I believe there is a case for a QoL improvement in an "auto-gather nearby nodes" feature.
The "thousand-foot-view" of the concept is thus; If I am gathering a resource node and it becomes fully depleted while I still have inventory space, there should be a set radius in which my character may autonomously seek out similar resource nodes and begin gathering from them.
This idea - while simple to describe at this level - could serve as the bedrock for a more in-depth automation framework that still requires the player to be as attentive to the game as required by the current mechanics (potentially enforced by a limited search radius).
Maybe a level of player interaction with the automation framework could be implemented, including (but not limited to) the following toggles:
- "Mature Trees Only" or similar
- "Stop when Cargo Full"
- "Stop when Inventory Full"
- etc.