I still play old games, but there's not really anything like ELITE that keeps me playing. It's not really about the gameplay. It's about the vastness and the loneliness. Which is a weird thing to be into. But there's nothing else like it.
I'm philosophical about the delay because without a sudden injection of hundreds of millions of pounds there's not much they can do to speed up.
I also think that the game now has enough content that there's always something else to try if whatever you're currently doing gets to be a drag.
Personally, if I was king, I'd prioritise all sorts of different things gameplay-wise, and I worry that whatever the next big update it is, it'll be the one I'm least interesting in seeing.
...but the "I've played this game for 6000000 hours and it's totally rubbish" brigade just look silly!