I think a lot of todays techno has lost its soul, too much harder techno is just about being hard, too much minimal is just about sounding freaky / bleepy, etc. Too much of the recently released records I've been hearing miss that certain amount of warmth I need in order to really appreciate it.

Apart from that, I'm liking the fact that there are more and more producers breaking the four-to-the-floor beat mould and are incorporating more and more diverse beat patterns in their tracks (i.e., offbeat).

Taking these two together, I'd say my personal way forward would be offbeat techno with soul. In other words, we need more Malhela :)