Don't let the title throw you, I liked this game in the past. It has been online since 2003. At its start there were very few MMO based on space and science fiction. Earth and Beyond had just shut down, and I didn't think this game had much of a chance either. The #1 thing this game has going for it is the ships! They are better than newer MMORPGs like Star Trek online.
Have you seen their new trailer? Their new trailer makes it look like it's very popular. If I recall, you had to pay to play this game, correct? That's one of the main reasons why I don't and haven't played this game yet.
The game has as strong niche following so I doubt that it will go away anytime soon. They've been updating graphics over the years as well which adds to the epicness of the game overall. That being said the game will always appeal to a certain kind of player and will retain their interest because of it. (There's lots of interesting economics and even politics in the game.) Personally I can see the appeal, but I don't have the patience nor the kind of time investment to be able to go far with the game so there's no reason for me to even try.
I think this game is a little hard for newbies to adopt, but there still are plenty of hard core players that are still around. This game definitely is the only good game atm that fills this niche.