I joined the game in 2019 when pyro was just around the corner, supposedly. While I will say the timeline of delivery was only slightly longer than I would have expected, I can say with certainty that the content I had expected for 4.0 was dramatically different from what is being delivered.

This is the vision of 4.0 that I had back then, with contrast of what was delivered.

Expected: - A completed Stanton, including the Aaron Halo and all of the mission givers providing voiced storyline missions Delivered: - A minimum viable version of Stanton, missing major infrastructure and mission givers

Expected: - Exploration gameplay (The carrack being the first ship we saw go through the wormhole heavily implied this to be a feature they would focus on) Delivered: - No exploration gameplay, just sightseeing with no link to a larger exploration profession or economy

Expected: - Reputation and faction hostility, areas being locked behind reputation and reputation having significant benefits Delivered: - Reputation was barely worked on for pyro, and what exists has little impact or benefit to the player

Expected: - Harsh desolate environments that challenge the player to survive Delivered: - Space stations everywhere, no solar flares for whatever reason, no radiation or any other kinds of hazards that tax the players survivability. The biggest danger is from other players ganking you.

Expected: - Freeform piracy, patrol area missions, high risk high reward activities for non-combat players Delivered: - Nothing significantly valuable, no real rewards for the risk, rewards locked behind canned arena combat gameplay, only a few new missions that don't really interact with other players at all.

So as you can see, the vision of 4.0 when I first backed the game was radically different from what we have ended up with in the 4.0 release. I'm sure it is still fun and enjoyable for many people, but I find it hard to get excited about given how scaled back and simplified it has become since I first backed.