In anno 1800 (which is the only game I've played with denuvo) it still needs to have a connection to the ubisoft servers to run, so live service isn't just about dodging 3rd party drm
If you ignore the server performance issues and bugs, star citizen is completely playable on my system and I have below reccomended specs (for starfield & star citizen). If star citizen can have no loading screens with most planets as populated (or more populated) then starfield's planets while also having to manage server resources, then starfield has almost no excuse to have loading screens.
I think your just playing games that don't have a grid. I still play a lot of games with a grid. If you want a strategy game that has a grid, my dad has been playing a lot of jagged alliance 3 and has been saying very positive things about it.
Your idea for resubcribing to gamepass is an idea everyone should use for every subscription. Only pay for a subscription if there's something on it that you want and stop paying for it when there's nothing on it that you want.
We call them swimming cossies? I've never heard that in my life