4k hours in PoE1 here, and while I really think PoE1 is still a better game than 2, I think I’m fine with missing 2 or 3 leagues of PoE1 in exchange for PoE2. I’m sure they’ll get back to releasing PoE1 leagues that are maybe a smaller scale than what we’ve had for a while because it would simply be stupid not to. They’re already creating huge numbers of assets that are backwards compatible, and will have plenty of developers who won’t necessarily always have their hands full with PoE2. It does seem like they have a big fire WRT PoE1 and having moved all the devs out to 2 to fix problems (problems that probably will never fully be solved, given the rate at which the game is growing), so I think this won’t be the last disappointment before PoE2 full release drops, but I’ve yet to see a good argument for why PoE1 is gonna be completely dead after PoE2 releases. It’ll cost them next to nothing to do a low effort league every 3 months.

Also as fair as your criticisms of 2 are, the game feels much better to play than 1, just in terms of controls and the feel of combat. You’re describing it as being so much slower than 1, but on my monk I generally feel like I’m moving around maps about as fast as I do in 1 before I have endgame gear; the main difference is that in PoE1 gear progression is smooth enough that anyone can slowly grind to make their character faster and faster, while 2 is currently in a horrible state for gear progression where making your character perform well is a balancing act of item rarity and fitting in Temporalis. I don’t see that as a fundamental design flaw, though, it’s clearly a consequence of how barebones the crafting system is at the moment, together with a lack of league mechanics and content to fill up the endgame. I don’t think this is a problem that wouldn’t be fixed via the usual GGG approach of powercreep via league mechanics and balancing every patch. It’ll get closer to where PoE1 is in terms of player power and content and PoE1 will get closer to where PoE2 is in terms of polish (and I know you’ll say PoE2 isn’t polished but I think most people who’ve tried to play both will agree PoE2 is more polished).

TL;DR the franchise is far from dead, PoE1 is in hibernation mode but it’s probably more accurate to say its golden age is over and it will see much smaller expansions moving forward, than to say it’s completely dead. But it’s speculation either way.