Ok, against my better judgment, I couldn't take it and I gave the $30 deal a whack (thanks again, pbj) and now have to install the Epic game store and Origin on my cockpit/racing rig. The Steam version probably would have been better, as I have heard there is at least a "Launch in VR" option, but the game launches through Origin and uses SteamVR for VR functionality. At least no issues with WMR compatibility. The Epic Game Store -> Origin is also pretty seamless if you tell it to remember your credentials. For now, VR is activated at the main menu of the game, and after that, everything is accessible through the HMD. Hopefully Origin or EGS will implement a launch in VR option at some point.
Anyway, after about an hour and a half just using a X360 controller in VR, I'm on the fence. One of the dumbest things is that the cut-scenes are all flat in VR, which makes you just want to skip them unless you are a die-hard SW fan. I don't know what EA was thinking on that one.
I've read that the flying dynamics just didn't feel right, and I find it hard to disagree. When you cut throttle, the ships stop like they are on a roadway riding the brake. As far as I can tell, there is no reverse thruster and no drifting, so no real space flight dynamics. Somehow, this cheapens the experience and counter-intuitively seems to make things harder to control (at least with a gamepad). But a proper HOTAS setup may make all the difference here.
The graphics are good, but occasionally a bit glitchy out of the box. I "only" have a 1080 on this machine and installed the game on a mechanical drive, so not the most ideal circumstances. But it's mostly a smooth experience. There's definitely some tweaking in my future to see what can be done to smooth things out a bit more.
Flying the Tie-Fighters almost makes you feel sorry for the Empire. That sadistic bastard Vader put those poor guys in a ball, with only a forward bay window to see from. And that's how you'll feel inside of one when you are getting shot from the sides, rear, above and below without being able to visually find your target. The X-Wings are more open feeling and easier to navigate with. The sense of actually being in the cockpits is very good, regardless. The sound is good and explosions are convincing enough. The maps, so far, don't seem great, but I haven't gotten too far into it. I hear there are only 6 currently, so I hope EA will crank out more in the future. They should have enough assets to draw from with their other SW titles, so hopefully some of those will find their way in at some point.
So early conclusions (personal ramblings) are that it's too early to tell if this is a solid buy, unless you are a hardcore SW fan. For $40, I'd probably give it a "wait and see", for $30 it's a tough call, but reasonable enough to be optimistic with. But at the moment, it feels more like a "pick it up when it hits $25 or less on sale" type of game. Still fun, but unless you really get into the multi-player aspect and get good at flying with these dynamics, there may not be enough content to hold your interest over time. YMMV