You can't really compare Rebel Assault to a game like Wing Commander, that's like comparing Microsoft Flight Simulator to a top down shooter. Rebel Assault is clearly an arcade game.
Comparing Wing Commander to Tie Fighter makes more sense. But in TOR, the whole space combat thing is simply a minigame. Sure, I'd love a fleshed out space game where I could fly from place to place, but there are some limits to game development here, that would be a huge addition.