There are also possible psychological factors. It’s hard for us to imagine a super advanced civilization that wouldn’t at least send out probes or even utilize FTL communication if they had the means to do so, because that’s the way we are. But maybe that would never occur to them, or the desire to explore is an ultra rare trait.
Another possibility is that once a species gets so advanced that they do something noticeable, they get stepped on by something. That’s the Berserker explanation.
FReegards
So true. There are so many unknowns at present and so many possibilities. Perhaps life is common but not intelligent life. As you point out previously there could be different bases for life than our own. Indeed we have found this to be the case on our own planet. We may have overlooked something fundamental that allows the rest of the folks to communicate faster than light so we are simply unaware of the thriving galactic civilizations around us. On the other hand we may be the first, in fact we may be the only civilization in this galaxy or indeed the universe. We simply don’t have enough data at present to make informed judgements about other civilizations. As to the perfect adaption of life to its environment what else would one expect, regardless of initiating source?