Hari Seldon
Member
I backed this to be a single player game so I could give two fucks about buying spaceships.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Star Citizen races past $50m mark after selling new space ships
- Thread starter fluffydelusions
- Start date
Majukun
Member
an utopia where whenever you are successful in a videogame depends on how good you are in said videogame,not how much money do you spend in its virtual shops.
even just invest time it's bullshit for me,but it's something that usually happens for F2P games,where it's understandable that money has to come from somewhere for the devs.
here we are talking about a game that is NOT F2P,but works like it is,you either dump too much time or too much money,on top of the money you already spend on the game itself
as to how to get the money..they already got one of the most successfull kckstarter of all time,plus they already have some sponsors of their own
I thought it was a MMO? So you can play completely cut off from the net?
One of the clever things about EVE is that while for the most part money = power, there are also two situations where numbers = power as well. Two of the largest alliances out there now (goonswarm and TEST) came to power and still rely on newbies in shitty ships that cost close to nothing. One of the most fun things to do is fuck ships up with 300 of your closest friends in shitty starter ships.
Not saying that Star Citizen won't mirror EVE's success in this regard, just pointing out the fact that money isn't the end all be all.
$40
Just reading up on things, it seems like that while yes, you can buy any ship with in-game currency, unless you shell out real cash for 'insurance', then if your ship gets blown up or stolen, then you lose the ship and have to buy another one with in-game currency.
Now, unless making money isn't difficult at all in this game or the ships aren't very expensive, this would *heavily* encourage real life transactions and pay-to-win players. There might be people who enjoy that sort of hardcore, 'realistic' economy, but I think for somebody who just wants to enjoy themselves and not take things too seriously, that's not necessarily too inviting a system to accept.
It will also mean a very high rate of pirates and griefers, who just prey on weaker players to take their ships and make money, or just blow them up in order to frustrate them.
Midnight Phoenix
Member
Can you get those ships without paying real money? Or those ships is special editions?
Oh I see. So when you buy ship with real currency you will not loose it, when it destroyed.
Oh I see. So when you buy ship with real currency you will not loose it, when it destroyed.
He is referring to the Squadron 42 SP campaign (basically Wing Commander).
But since they'll also implement private servers you also don't have to play online to experience the big universe.
Just create one and play for yourself.
You can buy literally everything with your ingame money, once the games goes live. There will be no WOT "premium tanks" which can only be bought with premium currency.
That is because many people are playing games to escape the realities of an ultra competitive, capitalist, explored society. The concept of your real life status carrying over to a virtual escapist world shatters that illusion.
That said it may be an illusion of the wealthy that their real life status allows them to still be superior even inside virtual worlds. Those people are inherently not actually 'playing the game'. They want the game to already be done when they fire it up.
I mean if they wanted to test their tactical starship piloting in a competitive environment on an even playing field they'd be really into Sins right? Oh wait...these people dont want an even playing field.
The point is to become egaltarian and charge people the same and start them off the same. You are correct: irl is no utopia. What kind of person wants to retreat into an even more stratified capitalist paradise? Don't you already live in one? It's not even the type of person that relies on escapism to detach from their difficulties ...it's a reinforcement of past success.
I'm sorry for you that you're ok with that. It makes me very sad for you.
I think as EVE Online player for over 3.5 years that spent 95% of his time in 0.0 and big battles and was not buying ships for real money, i understand economy of EVE and that You actually cant buy power with real money.
No one force You to buy anything in Star Citizen. I've pledged 35$ in the first day of the campaign and i'm sure as hell i wont be in any disadvantage to people who spend more.
People buy ships, because they can, which fits me, because i'll get bigger game, but it doesnt change the fact and it wont have any impact on balance in combat.
---
You get insurance with in-game money too.
Absolutely. I was just refuting the idea that it gave -no- power. EVE reflects human hierarchy quite well: Organization > Resources > Work. Who you know, what you already have, what you can do. Organization always acts as a force multiplier...and an ethical detriment.
Midnight Phoenix
Member
That's good, as 350$ for ship is insane.
Lifetime insurance?
So somebody can basically save up enough money to always have a ship, no matter what happens to it?
