I think you're getting stuck in comparing what should be versus what is.

The game today, is unique, has technology nobody else is using. Is playable today, and it's fun with a group of friends. From that base is alone how it exists today, for people today, it is worthwhile for a group of friends to be space cowboys in Star citizen today.

I agree you shouldn't listen to any corporations promises about the future, so it's just about what's available today. And what exists today is worth it.

• multiple people can man a ship at the same time.. kind of like space engineers

• a group of people can transition between environments without loading and interact with each other in the different environments.

• more concurrent players than the space engineer server, and a larger play area than a space engineer server.

What makes this game unique today, is the ability to do things in large groups, shared cooperative goals. At scale. In a persistent world. That's killer. And totally worth my friends group's time. Which is why we play it

Taking me and 20 of my closest friends trying to raid the police station to remove bounties, and then trying to rescue the rescue group. Was a fun 12-hour experience on a weekend. A much better use of money for this friend group then say a copy of Halo infinite.