decision-making impossible unless you have an eidetic memory.
I still have high hopes for this game but not if they rush to release it before it is ready.