This thread really ought to be locked. I can't see it going anywhere good from here.
Why should it be locked?
Admittedly the OP lost the plot halfway through his rant (Derek Smart? Really?) but the replies have been perfectly civil.
In fact most replies were outright positive and supportive.
A single abusive poster dropping unrelated insults should only get that poster warned (which apparently happened), not the entire thread locked.
Of course you could argue that everything worth saying has already been said, but this isn't exactly the first time this topic came up, nor will it be the last, so you might as well keep this open and let people reply here instead of starting a new thread yet again.
As Soren so politely said on Discord, "You took a *** on the forum and nobody liked the smell." Interesting how most seem to have some smart ass remark attacking me, instead of using solid reasoning to dispute any of what i posted. Yes, perfectly civil. A few actually took the time to at least show me some sort shred of decency and come up with some solid points, which was nice. Not most however.
I don't frequent the Discord server so I have no idea what people may or may not have said to you there, I was clearly referring to the thread only.
You conveniently seem to forget that people did address your points, some even agreed. In fact the very first reply you got, from a forum veteran, started out with "It's been like this for many years now, but I don't blame you for feeling that way."
As far as I can tell only a single poster attacked you personally and promptly received a warning for it.
As for disputing your points, that would be a lot easier if your OP was more of a reasonable assertion and less of an angry rant.
Let me highlight a few claims that made it impossible for me to take you seriously.
another cash grab
A cash grab that loses money? Running for 5+ years? On a fairly obscure forum that only hardcore fans of the genre are likely to even find?
the hype train has just blown by it with little fan fare
...
given how little thought or effort is put into marketing this game
So now it's a cash grab past its hype that isn't even properly advertised?
You do know that a cash grab, by its very definition, relies on exploiting hype to make quick money, right?
Battlecruiser 3000AD would be a good comparison, along with Derek Smart.
This is the point where you lost anyone that was still taking this at face value.
Battlecruiser 3000AD was an unplayable mess even long after release, whereas Starsector may be in development forever but is perfectly playable and without major bugs.
Comparing Derek Smart, who is infamous for his attitude and for telling his own customers to go eff themselves, with Alex, one of the nicest and most responsive devs I have ever met, is beyond comical. That's just absurd.
If I were Fractal, at this point, I would release what is there and done and move on to the next version.
So you'd advise to drop this before completion and release an unfinished game? In other words, you'd want them to pull a belated cash grab?
At this point I'm honestly not sure what you're arguing for anymore.
Look, I can understand that you're angry. Frankly, I'm somewhat annoyed as well and I haven't even been following the development for all that long compared to many other guys here. I completely agree that new versions are taking far too long and that it would probably be more advisable to release smaller incremental updates instead of building anticipation for an entire year. I also agree that this is most likely not a very good way to keep a steady cash flow going, especially since Alex has admitted himself that funding the development of the game loses him money.
Unfortunately your OP is framed in a way that makes it impossible to agree with you even though I share some of your concerns. You heaped up so many accusations, insults and demonstrably false claims that I'm rather surprised how level-headed the majority of replies have been.
So yeah, some of your points are valid in my opinion, but the way you worded them is not. If you think I lack decency for pointing that out then so be it.