Too Many Alphas - Elite: Dangerous Backer Alpha Begins

I like how, now that the great winter triple-A avalanche of '13 has subsided, every major alpha or beta scheduled for "late 2013" is dropping all at once. Oh, hey there Starbound, of course we can hang out all weeken-- oh, could you hold on a sec'? I think I see Wasteland 2 over there. Just gonna pop in and say hi for a couple seconds. Shouldn't be too-- Dungeon of the Endless? Is that you? What brings you to my inbox, which is stuffed like a turducken full of a Russian-doll-esque procession of smaller exotic birds? Yeah, we can chat for a bi-- [David Braben lands a fully functioning Elite: Dangerous starship on top of my house]. God damn it.

In addition to offering the alpha to Kickstarter backers, Frontier has also opened up a store where you can buy in as you please. Here's what you'll be getting:

"The aim of Phase One - 'Single Player Combat' is to test key aspects of ship control and combat systems. Piloting a Sidewinder with varying weapon configurations, players progress through 8 single player scenarios - initially designed to familiarize players with the controls, gradually increasing in difficulty and complexity."

"Backers who pledged for access to the Alpha release will experience different Alpha phases over the coming months, providing early access to Elite: Dangerous while it is being developed and the opportunity to give invaluable, focused feedback to Frontier and help further shape the game."

So yeah, it's single-player-only for now, but expect multiplayer elements in the near-ish future. Because truly is there anything more dangerous than your fellow man? I mean, aside from like, sharks, gigantic asteroids that could extinguish the entire planet at any given moment, and stuff.

So then, who's in? Is it any good at this point?