Found this recent quote by Kilsin over on the Pantheon boards interesting...
"Alpha should be next year sometime but we don't have any more accurate info than that, it all depends on how these pre-alphas go and what hurdles we may hit during development/test. Once we get into the new year we will have a better understanding, but again, we will announce it once it is getting close to make sure no one misses out and everyone can plan ahead for it."
Seems pretty obvious this game is taking way longer to develop then originally thought. Although I guess that's pretty standard. Sounds like there are still multiple phases of pre-alpha to go. Many people were speculating that this upcoming pre-alpha phase (whatever the hell number that is) would be the last. Not sounding like that to me. Doesn't sound like they are even willing to commit to Alpha next year at this point, let alone "early" next year. Beta and launch seem pretty far away to me. 2022 launch, maybe? Is it just me, or does that seem like an insane development time?