Based on this it looks like he was not very involved in the actual development itself, so take that into account when he talks about the "design trajectory".
It was pretty clear after the original kickstarter that the managment was incompetent and had absolutely no idea what to do. Having a dedicated team that generates exclusive items for cash to buy for a game that's not even out of alpha should tell you everything you need to know. I said for years that they will never finish the game and keep it in "beta" with never ending funding cycles.
A friend of mine bought the game 2 years ago. It was realy buggy, be he was willing to overlook that. After that he contacted the support, because one ship he bought wasn't selectable in the game. The just send him a refund without helping with the original problem. I think that says everything about the state of the game and the developers.