I think what you (fairly) identified was that the problem of building a product for multiple audiences. Is Animate being designed for animators, or game designers? Some may say both. But the real issue with this is the question of choice.
Every product asks to be chosen instead of the other options available to each audience. And when those audiences want and expect different things, with different (even competing) workflows, priorities, and language, the product either has to focus on one audience, or what they all have in common (which is usually very difficult).
If clarity of purpose is the first step, the second step is superiority — offering something the other options don't, or don't offer well enough. We've seen that here: so much of the feedback has been to get Animate up to the basic standards of other animation software. Useful, but that only makes Animate just like all those other options. It doesn't give it anything above those expectations - a reason to choose it instead of what already exists. And there are some incredible options out there.
It's not clear yet, to me, who Animate is designed for and what it has over their other options. But figuring out those two points is the first thing that should be sorted, before technical research and engineering begin. That vision is what defines the biggest features (are effects included or not?) and the smallest details (is it frames or steps?). I hope it's sorted, and just not been communicated.
Personally, I don't think you need to be more patient - I think you're exactly the kind of user that would benefit from those points being answered. You've had given lots of amazing feedback, and more clarity would make that feedback even more useful.