I'll be honest and say that I don't really like the direction this is heading in right now.

Um, I don't really think it's necessary to destroy the Earth or anything like that. Honestly I feel like that kind of damages worldbuilding potential, especially if we focus on refugees rather then having established colonies and stuff like that. Also, since this is magitech, I feel like we could go with a less "gritty" setting and do something a bit more "fun"?

It doesn't have to be about monopolies and an Earth getting drained of resources or something, and I honestly think having Earth and a fair amount of colonies allows for a lot more worldbuilding potential anyway.