COD is unfinished, and support has not be dropped, as there will be atleast one more patch, and then support for the standalone version of COD might end. Although I personally think there will be more patches, testing features of the series, atleast until the first Sequel is released.
The COD map, aircraft, missions and campaigns will be included in the Sequels, so COD should see further benefit from the improvements made to the AI, COMMANDS, FM, DM, GUI, FMB, Graphic improvements, Clouds/Weather etc by the developer and user made missions/campaigns built with these new improvements. Not to mention new aircraft built for the Sequels that could be used historically or otherwise on the COD map. The Channel Map should live long and prosper as long as the development continues the Sequel business model, which they still suggest they are doing. There is an pending announcement which should bring more clarification on the future direction of the development.
There are people enjoying what the COD has to offer now, while others are waiting for improvements to fly the sim again. You could wait and see if the series becomes successful or invest a few dollars now when the development desperately needs it to survive. No pressure.
