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Star Citizen Roadmap Roundup Include Additions to Alpha 4.0
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Star Citizen Roadmap Roundup Include Additions to Alpha 4.0
Star Citizen’s Roadmap Roundup include changes to New Targeting Methodology and High Speed Combat, plus changes to the Alpha 4.1.0 Trello card.
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What can go wrong.
...right?
Nothing as long they do add new functionnalities regularly. Missile oeprator looks minor but it is indeed the first crew activity for multiplayer ship beside using turret or piloting. A test bed for others job like shield, radar, scanner operator.
or people stop sending them money....
Have fun!
Reporter: What's behind Blizzard success, and how do you make your gamers happy?
Blizzard Boss: Making gamers happy is not my concern, making money.. yes!
In this game you can pay RL money for in game money (and therefor everything offered in game), ships (no matter the size or capabilities), insurance on ships, land and undoubtedly more to come.
You can play it without spending money, but it is extremely annoying to people like me when you are sharing a universe with others that are just opening their wallet to achieve success in the various facets of the game. In general, P2W is just an obnoxious mechanic to me and quite a few others.
It's like if someone in WoW were to drop $1000 to get the BiS gear. You can call it envy if you like, but in the end it just feels wrong to me. The value of actually playing a game like that diminishes incredibly to me. It cheapens any successes or progression gained.
On top of all that, there are the design decisions that end up happening because of P2W. For instance, gating content and making stuff less attainable and less fun unless you're willing to start spending money in the store. They often end up making progress very slow for people that aren't spending money in the shop. SC seems particularly vulnerable to this since it seems to be a lot of whales giving money at this point.
Also, many times they have cash shop exclusive stuff. I don't see why SC would ever care about whether that stuff was only cosmetic. They already have limited time sales on ships.
Is it envy? I don't care what it is. To me at least, it makes for a really terrible base for a game that I could enjoy. If this messy monstrosity that is progressing at a snails pace came out in 10 years and didn't have P2W, I'd check it out. But with the extreme P2W mechanics, comparable only to games like Project Entropia, there will just never be a time where I will find this game interesting.
wow! that's an achievment! great job!
man, after so many years it's real!
No I just think most people can think of better ways to spend hundreds of dollars than on a video game in alpha......
As it stands though SC hasn't launched (isn't live) and the concept of P2W is generally applied to live games. And what is sold - primarily - are buffs that provide a limited time advantage - to encourage people to buy more.
What SC does have is different levels of entry. And its not unique in this. Multiple other crowdfunded games - CU, Pantheon etc. have such a mechanism. Typically with a greater spread between least and most expensive as well. (Which doesn't alter the fact and in all cases there are super "whale" packages.)
Several key questions:
1. What do the different levels of entry provide?
In some of the games its pretty straightforward e.g. special weapons or armor. In the case of SC it about different ships of course - of which there are a lot.
I assume - maybe someone knows - that the design intent is to create a "Pirates of the Caribbean" type situation. A historical period in which you had - for example - expensive capital ships such as Spanish galleons (virtually unsinkable); British "Ships of the Line" - massive fire power etc. all the way down to merchant ships that were slow and basically unarmed. It was a time when it wasn't clear what was the most cost effective ship.
If this is so though how will it play out. You can design multiple ships but if everyone buys the same package it won't matter.
So what will the different levels provide. As others have said tweaks could still happen so the final set up may not yet be known.
2. Is there an upgrade path?
The short answer is yes. At least in theory. As has been discussed it will all depends on how the economy. And no one knows today whether there will be a realistic upgrade path. Mining is obviously one possibility but since resources are going to be finite how will this work out? Always assuming people decide it is something they want to do. Of course into the mix you have different possible guns, scanners, etc. So as it stands whether it will be feasible remains to be seen.
Then you have the game play elements. First progression. A lot of people like progression. In real life it may be totally unrealistic for everyone to be able to start work as a humble barkeep, save enough to buy a pick axe, and ultimately garner enough money to but a star system. At what point should / must real life be left at the login screen.
The flip side - of course - is the "Jedi" issue. If everyone can easily get to "max" level - whatever that means - this is deemed a bad thing.
So the upgrade path is something they are going to have to resolve.
