Guess it all depends on whether the bits left unfinished are the icing or the cake itself. If the core mechanics of the game are correct and people can have fun, then they should be ok and raise enough funds from the launch to continue development.
DAOC was pretty unfinished and bug ridden at launch but the game engine was just about robust enough and the game world compelling enough that people could still have fun (even if it meant regular stops while someone rebooted due to having a psychadelic experience with the graphics). Of course some of the bugs at launch were still in the game after three expansions, but that's another matter
Eve Online was badly unfinished at launch - definitely put me off, I tried the beta and it was a nightmare but they must have pulled it around as it's still going. And we all know about how unfinished SWG was - they were just lucky that the sheer popularity of the Star Wars franchise got them through what was essentially a shockingly unfinished game at launch. I remember trying it some time after launch and still feeling it was unfinished, so can only imagine.
One of the things that struck me about WoW was how polished it felt at launch. But as we all know now, that's because Blizzard focused on getting the PvE side of things polished for launch and hadn't paid much attention to how PvP would really work ... something the game is still struggling with in my view.
Guess it all comes down to whether the unfinishedness of a game at launch impedes gameplay and even if it does, is the game world compelling enough for people to persevere or if there's a major corporate backer or not.
Anyway, probably will give DnL a try when it launches.