Annex, I understand your disappointment and frustration, but also don't really think you are being objective.
You compare it to SPAZ, which is a finished, polished game that has a cohesive and well-designed learning curve. Starsector doesn't even HAVE a defined learning curve yet. The only thing you can do to learn, is read the blogposts on the site to understand the systems that are in place in the campaign, read the forums for gameplay tips, and play missions until you are good enough at combat to win against the AI in a fair fight. This is because Starsector is currently in
ALPHA.
If you expect to be neatly guided through a game that isn't even close to finished yet, well... my main beef with your arguments is that your complaints with the game stem from confusion (your arguments as to why piloting is bad in Starsector are, as far as I can tell, anecdotal and based on a lack of understanding of how to pilot using the mouse, the piloting in this game is probably the best I've ever seen in a 2d space game), so the rest is just a matter of not wanting to do the hard work it is to get on top of all the mechanics. And I really don't fault you for that, but that is part of the experience of playing an alpha game. Alex seems to be aware that the skill floor of the game is way too high at the moment, though.
You are marking yourself as an enthusiast the moment you chip in for a project like this. "Eternal betas" are in vogue recently, but the difference between Starsector and something like Star Citizen is that it doesn't really have any ponzi-scheme type "kickstarter bonuses" to keep the cash flowing. You pay 10 bux, Alex gets valuable feedback and you get to screw around with an unfinished game. That's the deal.
Also, arguably, SPAZ is a much more "rounded" game than Starsector. The skill floor is much lower, and the skill ceiling is a LOT lower. Thus, Starsector should appeal more to someone who enjoys a feeling of mastery and does not mind initial confusion or disorientation. For the record, if all you want to do is to blow up spaceships, you can still do it in the missions. Doing that also has a nifty side bonus of teaching you how the game's combat actually works. The campaign more or less consists of "bigger fish eats smaller fish" gameplay, which means that it's harder the smaller you are. This is an inverted difficulty curve, which is a major problem for the current game.
Enthusiasts like myself don't exist "in spite of the fact that Starsector is a bad game". We exist because this is an amazing game that rewards the effort spent to understand it.
