nous

That is the same curve for almost everything that becomes mainstream. The only real difference is the length of time t takes. But everything starts out small, stays that way for a while, then some critical mass hits and it explodes. For a project to become mainstream it is really all about overcoming “the chasm” of early adopters where most projects die or get stuck in for a long time.

Single upticks mean almost nothing. Next month or two will likely drop again a bit. Things generally regress to the mean. Even their chart shows that. Every major up or down tick quickly move back towards the mean. So the mean is the only bit worth getting excited about and that is showing good steady growth.

I wouldn’t expect it to be constantly full of things you have not heard about and are actually interested in. Or else you would be constantly buying games. If it is getting a few new things in front of you then it is doing its job. Better then seeing the same set of hand picked games over and over again.

It is like some areas are just not being extruded at all.

Because that is what is happening. Wood filament is just PLA mixed with wood particles suspended in it. These particles are very likely getting stuck in the printer nozzle and stopping any more filament from being extruded. This is not the only cause of under extrusion like this but the most likely.

Given it clears its self up it is probably that the blockages are clearing themselves eventually with enough time/pressure/heat behind it. Or it could be a particle moving around inside the head (which I think is less likely).

Best thing is probably to get a larger nozzle that will be less prone to being blocked by larger particles in the wood PLA. You can also clear the nozzle as well with a tiny needle or a cold pull of the filament. This may help for a bit it there is stuff built up inside the nozzle or if it the blockage is self clearing it may not help at all (but wont hurt anything). But the better solution is likely a larger nozzle.