So I haven't really read the rest of the discussion here, but I am just going to pitch in my own two cents...
Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you for transparency and showing us Founders the struggles and triumphs in equal light, I only hope that with this information that we as Founders can help root out some of the issues within the game, no matter how small they may be (remember, small details do matter!). Open communication with the members of the Founder's Program is a great risk, and I hope that it turns out to be a gamble in Stardock's favor. However, tackling the major issue at hand I think it is fascinating to see the developmental issues with creating over 700 star systems, and how the Stardock team is dealing with issues of procedural generation and the like. Personally, my experience that simple procedural generation does result in bland and boring planets, as you rightfully described. However, there is one route that really works to "spice up" procedural generation, so to speak, and it has ended up working in actual application. This kind of procedural generation is the kind seen from the likes of XCOM 2, or a system where the map (or world in this case) is made up of several patches to form an overall quilt, so to speak. Each patch is hand-crafted to make sure that certain identifiable traits of a planet are not distorted and mixed into a absurd mess (volcano merging into other mountains or pieces of terrain). These large patches of map design would be connected by transitional pieces, which act as breathing space to the map, and to keep the flow consistent and manageable. This would give volcanic planets a similar theme to one another, but with great variations of map layout and structure to the planet, making each new trip equally enjoyable and exciting (and adding an element of mystery to the mix). In addition to these basic structures I would talk to the art team to find an appropriate amount of features for each different kind of planet (volcanic planets, for example, would have a high "spawn rate" of volcanic patches, with a negligible spawn rate of lakes and oceans). After determining the primary features of each planet type I would suggest making 3-5 "sub-types" for each planet type, with each sub-type having high "spawn rates" for certain features than another (one volcanic planet would be very mountainous, while another would be filled with liquid rock covering a great portion of the planet and so on). It is very important to understand that I state "spawn rates" because I want there to be a chance to have mountains on flat planets, and lava oceans on the mountainous worlds, as not only does this make each planet more diverse and colorful from the same sub-type, but the juxtaposition and contrast of having such defining features on these planets makes these landmarks stand all the more out, and makes each new world feel like a discovery when you run across a unique feature. "Hey, remember that time when you were on the liquid lava planet and came across this massive and hollow canyon, which inside held a plethora of heavy metals" or "Remember when you were climbing up those mountains and spotted a lake near by, and after reaching it you found a pool of resource X." These defining features are critical to breaking up the same tried-and-true landscape of these sub-types, and makes each planet more distinct from the next. A planet generation with these spawn rates would look something like the following...
SPAWN CHANCE FOR PLANET FEATURES:
TYPE 5: (Volcanic)
SUB-TYPE: 1 (FLAT)
Plains Patch: 40%
Ocean Patch: 10%
Mountain Patch: 5%
Volcano Patch: 5%
Cave Patch: 10%
Canyon Patch: 10%
Hills Patch: 20%
TRANSITION PATCHES:
Flat: 50%
Hilly: 10%
River: 20%
Rough: 20%
And then you would generate the planet, of course, it would be a lot more complex than this, and you would have to account for minor details, NPCs, technology and all sorts of things. But the basic concept is there, and as shown in XCOM 2 if executed properly the theme of the map remains the same but the adventure never gets stale because there is always something new to find or explore on each planet, turning planet exploration from a monotonous chore to something you can really cherish and look forward too. The sub-types keep the base planet type from becoming boring, and variation within the sub-types keeps these kinds of worlds fresh and interesting for a much longer time than they would be otherwise.
Edit: The spawn chance would apply to each individual patch, not the overall planet, and each planet would have anywhere from 10-30 patches depending on how big we wish them to be, this is so a flat planet does not only have a 40% chance to actually be flat, it will just have a lot of flat spots filled with some diverse landmarks sprinkled here and there.
Edit 2: Also, 10,000 stars is now a must-happen mod for me, I want to just lose myself in 10,000 stars and really have a true feeling of isolation and exploration, my goodness, it may not be great for the base game and story, but for a survival/exploration mode it would truly be amazing (like an actual proper NMS with diplomacy and better ship combat to boot!)
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