one thing we are very much against is the idea of giving players some sort of special advantage because they have money... and we also don't want to exclude people because they can't fund us a year before there's a game to play. Backers may get a special paint scheme or some similar recognition, but nothing that will give them an advantage in gameplay.
  We WILL offer credits via micro-transaction in the game, but our absolute design law here is that it can't ever be used to give players something they can't earn through ordinary FUN gameplay. In all honesty, I was also totally against the idea at first... and then I started talking to a lot of the older Wing Commander fans who are part of the reason we're building this game. They aren't rich kids trying to get the best ship quickly, they're just a little older than most gamers now... and they have jobs and kids and responsibilities and can't dedicate every night to flying around the Gemini Sector anymore. But they REALLY want to be included. And, well, this is the best way I've seen that we can do that (and also, let's be perfectly honest, pay the server bills... because you buy this game once and you play it forever, no monthly fees.)
  But that all brings me to the most important thing: this isn't a modern MMO-style click-to-kill game... it takes skill to win. Which means that a player with a cheap ship who is a good fighter pilot is going to be able to take down the inexperienced rich kid who bought himself a destroyer any day of the week. We're also balancing our ships in a way that each has strengths and weaknesses... so there's not one GREAT ship that towers above all others!