I'm trying really hard to see this from FDev's point of view. If I'm the CEO of FDev, I think my two primary goals would be a balancing act between making the best games possible and making as much money as possible. I'd also realize that it's impossible to make everyone happy; somebody is going to whine and complain about the game no matter what Fdev does or doesn't do, so I'm going to tell my personnel to make the game however we want, according to the schedule that suits us best. The players will get whatever we make whenever we're ready to release it, and they can buy it or not.
I understand all of that. It all makes sense.
The thing I do not understand is why FDev chooses to communicate so poorly. Good communication is an easy thing to implement. It takes minimal effort and requires minimal expense. But it directly contributes to the goals of making great games and making money (by getting good ideas and feedback from the player base and by ensuring current players remain loyal, buy updates, and generate new sales via favorable word-of-mouth advertising) AND FDev is still free to make the game how and when they want.
I see no downside or negative repercussions from having better and more detailed communications. Choosing to communicate poorly makes no sense to me. Remaining silent seems irrational and counterproductive. It generates an unfavorable image of an apathetic developer and creates animosity among some of their customers. Neither of these are good for business because it causes customers to abandon the developer while preventing potential future sales via negative word-of-mouth advertising.
Fdev can influence how others speak of them and their games. A current player can tell his friends, "Frontier games aren't perfect, but they're still awesome, and the devs are great about keeping you in the loop regarding updates, patches, ongoing problems, and the like. I don't mind the bugs because I know they're working on them, and I don't mind waiting on delayed features because they send out little teasers and updates that show me they're working their butts off. They're a great company and make great games. You should definitely check them out."
Or a current player can tell his friends "Elite Dangerous was a great game, but it's going nowhere. The devs say they're releasing some great new thing by the end of 2020, but who knows? The jerks never tell us anything of any significance. They obviously think we're all mushrooms because they keep us in the dark and feed us crap. We still haven't seen or heard any real news on features they announced two years ago, so don't bet on seeing this great new thing before 2021 or 2022. They can't do anything on time, and no one knows why because they don't tell us anything. Don't waste your time or money on them, man."
For reasons I do not comprehend, they are choosing a communications strategy that encourages the second option rather than the first.