Really looking forward to planetary exploration as well, both in a ship and out of it. Walking around the space stations is also going to be nice, though I hope they won't abandon the option to still do everything via menus while docked if you prefer.

I do look forward to Star Citizen as well as Elite. People talking about it being an Elite-beater, or Elite being a Star Citizen-beater, I don't think they quite get it. I don't think it and Elite will be competing very much at all. I expect them to be two very different games. Chris Roberts tend to make very focused and tightly designed games. There's usually a mission structure to play through, or a more open playing area with a thin red line of story events to follow. Elite is the exact opposite, it just goes "Here's the galaxy, and there's your ship" and pats you on the back and leaves you to it. I reckon I will enjoy both games for what they bring.