He also referred to years of delay as the "politics around the development time"
I'm sure people can (and do) have many hours of fun, even in a starter ship. The problem comes when you actually want to start making money and those more expensive ships start to look tempting. They also do have good cockpit views compared to many. Like those where half the screen is obscured due to cockpit. I already poked fun at the exploration comment.
As for refunds, they are better than Steam. CIG give a 30 day no questions asked refund. Steam give you 2 hours playtime.