I'm starting to feel like they're procrastinating, and since we don't get to test the updates (there are dedicated testers) it really doesn't feel like an alpha. I agree with you, a little polish now will prevent the game from getting boring and losing players. Prison Architect, a game in alpha, is about to dedicate an entire monthly update to bug-fixing. They're not finding the excuse "it's not finished yet", they're getting on with it.