That's good. So my next question would be - how much time and money does this take to achieve? Speaking of a low level ship here.
Who on earth has 300 close friends?
I dont think You can buy life time insurance anymore on the site. It was first campaign bonus or something like that.
Life-time insurance wont really happen in-game anymore, because it will affect economy.
And of course insurance wont probably be new ship, but some currency equivalent of it, like in EVE, and You still will have to spend currency for better modules.
---
This will be decided in Persistent Universe beta. They will look at feedback.
Good thing about this game is that there are multicrew ships like Constellation, so You wont have to buy them by Yourself, but You will share the cost with friends You will be flying with
EVE got big, because of social aspect and properly run corporation had rules and good management and even taxes that would not only give people protection, organized farming but also insure additionally their ship in addition to EVE's insurance systems.
Star Citizen will be similar in this regards, that why so many EVE players are excited for it.
hmm yeah, not exactly. People who spend money on F2P games aren't assumed to be wealthy, there should not be a correlation there. People who spend money on F2P games have their financial priorities in the toilet.
There are similar mindsets between an addicted gambler and an addicted gamer. You cannot assume that a person who loses $5,000 gambling in Las Vegas is wealthy, right?
Many gamblers are looking for an escape and use gambling as their method- hit it big and succeed. You could apply the same to an addicted F2P gamer. They are not succeeding in real life, so they escape into a virtual world in hopes to succeed there. With belief that success can come from the virtual world and not the real world, they spend money there instead in order to gain their desired status. They are not transferring status, they're finding a way to obtain any sort of status in their life, real or not.
So this will never be a game where you can simply buy a ship and always have it?
That's a deal breaker for me. I don't think I could enjoy myself flying around if I know that I could lose my precious investment that I worked hard and long for at any moment.
Ah ok. Definitely not for me, then.This will be decided in Persistent Universe beta. They will look at feedback.
Good thing about this game is that there are multicrew ships like Constellation, so You wont have to buy them by Yourself, but You will share the cost with friends You will be flying with
EVE got big, because of social aspect and properly run corporation had rules and good management and even taxes that would not only give people protection, organized farming but also insure additionally their ship in addition to EVE's insurance systems.
Star Citizen will be similar in this regards, that why so many EVE players are excited for it.
Sounds interesting on-paper, but I wouldn't be able to enjoy it personally.
Hari Seldon
Member
Yeah there is both single player and multiplayer. I hope that they put the amount of effort into single player that I expect from a Wing Commander successor. But I didn't spend that much to back this game so as long as I get my $30 worth I will be happy.
Insurance for your ships is planned to be very very affordable.
So it will be hard to really "lose" your ships for good since you will get a replacement.
I think there will be PVP flag, but AI will be hard too.
But generally yes, You are not immortal and losing a battle will hurt. Its not a theme-park mmo and thats a good thing, but of course not for everyone. It wont be probably as hardcore as EVE in that regard, at least in npc controlled systems.
For You though, there will be SP and normal MP mode.
Dictator93
Member
The game is supposed to be hardcore, but just so you know, CR has said that hull insurance is not hard to come by. Nor should break the "in-game" bank of any one person. But its cost and the brutality of combat should encourage a careful attitude and a proper sense of danger.
Basileus777
Member
It's an exploitative business model whatever you want to call it. But it's not a mobile game for the masses, so it gets a pass.
Leafhopper
Banned
They expect you to pay more money when you play the game though man.
Read posts on the first page maybe? You just dont understand the concept.
They said the insurance doesn't cost a lot. Meaning, you'll always have your ship insured if you so choose.
What that'll be remains to be seen obviously, but it's a good outlook anyway.
Dictator93
Member
Because if you buy an expensive ship, you cannot fly it by yourself. The game is not 1:1 combat, but rock paper scissors / warhammer point system like.
Having more real life money means you can sure get a big ship, but it would not matter because you cannot fly it by yourself... nor would it change the in game combat system (which is a skill based thing just as much as it is a 3 small ships against 1 big ship kinda thing).
You should probably learn a bit about what kind of a game this is before spouting off this nonsense.
You should probably not make asinine assumptions about people you don't know before making statements that make no sense or correlate to any issues whatsoever.
