1. It is smaller than many others, but highly dedicated and lasting, since many years. Also, eSim is constantly in very close contact to them at their boards. Somebody, almost always is there. Benchmark support and benchmark community policies, really.
2. Both. I do no MP, but nevertheless know that they have very stable and regular MP meetings and bigger events called SB Long Night Of The Tanks. MP is said to be very solid, tehcnically, and there are many videos at youtube. Checkl for videos featuring scenarios by Zipuli, one of the high priests of scenario design. You can also check the vdeio thread somehwerre int his forum. It is linked in the SBP resource thread stickied at the top of the board.
SP also works magnificient and is a blast, due to the solid AI and the great mission editor that shares many similiarities with the interface by which you control the running mission in-game. This is one of the best if not the best mission interfce/missione ditors I have ever used in 25 years.
3. There is long-lasting and ongoing support since release in Spring 2006. Patches and hotfixes (bioth repairijng broken stuff) are free, but upgrades and addons that add new stuff after three years and several packages have turned payware, usually around 25 bucks. The plan calls for a new such pack every 12 months or so now. Development is going on, since it is their military customers driving their business, and what the military orders to get, sooner or later ends up in the PE version as well. But they also listen to the PE community as well. Since the sim is around since so long, there isa alittle need for patches in short intervals, so mainly there are only once-a-year upgrades now, and maybe a hotfixing patch some time after such an upgrade.
Be advised that they have changed the graphics engine recently, and the sim now is more demanding on hardware. Check your specs.
4. That is correct, the DCS addon is not en par with SBP as far as we talk about stuff SBP is focussing on. You can play SBP as a truly map-driven tactics and strategy game, yes, parts of mission play necessarily includes that if you command greater formations.
SBP is great stuff, and on its matter: mechanised cold war and modern warfare, it is second to none in realism. Call it the Falcon 4 of tanks. But please undersdtand, the package you maybe buy, is fully accessible and easy to use, but is not as round and polsihed like a dedicated title for the game market. This is military training software, made availab le to the public market. What is in it, mostly is there due to the military customers demanding it. What it lacks in (air units, infantry logic) is because both is not prioritized by military customers. Nevertheless, infantry is constantly improved. But if you want to do dedicated infantry matches, go for ArmA MP. If you want mechanised warfare, tanks, IFVs, APCs: go for SBP.
SBP players tend to think of the price as being low, when considering the bang-for-the-buck ratio and the long lasting appeal. Including the earlier version SB Gold, I am playing it since 1998, so do many others. Many of them are veterans or still active duty tankers.
Best address for making contact, is their dedicated SBP boards:
http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbforums/index.php
P.S. Check the SBP resource thread at the top of the forum. Some links there might be useful for you to learn more. Don't care for the images too much, they represent versions of SBP that are many years old (back to 2006 or 2007), for the most. Later posts obviously are newer. Meanwhile, almost all models, textures and the whole graphics engine have been exchanged.
P.P.S: Just noted that many peopel did like I, and have sorted out their old screenshots, so not much left in images anyway. They have a screenshot thread at the board I linked you to. Youtube gives you better impressions anyway.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...=150944&page=2