A problem with Star Citizen, I feel, are the graphics are too realistic, rather than dumbing them down and instead going for the ultra-smooth gameplay experience a la Half Life 2. HL2 looked amazing AND played amazing at the time of it's release. It holds up today largely due to how smooth the gameplay is.
Give me that smooth FPS experience in Star Citizen, combined with a seamless transition from Foot-to-Ship-to-Space, with limited graphical hiccups, and I think you have a winning experience.
In a game with a vision as grand as Star Citizen's is, graphic fidelity needs to take a step back to world immersion. And that means as little technical glitches as possible.