Holy shit this game is a touchy subject
It is simply because people who are uninformed take half backed assumptions and run with them despite there being a wealth of information out there for them to read and research. It is easier to criticize than to have an informed opinion apparently.
Have they release financial state? Monthly Budget? Are those investing-buying + $1000 getting some return after the game finally launch?
I mean common sense say they should (at least if they up to be congruent), they talked many times how they see the community as investors. There are basic contractual responsibilities when you work with investors.
Makes you think about actual ethics for game development. Witcher 3 is an amazing game that exist, they are giving DLC for free. Star Citizen keeps milking DLC at ridiculous prices out of fans for a game isn't even close to competition, somehow that is alright, because community I guess.
1. When people purchase or ship or a package it is described exactly what they are getting in return. It is not as if it is a publicly traded company. No one is purchasing stocks. When they refer to people invested in the game that simply means the money spent is being put towards the game and before you pledge a dime it is listed what the packages contain.
2. Yes there is a way to see money pledged on project, and that is simply by visiting webpage.
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/funding-goals
You can view it in hourly, daily, weekly or monthly views. It includes the total amount pledged and the number of individuals that pledged to the amount.
3. SC is not pledging DLC. All of the ships pledged will be in the game and anyone can get it. There is no added content. You can say it is a shortcut per say, but getting a larger ships means added cost and responsibility. Also you need more people for larger ships. So equating a single player game which has DLC (normally implies content not included with game) to a title that is basically a sandbox with early access shortcuts isn't the same at all given the mechanics of each game are totally different.
I keep seeing people defend these ridiculous ship prices by claiming you don't have to pay or that they will be available in-game. Anyone saying this is crazy if they think a ship that someone paid thousands of dollars for will be easily available to those who don't. It's P2W at it's worst. These ships won't be easy to get and while Joe Public is busting his in-game ass to get the funds to get one of these ships, Whale #13453 will just be pulling that much further ahead because of an out of game purchase. These aren't $15 mounts, and they will have a huge impact on who are the haves and have-nots in the multiplayer portion of the game.
This is a perfect example of people who criticize the game that has no idea what they are talking about.
The ships represent different jobs. Even in similar jobs the more expensive the ship the larger it is the more people needed to run the ship. it is not pay to win because if you are a solo player per say, you shouldn't be purchasing a a $2500 ship. Which would be the Javelin Destroyer BTW.
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14335-Introducing-The-Javelin-Destroyer
Minimum crew? 23 people.
Weapons? Non included in the package.
So no it is not pay to win when you purchase something that requires multiple people to operate, need to restock and re- arm the ship and since it is also a carrier, you might want to have ships on board as well. Since the game is open, that means there is only one thing you can do with a destroyer and there isn't a description about how war based ships will function in SC PU yet, because every other job type can support or fit into an the economy while something that is purely aimed at blowing stuff up and will most likely be a nightmare to maintain and upkeep, has no currently explained job type to justify its use.
The game is a system of balances and checks so while some ships may make certain things easier, that will be offset by the cost to maintain the ship and the crew count.
So the larger more expensive ships aren't P2W, they are different play approaches. Think of it a the difference between solo play and playing with a team.
EDIT: in Addition there is no "Getting ahead" in the game. There is no linear progression in the PU portion of the game, so trying to throw that idea around just shows how such a strongly worded complaint is based off nothing related to the game at hand.