I recently started playing Cities and felt the same way. But then I also started playing Minecraft again on server set up by a friend of a friend. And the feel

I recently started playing Cities and felt the same way. But then I also started playing Minecraft again on server set up by a friend of a friend. And the feeling is completely different. While most of us (5 players) spend out times doing our own thing much of the time, just the occasional visit (and surprises left behind) makes all the 'pointless' home improvement feel worthwhile. And it actually is, to a degree. I'm chatting with the other players (some of whom I've never met IRL) about strategies, what to get where, and interesting things to do. And while our homes are far apart and we rarely visit each other, we're working on a massive railroad project to connect all of these homes. I forgot how much fun this 'pointless' stuff can be when there's a social component to it!