Edit: I think the original Reddit post made my opinion seem a little too critical, and some people read only the Reddit post and not the full article, which has nuances and a moderate stance toward the DLC. While I don't enjoy it, I can also recognize the hard work Egosoft put into Timelines. To me, it was a disappointing DLC, but my article is meant to provide constructive feedback. It includes my observations about "what went wrong" and my thought process to arrive at this conclusion.

To re-state what I have said in a comment, the big lines are this:

• The 7.0 update provided us with a myriad of good things;
• Captain Collin did a good interview but the founder's answers is when I started doubting the DLC heavily for the first time
• They focused on the wrong aspects of the gameplay for this DLC, and it would have been better if it integrated seamlessly with the main game
• Founder says content is optional but new ship and sector is locked behind said content
• If they want to focus on the story they need to change their approach. I think they would benefit from innovating rather than keep going back to its pre-established history. I'm not saying forget about what has been written already, I'm saying build upon it further.
• Overall the player reception is best described as "eh" based on player reviews.
• I'm happy to support the devs, they need money to keep working on X4 but I'd rather they released content I would enjoy instead of putting efforts in what I feel was a disappointing result
• Music good, as always
• They mentioned in replies to reviews they want to cater more to the fans of the 4x genre, this makes me happy.
• I hope they bring in experts since they said they would hire more people.
• I'm not hating on Egosoft. Even if I have a lot of criticism toward the new DLC all this is meant to be is constructive feedback based on my experience and my observations. I am still loving and playing the game even if Timelinrs is a miss.

The full analysis, with my explanations backing up my thought process, is a bit too long to be posted on Reddit (a little over 1,800 words!). If you'd like to read my full take on the DLC, you can do so here.

I'm new to the world of writing reviews/blog posts/opinion pieces, so if something comes across the wrong way, I apologize. I want to state once again that it's not meant to hurt anyone's feelings. I have nothing but respect for Egosoft and I hope they keep the franchise alive for a loooong time.