Mods fix most of your complaints, but regardless, I completely agree with the gist of what you're saying.
As good as Skylines is, the game isn't quite Maxis caliber. SimCity (2013) had incredible UI and UX design. It's just a shame that it was marred by tiny city sizes, overemphasis on simplicity, and online services dependency.
That said, Colossal Order's budget probably wasn't Maxis-caliber either, so I'm hoping the revenue from Skylines will allow them to be more ambitious moving forward, and make something truly outstanding (as opposed to merely awesome).
Sorry, but I've never agreed with "mods are the fixes" approach. I evaluate products (which is what this is) based on how the creator has released them -- not based on modifications others provide.
In addition, mods aren't a great option since doing so marks you as a "cheater" or disables achievements, etc.
I generally agree with your conclusions about SimCity (2013) though; generally great UI, but tiny city sizes, online services dependency (which is greatly mitigated now as of the "final" patch), and some of the "streamlining" done to the game.
As good as Skylines is, the game isn't quite Maxis caliber. SimCity (2013) had incredible UI and UX design. It's just a shame that it was marred by tiny city sizes, overemphasis on simplicity, and online services dependency.
That said, Colossal Order's budget probably wasn't Maxis-caliber either, so I'm hoping the revenue from Skylines will allow them to be more ambitious moving forward, and make something truly outstanding (as opposed to merely awesome).