Ooh, an Artemis thread! Don't see those too often. It's a special little product by what is basically a family business with a single developer.
While there was a strong focus on LAN for a long time - initially, the dev was even decidedly reluctant on working on a netcode suitable for online play - since about version 1.6 to 1.7 you can play with friends on one ship over the Net just fine.
There's kind of a point to the lack of graphic fidelity - Artemis is meant to run fine on a large number of machines, including average notebooks, since, if you're not a schoolkid anymore, these are the devices you're most likely to take over to friends' places, and not your big tower.
They used to have a deal where if you recorded yourself playing the demo (limited to just a nav. and wep. station) with someone and published the video, you'd get a copy of the game (that is, the six machine license (one host, five players)); no idea whether that's still valid. Those six devices are where the price point stems from. However, since Artemis hit Steam some time ago, single licenses for 6 Eurons a piece are also available.
This game is quite
modding-friendly, by the way. You can command the Enterprise, if you wish. Someone make models of the Elite capital ships for Artemis!