3. Will there be P2W - the short term buff stuff etc.
As I mentioned above it hasn't launched. Maybe you will be able to buy super octane fuel that makes you go twice as fast for an hour. We don't know but this type of thing - imo - would go against the work to make the game "realistic" as far as flight characteristics, gravity and all that other stuff goes.
One advantage the game has - at this point in time - is that it is almost entirely crowd funded. The point being that investors - or a company if its e.g. Activision Blizzard say aim first to recoup what a game has cost to make, then they pursue a profit strategy. Some of which - as we know - can lead to brutal cash shops etc.
As it stands the crowdfunding element will allow SC to opt for a "light touch" approach. Whether a light touch or a heavy hand results in the greatest profit - depends. Its the b2p vs. f2p decision. More players paying a little vs. a few paying a lot. As it stands though it has the option.
Now if RSI is floated and investors come in and make them multi-millionaires ..... those investors will want to get their money back and then some. We don't know but as it stands the light touch option is available.
Now is "insurance" a P2W buff. A case could be made I am sure but I think it falls into a game play mechanic. It is going to come down to what players will live with. Flip it around and you could argue that no insurance is a P2W mechanic since players would have to buy new ships. Lets face it people coming back from the dead is not realistic - hence discussions about generations. In some of the (vids I have watched CR has talked about wanting there to be consequences for players actions but it comes across as a desire not something that will be in until they find what players really want. Would you be happy if "your" WoW Fighter lost attributes as they levelled - becoming reliant on gear due to age?
4. Gated content
I don't see this as a problem since I see SC as a content light game. Systems but not "modern PvE" content.
The "proper" content - so ESO PvE rather than ESO PvP say - will be in SQ42. And by all accounts that is going to be a pretty straight forward story driven b2p + DLC game.
Summary
Concern about P2W is certainly valid. As its stands though all we have with SC - and multiple other crowd funded games - are different starter package options. Of course if it just 8 whales funding everything they could well have a big advantage at the start. The other - up to maybe 2.5M though - must be getting a cheaper game. And numbers - if it attracts numbers - will dominate.
What a load of biased hogwash.
You can buy ships, in game currency and land right now. That means that you can also buy loadouts.
Even in your situation, given equal skill, the P2W person has a huge advantage. After all, they can just buy a different ship and add whatever loadouts they want by dropping a few hundred.
What kind of person buys a $350 ship that is worse than a starter ship anyway?
All I hear from you is a noise of a PR bullshit.
Oh you mean the game has launched. I am sure I read somewhere that it will never launch. Simple fact: it hasn't so it cannot be a functioning P2W game no matter how hard you want to suggest it.
What it night be going forward - remains to be seen. Obviously that doesn't fit your view.
But its selling land you say ... and? Please explain how that will contribute to it being P2W. Special land that will be able to grow high octane fuel maybe or or a plot to build a "nouse". I have no idea by the way so I await your explanation as to how such sales make this non-released game P2W.
In game credits - yes people can upgrade. See above.
As for the 8 whales maybe you missed the lengthy thread in which it was claimed that the game was funded by 8 whales. We don't know the average value of the funding package. And that is before you factor in SQ42.
The BBC Byte folks asked at the last Citizencon - see the vid of the episode - and for all bar 1 it wasn't mostly under $100. One person did say c. $1,700 but did agree that they were a professional streamer. (So presumably wanted all the ships etc.)
Simple maths says that the more whales you have the less everyone else is paying. You want it both ways. Me - I think there may have been sime early "super-backers" who helped get the game on the road but these days I suspect most sales are one of the fairly basic packages. Don't know though.
But so what as I said. What do different entry levels mean?
What does it matter if someone buys a $350 ship vs. a $45 ship. Will there be a quick upgrade path? Will the more expensive ship be many times better or a totally different mechanic - slow, heavy transport vs. small fast fighter. As I said it hasn't launched. Today its about funding. And as some are keen to point out nothing is set in stone.
You are pushing a narrative that SC is a P2W game today. Today!
Newsflash the game hasn't launched. It hasn't. And all there is different levels of entry and no evidence that it will have on-going p2w mechanics.
Yes if e.g. SC is sold to investors or e.g. a company that pays its CEO tens of millions a year the CEO buys it then you it may become a full on p2w game.
