I was really delighted by these phrases:
This means that creating your own towns is NOT YET available. And since it’s only “not yet” — that means it’s still in the plans! 
Even though it’s in such an indirect way, I’m glad to have received this information. Because until now there have been many suggestions and requests, but not a word from the developers about whether they’ve actually heard them. Judging by how these words are phrased, we’ll have to wait a long time, but it’s better this way than not knowing at all whether they have any plans to work on it eventually.
As for online play — I’m sure some players will like it. Especially since we’ve been shown a completely “raw” version. Personally, online doesn’t interest me, but if it really won’t take resources away from the main team — then why not?
Although, it seems to me, this should also transform into something bigger before release. Separate houses won’t become a center of attraction. They’ll have to implement a unified world for all these hypothetical “50 people”, where each player can get their own plot to build on. And that’s where it would make sense to visit neighbors or explore other players’ city-worlds. This might remind you of the Active Worlds mechanism, just on a new level.
But, I repeat, for me this kind of genre is about single-player gameplay. So I’m looking at this branch very calmly.