Star Citizen supports maximum 50 players per server, not hundreds in one environment. The latter requires Cloud Imperium to implement server meshing which isn't yet on the roadmap. The full game of Star Citizen is many years away from release; FDev aren't waiting for that moment to release "held back content", New Era has been in full production since last August, and will have a total production time of 2yr+ when it arrives in the second half of next year.
What I was saying is:
massive multi player experience as e.g. it shows in Star Citizen or in other MMPG where hundreds of players are in one environment
which means games with massive multiplayer experience, like SC (with 50 as you said) or others with hundreds or more. The point is: E: D is NOT a massive multiplayer experience and will probably never be.
In the beginning, when the kickstarter and SC early pledges have been, nobody would have known when releases would happen. FDev always delivered more or less in time more or less what they have been promising, SC on the other hand, at those times, was expected to be the one and only space simulation and for FDev the only choice was to release before SC. They did and the decission was good and successfull. But still the coming of SC was expected to define the new standard which would mean that E: D could be dead just with release of SC. So, for E: D the strategy could be: if release of SC is near let us release what awesome we have until then and E: D will survive and prosper in the future, because E: D may be still ahead of SC.
Now looking back it seems, this strategy was not necessary as SC will not release in the near future if ever. So here we are, waiting desperately for the next steps.
This is all just speculation and dreams, so for me it's fine as my hopes are still on E: D and not on SC, because SC is way to much first person for my taste. Even if SC will be released some day, I believe it will not be my game anymore, but E: D always was and will be with the New Era (or whatever will come).