The effort to make things pleasant is just not there.

That is a rather blanket statement and horribly unfair to the people who are trying against all odds to make a difference. There are some real challenges here and they can't just be addressed by waving magic wands or brute force.

Being stalled and puzzled while one tries to figure out solutions to complex problems (like a codebase infrastructure that makes integrating new developers difficult) is not at all the same thing as not caring.

In the same vein being hesitant to contribute because you don't see where you are most needed and can make a meaningful difference isn't at all the same thing as not wanting to contribute in the first place. Hesitancy is just common sense: no one wants to spin their wheels. But it is also a solvable problem - all organizations go through phases where they are better or worse at making changes. And this one has shown, at times, extra-ordinary strength in its ability to reinvent itself (changing the experience system and monk levels comes to mind). The monastery does not lack in either brains or social skills (it has rather a lot of both). We have the capability - we just need to focus it.

You could do a lot to help focus it, by saying specifically what specific events, history, or actions (or absence thereof) lead you to feel that the will to improve things isn't there. Your comment about what made working creatively with the code-base difficult for you to work with is constructive. What other concrete observations do you have?

Best, beth