For me was what was shown in the tech demo. When he showed the climb-in sequence into a fighter and fly from the carrier, i was hooked. That was something no other sim can offer and i don't think BMS or DCS ever will. The complete pilot experience. And that's just S42...

I'd love to have faith in my support of Elite: Dangerous (the original was one of my childhood favorite games)...but Mr. Braben doesn't exactly have the best track record.

I'm still pretty annoyed by his decision to take the project public (i.e., sale of stocks) after getting the kickstarter funded.

Have to agree with you, i was also surprised, and don't like the decission either.
I also liked and played far more Elite that i did like and played Wing Commander. Still, fortunately for Elite i only expect a far improved up to date version of Elite, not much new gameplay mechanics. Just a clasical open world space simulator.
With Star Citizen, with so much hype, i must admit that i excpect a LOT more, with the exception of almost an endless quantity of star systems.

Holy crap people, the game isn't fully out for a year and a half! And Chris isn't Derek Smart, the game will be ready on release. He's raised over $15 million in the most successful crowd-sourcing venture in history, and that's because he knows what he's doing. I can understand those who have never played his earlier stuff being pessimistic, but most of us who grew up on Wing Commander, Privateer and Freelancer know better.

And yeah, I've already thrown too much money at this game, but then, I'm not spending it on dope, so who cares.