Also my favorite PC game by far, but I really hope it doesn't happen... It seems the devs are going for yet another 'monetized'/pay-to-win travesty à la Dungeon Keeper redux, sadly. Thanks but no thanks.
From the page: "All copies of Descent: Underground start with the WASP unlocked. Some pledge tiers unlock additional ships. All ships can be unlocked through game play."
As long as you can unlock ships without paying, it seems okay.