Hi Jerry, welcome to the forum! Happy to hear you're liking how Starfarer is shaping up.
Erebos pretty much covered all the bases here 
I don't have a lot to add, aside from saying that I've got every intention - and then some - of seeing Starfarer through to completion.
Hi Alex,
Nice to make your aquaintance! I am glad to hear about your intentions, and your enthusiasm about your project is evident from all your posts i've seen. I didn't know you'd quit your job in order to go fulltime on this. Kudos, and you've got my support!
Couple of questions about pre-ordering,
1) After pre-ordering, do I have to un-install the previous Starfarer version before downloading the new one? Or does it update automatically?
2) I read there was a few problems with your online merchant (not paypal, the other one) for the transactions, but I couldn't find any info as to if that was still a problem or not. (maybe i'm blind and it was right there)
Welcome to the forums!
I know what you mean re: Minecraft. I still enjoy it and play it every few weeks for a bit with the wife, but I share your feelings about its direction.
Starfarer is great for where it is development-wise, but mostly I look forward to the larger sandbox (and all the mods for the release version). You've got the right idea in taking an interest in it (great taste). This is definitely a game worth watching.
SPAZ is a cool game. I might fire it up again here tonight, actually. There's a lot to like about it, though I find it gets fairly grindy after awhile. But hey! We can never have too many space games, right? That's one of the reasons I hope SPAZ and Starfarer are both smash hits -- to encourage more talented developers to build games in an under-represented genre. I mean, we have enough match-3 games.
I hope Starfarer grows into the game you want it to become. In the meantime, the devs here are very open to questions and suggestions. And, as Erebos has already stated, clearly committed to making this game as great as they can.
Sorry if I come off sounding like a fanatic! 
Hi SeaBee,
Space games have been sorely lacking these days, I agree! I gotta say, everyone on these forums sound like fanatics about Starfarer, and I can't say that's a bad thing! In fact, I wouldn't mind joining in the fanaticism myself a little bit! :p
If you really don't want to part with your money, you could always wait for the next build (or the one after) to see how good the new features are (ship outfitting, campaign mode, etc.) before you decide whether you like the sound of it.
I, for one, have already got my $10 worth out of it, and as development continues, I'll get more and more enjoyment out of it at no further cost. If you buy it now, you can enjoy playing it while you wait for the next build; on the other hand, if you wait too long, you might find that the price has risen to reflect the extra development.
I don't think the devs can guarantee that it will be finished, because that depends on how many people are willing to pay for the game. The fact that Alex quit his job and is doing this full time should give you some idea of his level of committment.
Hi Erebos,
Yeah you have excellent points on all counts. It is a lot cheaper to get it now, and from what I've seen, it certainly looks like a jolly good time for only 10 bucks!
I do think indy games are definitely the way to go more and more nowadays. Most big name titles are only 10-20 hours of gameplay and then you're done, and at the price of an arm and a leg at that. I would much rather support an Indy developer who actually cares about the product than a corporation on a schedule.
