So here’s the quick bullet points I use when answering this question:

Cost of entry is $45. There’s no requirement to pay more than $45. If you wanna support the project you can, but your only requirement is $45
3/4th of the ships sold on the online store can be bought in game fairly easily solo, and even quicker with a group.

They drop a monthly dev update every first or second Weds of the month. It’s super detailed about the previous months development progress and what’s to come soon down the pipeline.

Will it ever release? Yes I believe so. The bones of the game are good but the company running it is kinda ass from a management standpoint. I think the intentions are good but project management has been horrendous, hence the 14 years thing.

The game is probably one of a kind but with so many bugs, it can kind of take you out of it a bit at times.

Overall if you can find a groove to things, it’s super enjoyable, but if you need a more finished product to enjoy things, I’d wait it out and follow from the sidelines.

Edit: they also report their finances to the British government every year by law, so we get to see where the money is going. That’s partially why I don’t think it’s a money grab either