Is this worth picking up?

[HunterZ]

Autumn sale has this at 80% off ($3.99). I don't see anyone really discussing whether it's worth picking up or not.

From what I gather, it was rough around the edges when released, but lots of work has been done since. People seem to be fairly happy with it now, with the possible exception of diplomacy features being weak? It also seems that nobody knows about this game except for hardcore 4X space sim fans.

[sxem]

Well, I just got it, and like it a lot. It's at 1.1 now, which is a big improvement apparently over earlier versions. The multiplayer is peaking too, bcs so many ppl got it for $4... I just think I'm going to have to spend hours studying it before I know what I'm doing. This is a deep game, with a steep learning curve, and I usually go for more of an arcadey, rts-lite like multiwinia or dawn of war 2. But I just love to take over planets with giant fleets of spaceships... :)

[Dragoon.x]

There is a Star Ruler community manual available the could be of use at
http://starruler.blind-mind.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Star_Ruler_Manual
Also the in-game Stellarpedia works as some sort of in game manual.