Releasing in that state shouldn't count as a fumble. I'm certainly glad the game has turned around and wish no ill on Sean or the team...
But the game absolutely deserved all the bad press it got and Sean did lie to the public multiple times.
For introspections sake, I'd have probably folded like a paper crane and made the exact same mistake, give the pressure he was under but he's only avoided the permanent moniker of "This Gen's Molyneux" because the team bunkered down and delivered on his promises.
I played it for the very first time a few months ago and honestly became obsessed with it for a few weeks. If the game looks like something you would be into then it's absolutely worth $25.
That was my experience too. A few weeks of "This is cool" then it became boring and repetitive; all the planets and star systems are basically the same
Buy it because it's a fun game. It really is. I've got 300 hours in and will probably start a new play-through with this update.
I was a skeptic too, and say what you will, but Hello Games has pushed a huge amount of content out for the game without ever having yet charged for an update or DLC. No other company I know would have done that.
Right?? I got 15 games from the SSS and have only been playing the shit out of space station 14 which is totally free. I bought chivalry 2 yesterday because I saw a YouTube short and went on to find that their model and monetization is really principled. I played the tutorial and went back to SS14. It's good even. I'm just obsessed elsewhere and am happy to give the devs that money.