Dictator93
Member
From what one can already play... it does not suck. Schadenfreude shall not see its fulfillment.
Minsc
Gold Member
Even with lifetime (or regular) insurance there's still wait times for ship replacement (which get longer and longer the more you abuse it iirc) and you still have to make partial to full payments on replacement ships (depending on the system's risk rating you lose your ship in, certain systems have more dangerous ratings and insurance doesn't cover 100% then), unless things have changed.
So having insurance of any type doesn't equal free replacement ships, by a long stretch, iirc.
So having insurance of any type doesn't equal free replacement ships, by a long stretch, iirc.
Dictator93
Member
Nope, hasn't changed to my knowledge. That is how it works.
Good stuff, then.
TheVoidDragon
Member
There is no "win" as such with Star Citizen. Different ships are meant for different things and it's up to the player to decide what they want to do. An Aurora can be used for exploration and so can a Constellation, but the Constellation being the more expensive ship doesn't mean it is always going to do a better job. The Constellation will require more fuel, a crew to run it properly, it will be less maneuverable, be a bigger target etc. Someone having a more expensive ship doesn't mean they are going to win; there are advantages and disadvantages for every ship. It's no different from someone starting the game a few months after launch and finding people have other ships.
Chris Roberts has explained it in this video at 5 minutes in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pD2_Pbvde4
MikeE21286
Member
I'd love to see all the money people spent on this game.
On day one, someone who pays real money for a bigger ship will have an advantage over someone who just pays the box price. Is that not pay to win?
Put it another way, generic f2p shooter sells better weapon packs for real money. The person that buys the pack can't aim and sucks at shooters. It's still pay to win, right?
In its current state, hell no. Arena Commander is horrible gameplay wise, but then it's still early as everyone says. 50 million.. Well good luck to them. God knows how much they need it after missing all their stated deadlines. Arena Commander was half a year late and look at the state it's in..
Ok. That's a different link to the one you posted before, though.
"WARNING : Please note that this package does not include access to the Alpha and Beta of the game."
40$ is the minimum amount to be able to play the game right now.
blastprocessor
The Amiga Brotherhood
Why don't they finish the game first?
All l seem to hear about is how much more money they've raised.
I think it's crazy to be honest.
All l seem to hear about is how much more money they've raised.
I think it's crazy to be honest.
Dictator93
Member
The selection of ships has yet to show how much better one ship is better than the other (single seater ships). The ships all do different things well.
Furthermore, the combat systems in the game do not pit you against "better off" opponents. If you have a low end ship, you do not get paired off against a high end ship in match making. Rather another low end ship will be paired with you to take on the higher end ship.
In the Persistent Universe, you can avoid combat with human controlled ships, turn off your PVP, use stealth, whatever.
The best single seater combat ships in the main game will not take too many hours to get considering how absolutely ubiquitious they are in the Universe. (The Hornet, the most brutal single seater combat ship in the game is going to take less than 20 hours of play to get).
In general, there will be slight imbalances if you fly around in the PU and engage agsint ships which you would have no chance of beating unless you were a deft pilot. But in general, someone having a better single seater ship does not matter.... and it DOES NOT MATTER AT ALL... if they have a constellation (multi.crew ship).
50 million just doesn't seem a lot for a 200+ man Dev team working on a game this ambitious.
Haunted
Member
The mindset to pay that much for a vehicle in a game seems crazy to me.
Slightly off-topic, I find it hard to think of this in terms of "crowdfunded backing" as we have come to understood it from Kickstarters.
Looking at how each of these purchases is actually buying an in-game vehicle (and not peripherals or other merchandise), I'd file a large portion of those 50 million dollars under "revenue made from in-game purchases" instead of "development money raised via backers".
Not sure if that distinction actually makes any functional sense, it does in my head.
Slightly off-topic, I find it hard to think of this in terms of "crowdfunded backing" as we have come to understood it from Kickstarters.
Looking at how each of these purchases is actually buying an in-game vehicle (and not peripherals or other merchandise), I'd file a large portion of those 50 million dollars under "revenue made from in-game purchases" instead of "development money raised via backers".
Not sure if that distinction actually makes any functional sense, it does in my head.
Similar threads
- Locked