Devs have said that WASD/Keyboard movement is not planned, but I am unsure about gamepads. They do say that the mouse click movement system is essential for the game style they are going for.
As to release, I think current release is looking like 2022, last I heard, or very late 2021 right now. The game has actually been in Development longer than 2 years, so it will probably be close to the 6 yr average when done.
Oh, and yes, for the Alpha testing phase, so far, only the Humans and 1 Human continent have been utilized. I personally expect this trend to make it all the way to just before beta, with the introduction of the other races coming out during the last 1 to 2 Alpha Tests, as mechanically, they will be pretty similar, and Alpha is more for Mechanics, and Beta will give you more QoL and Cosmetic/Diversity options.