If you genuinely have a concern about why/how "p2w" can be detrimental I fully support you. There are arguments both ways but it is a consideration. Are you concerned though or simply posting anti-SC stuff. Based on your response it looks like its SC bashing. And your pious talk about p2w is just window dressing.
Not outside the possibility Bernie has another stolen from him again, but going to be more difficult to do withthe scrutiny.
Just like another scam like SC wont be as easy to pull off in the future either.
So you have a guy like Bernie who claims to not get big donations (and he probably doesnt because peopel with money dontwant him to even have a chance to be elected) and you have a self supporting whale who can send and send and spend.
Which is better?
Immaterial because to extend this metaphor neither will be elected just like SC wont be released, at least in the form people think it will.
You cant have millions of casuals buying started packs and realistically think theyre all OK with whats goign on. No matter what the dream. You alsoarent going to suddenly reverse course on the whales who have basically bankrolled the rock star lifestyle roberts and his cronies have enjoyed the past decade and think theyre going to be ok with it.
You cant have both sides especially after 'release'. But I suspect there will be compromises of sorts if this thing sees the light of day. The desperation and disappointment will be shared by all and there will be common commiseration amongst all the 'citizens' once they see how lacking it is, so the small time backers will be thankfull they didnt waste more money and the big time guy will continue tohave their own private sand box to play in like they try and make the test bed tech demo out to be.
It is P2W. If you get a benefit that you can't in game, quicker and easier, it is P2W - period. I mean, we don't know how long it will take to buy a ship with in game currency but we know how much it did cost with RL money.
Watching you try and soften the truth by saying you think there aren't very many whales is embarrassing. Your anecdotal evidence from a Byte piece and a thread is your evidence of 8 whales? That is stupid. There's no other way to describe it.
I don't have a concern about how P2W it is. It is P2W. I explained why I personally don't like P2W models, but I think they are a fine model to go with if that is what you want. Watching people bend the truth and lie and try and change reality is what I have a problem with.
You can buy every single ship. You can buy in game money. You can buy land. All with real money. I know it bothers you to admit it, but that has more to do with your own denial about what this game is and will be. It is one of the most P2W games ever devised and it's sitting there staring you in the face while you are apparently in denial about it.
If not, any argument about the game is moot, since there is no game.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
As to my "evidence" of 8 whales - sorry this comes from another thread in which another SC poster with just as little evidence as yourself made the claim that the game is funded by whales. You haven't even offered up Byte sized evidence for your claim!
And just to remind you - since you burbled about land again - I asked you to explain what p2w mechanic is associated with the sale of land. You can use simple of complicated words. I will understand. Remember that SC is not Archeage however.
To get you started here is what was said back in 2017.
"Please Note: These claim licenses are being made available for pledging to help fund Star Citizen's development. The ability to obtain these claim licenses will ultimately be available for in-game credits and/or otherwise earnable through play in the game. Pledging for these claim licenses now allows us to include deeper features in the Star Citizen game, and is not required for starting the game."
and
"The UEE [Star Citizen's space government] sells claim licenses for the same reasons as any government - to raise revenue to fund public benefit programs, to liberalise its economy, to spur growth and tax revenue, and to fund the military campaign against the Vanduul."
So please explain what is p2w.
What I believe is that it has much more to do with "90 days tops" and it was all about funding. But hey clearly RSI / CIG was in robust financial health and this is all hogwash. Its all about p2w as you keep on claiming and ....
you are going to tell us all how.
Right.
Do people not remember the P2W factor of Arena Commander. You had a best ship (Hornet) and then flavour of the month loadouts purchased from the Voyager Direct store for ridiculous sums of money that whales and wallet warriors were buying to dominate and compete on the leaderboards, it's been P2W since mid/late 2014
Might since it hasn't luanched.
Today though yes you can buy more expensive packages. That is just a part of funding the development though. And we know from other crowd funded efforts its not easy.
Assuming it launches we will have to see.
The concept of p2w though and it may well exist in SC. EVE being the obvious example. As we know there are seasoned EVE players who can explain how many accounts are ideally needed ! However multiple accounts existed in DAoC etc. And the range of p2w mechanics foes up from there. The most extreme possibly being those in which you can be ganked when logged off.