Well to admit Human cultures and the Ascended seem like unnecessary additions (well... as written) so I am not too invested in it being hit.
Not that I cannot see them being great additions, it just isn't how they are written.
Edit: I think I'll leave this like this >_< given that I am technically criticizing the people who are making this... right to their face... on a board I wish to be welcome to.
haha, no not at all a criticism - these stretch goals are designed to enhanced the game for a certain portion of our players so it is understandable that others would have no interest - in addition since the game has yet to be played by the majority of the backers it is hard to see exactly what foreign cultures would be a unique, and valued addition.
The Ascended is for the "hardcore" player who wants an extended challenge to the game, and greater continuity throughout their play throughs. The cultures, while adding diversity to any player, will really help people wanting to work on specific historic or mythological scenarios. We had worked on a Roman and Japanese system prior, so just imagining how the rich mythological additions would interact with our current systems makes it very appealing to us. In addition, people had suggested numerous other historical time periods/cultures, and while I know people will be working to mod these in themselves its hard to beat the quality of including it in the game at launch.