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Star Citizen Ships - What is the attraction?
MightyUnclean
Member EpicPosts: 3,531
in Star Citizen
http://massivelyop.com/2017/06/24/make-my-mmo-june-24-2017/
I don't follow Star Citizen, so I don't know that much about it. I see the headlines like this one, though. They sold 14K copies of a digital ship, in 24 hours, for a minimum of $35, for a game that isn't even out yet? Does that UEE Fleet stat mean they have sold 1.3 million ships total? Can someone explain to me why people are willing to pump so much money into ships for this game? How have they attracted such a fanatic following, and why are they so good at getting people to part with their money?
I don't follow Star Citizen, so I don't know that much about it. I see the headlines like this one, though. They sold 14K copies of a digital ship, in 24 hours, for a minimum of $35, for a game that isn't even out yet? Does that UEE Fleet stat mean they have sold 1.3 million ships total? Can someone explain to me why people are willing to pump so much money into ships for this game? How have they attracted such a fanatic following, and why are they so good at getting people to part with their money?
Comments
Yes, the UEE stat represents the number of ships owned by backers, so on average 2 ships for each of the 650,000 backers.
As for why people spend their money I really couldn't say. The community hypes up the sales and seems to get everyone willing to spend money instead of just waiting to earn it in game. If you view the subreddit just prior to a new ship sale (and in the early period of the sale) it is like mass hysteria has taken over, that's the only way I can describe it.
Some people seem caught up in the whole idea that CIG are making a game the way it should be made (God help us!), that they are sticking it to the publishers, that they are saving PC gaming (lol), that they are making hardware upgrades relevant again (lol) and all of that irrational pcmasterrace nonsense.
It would make for an interesting psychology paper.
The reason I would assume is 35 dollar packages are the cheapest way to get access to the game. Have to buy a ship to play.
"We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first."
..Cake..
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
Compilation:
Full official list here: Full official list here:
The Ships have one appeal in one front, they are made as incredibly detailed and unique vehicles players play the game with, so from a start people who have the money to spend clearly like them.
In the other side is not much about the ships as it is about the continuous crowdfund that is behind the game, so every sale they present to the backers there's a group of them that will buy into that sale and many do it because they already like it and that's half the way to decide to support the game.
A 200$ sale where just the cut of 5k backers gets it is enough to fund 1 million. These 14K ships are not 14K people buying because the packages include multiple of them. The counter is indeed 1.3 million number of ships that were bought (every player of the game equals to a minimum 1 ship).
The backers give money so that the game they always wished for becomes reality.
Some of those backers have more money than others. So they give more. They get a token (in the form of a ship or ships) for their contribution.
That is also the reason why backers give money before knowing the stats of the ships or how it will exactly look like. Because that is not important.
It is important that something changes in the way games are made. How complex and engaging they are. The comparison with "Second Life" upthread is a good one. Backers do not simply want to play a ship combat game. They want to "live" in this sci-fi world (those who played Star Wars Galaxies in the past will know what i mean).
Have fun
Star Citizen Alpha 3.0 Demo
"Cherish the quiet...before my STORM!"
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How many delicate flowers have you met in Counterstrike?
I got a case of beer and a chainsaw waiting for me at home after work.
LTI could stay either with the ship or the seller. More likely: ship.
Have fun
I wish you guys the best of luck making that idiotic argument in court some day as if this is some charity people are donating too. You people really do live in a fantasy world if you think that is going to fly.
Living in a fantasy (or in that case: sci-fi) world is the whole POINT of playing a sandbox game ;-)
Have fun
The kickstarter finished years ago Erillion.
The Kickstarter part is now only around 1.5 % of the total money collected. A tiny part these days.
CIG is actively taking steps to curb the excesses of the (player) grey and black market - see other threads here in this subforum.
Have fun
If people think CIG and SC have haters now, just wait until it goes live and most of the playerbase finds that they don't like what they got for their money. It's going to be hilarious. Minimum viable product. Can't wait for the usual:
"it's only beta they'll fix it and add a bunch of features before launch"
"there's still two weeks of beta, plenty of time to fix/add things"
"all MMO's have problems at launch, haven't you ever played an MMO at launch."
"Even WoW had problems for months after launch and didn't even have all the raids."
"Go back to kiddie WoW."
"I don't know what you're talking about, the game's not empty, I see a ton of people."
"It's being released on Steam so there's going to be a ton of new players!"
"You can't trust steam numbers because most people play through the main client and not Steam."
The worst thing that can happen to SC is that it launches and it will be the most exciting time for the popcorn crew.
Lets make a deal, you stop bullshitting, and I stop calling you on it.
Of course people are primarily buying the expensive ships for the sake of the ships, not to make large donations. To claim otherwise is naive at best.