It's a complex game but I always say - Easy to learn, hard to master. Flying is not a problem. Nor shooting. But mastering the perfect ship builds, combination of officer bonuses, enhancements, weapons, skills, perks... That takes time and dedication. But even if you don't wanna bother with it, you can play without any worries.
I've played this during Early Access and I can just say that dev team is fantastic, community is fantastic and the game is really fun! I don't doubt it will be a success cause it deserves all the attention.
Elite: Dangerous and SPG2 are two totally different games. Both offer different experiences and are a different genre. One is a tactical combat sim with RPG elements where you command capital ships, the other is first person cockpit view, dogfighting flight simulator.
They cannot be compared, it just comes down to what type of the game you want to play. Elite is not better then SPG2, it's different. ;)