In fact I lost interest in it in a big way when they went all apartheid soon after the Kickstarter ended. I don't think thats 'welcoming' and providing a pathetic dribble of media and updates and asking me to pay huge sums to feel part of the buzz and access the various forums was just lame. Since then I am very much with the silent majority of wait and see folks who ignore the hype and focus on whats actually being offered/delivered.
Well, part of somer backers tiers was inclusion into the decision making progress. Of course that's only for people who wanted to engage in it and felt up to support the game in terms of putting money in it. I did, but I did not engage in the process, because I think that David is going to lead that whole thing in the right direction.
Nevertheless, just before the last announcement I jumped in with additional 50 punds for alpha access, and well - now I'm filing bug reports and actually paying even more in terms of time dedicated to testing. After all, E

has cost me so far a few hours of testing and a lot of money (backing, alpha upgrade and also hardware upgrades like graphics card and HOTAS gear).
I personally feel it's worth it. But honestly, this a totally subjective point of view, since Elite was one of the first games I played when I was young. Said that, i joined very late, buying a used copy of Elite for PC in the early 90ies from long saved pocket money. I was extremely dissapointed by Frontier & First Encounters (physics made me left drifting in open space without fuel after fights more often than not, which was extremely annoying), and now E

is going into the right direction (my point of view), which is a huge thing for me. I feel like that kid back then again when I help testing the Alpha, and I see that what will come out will be a true and worthy successor.
So, coming back to the question:
If you feel that you make a good bargain by buying now, perhaps taking the expansion pass with you, then yes, go for it. If you feel it's too expensive, and you don't actually want to put that money in - then don't do it.