Forgot all about this thread, sorry.
Well, they just hit 150M in funding - and they keep hiring people, so it doesn't look like they will run out any time soon.
3.0 is set for July - but I'd say it's smart to account for inevitable delays. Personally, I think there's a decent chance it will be out within a few months of that date.
It's a quantum leap in almost every way - and it should be the first version of the alpha that's going to be representative of the final experience in terms of core gameplay and activities. Very excited for it.
In terms of technology, content and features - the vision of this game is so far ahead of all other games - it's hard to describe. While I fully appreciate the reasons for being sceptical, especially if you're not following development closely - I'd say 3.0 should be a big help in alleviating the doubts of reasonable people. Ignorance and adversity for the sake of adversity can't be helped, though. Probably not even the final game can help that.
I think I will wait for that to come out before I get into more detail - but I just wanted to bump the thread so I don't forget again
Here are a few of the latest Around the Verse videos:
I highly recommend checking out the "Studio Update" segments in each of them - at the beginning, as they're very good at providing a detailed and tangible look into the work they're doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZIzExVmZMo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKRX0ZwzXqk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y78PPfs1NXc