That's back when they still had expectation of getting money to develop, they had to protect their investment model. Now all they have to do is recruit volunteers by promising shares of future profits. It's about making of a show of developing the game to try and rebrand themselves from the past. As long as their unpaid laborers keep making forward motion, they can focus on trying to establish good credit.
I strongly suspect 'looking to expand our team' is a smokescreen for 'the people we got to volunteer are quitting on us' in order to protect their public image. Instead of looking like they're spiraling around the drain, they appear to be successful and growing. Unfortunately, as long as this thread remains visible(we're the third hit on a search for Trials of Ascension, well above their sad little Reddit)that's not really going to work so well.