I’d second Gnomoria’s model - it’s a community that accepts and works really well with it, which I think is key. If the developer is unable to get a patch out for whatever reason he is always certain to communicate the reasons why.
Another example would be Project Zomboid - remove all the negativity, issues, and complications that have surrounded them and their time-keeping and they have provided a good example of regular releases (something I think they are going to get back into now they’re finally where they want to be).
As long as the community is made aware of what to expect, and the core of the game is in a good place then an early Alpha release with regular updates might be beneficial for Stonehearth - I mean the biggest issue I can see arising (excluding performance issues) is player mod functionality etc. By this I mean, say with an early build people start going off and creating their own mods, only to find 4/5 months down the line that due to whatever changes they are no longer compatible - then that could possibly be an issue?