Again I have to disagree back
I guess we will never know, but I wonder how long Xenonauts would have taken to release if they had instead balanced, bugfixed and polished every update, only to unbalance it again, create new bugs and scuff it all with the next one. There would have been less of a fix/polish phase at the end but I would have thought the game would be slower overall to come to completion.
Also I have to say that I had an amazing experience with Xenonauts (at release). I bought into early access to support development but didn't play it until V1.0 and I have to say that I found it to be a great game. Especially with the UI enhancements the dev-endorsed community edition brings (which you get by going to the 'betas' tab in the game settings in steam, or download if playing DRM free version). I'd recommend you give it a go now personally. But thats off track.
I think the key thing here, at least in my view, is that there are two or three different schools of thought here:
1) Wanting the game to be finished (1.0, feature complete and bug tested). This doesn't rule out expansions/updates post-release but reaching a 1.0 as a priority. This is my personal preference.
2) Wanting a great experience of these early versions. This means that each release is polished and bug-free, and really a limited scope but 'finished' game within its own right. This is what has been generally happening with development.
3) And I think there are those that want regular updates to keep the game fresh and fun and to experience new content/mechanics in this game on a more frequent basis.
These aren't including aspects such as mods (which generally would fall into band 2 I would imagine) but I feel maybe covers the bases. Thus really it just depends what you want out of this process - if you are wanting to get to v1.0 as fast as possible, are wanting polished up and fun alpha releases, or want more new stuff more frequently, even if it is in smaller doses. There are certain merits to all 3 approaches, and I'd be the first to say that I really have enjoyed, as basically full games, all the versions the game has gone through since I bought it. I would not say I'm unhappy with the process and can certainly see why many people prefer how it is now to the alternatives. I just would, personally, prefer the first approach I listed.
But each to their own, and I don't mean that in a spiteful way. Alex & team can't give everyone everything they want, and it really is up to them how they prefer to develop the game, and how they feel they best serve their customers, and as I said I really have enjoyed what they have produced during the alpha stages, so all the best to them!