The Saga Of 'Star Citizen,' A Video Game That Raised $300 Million—But May Never Be Ready To Play

[moproblems99]

They are actaully quite comparable. If anythingz the Elite Dangerous Universe is far (exponentionally, it's the complete milky way to scale) bigger but utilizes RNG to achieve that. I'm pretty sure that's part of why they succeeded whereas SC has "almost 2 planets and a handfull of moons and asteroids" done.

Ah, color me stupid. I didn't think Elite Dangerous was that 'big'. I really thought the scope of SC dwarfed most titles.

 

[R-T-B]

Ah, color me stupid. I didn't think Elite Dangerous was that 'big'. I really thought the scope of SC dwarfed most titles.

The scope of Elite Dangerous is really all it has. The gameplay is arguably more like a day as a freeway trucker than a video game at least in some of the common trade routes.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Freelancer was meant to be like Star Citizen in scope...then they kicked Roberts out...and narrowed it to mostly just a single player campaign experience. Fast forward 15 years and Roberts in a position to make his original vision a reality. I don't think he wants to squander the opportunity and the fact the game is still making a ton of money means there's still a lot of people willing to open their wallet to support that vision. I hope he succeeds this time because what he's aiming to make is like the holy grail of sci-fi games: something too ambitious for publishers to bankroll. If Roberts fails again, it will be decades before we see an immersive space sim.

 

[bbmarley]

A video i watched earlier about Star Citizen

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I think he is a dreamer, who is fleecing others to fund his dream, which may never even arrive.

 

[the54thvoid]

There are people defending the delay but the reality is, when I bought my $75 ship, way back, just after the crowdfunding stopped, it was said to be out in a couple of years. There was a very early roadmap that was missed. It's like Orwell's 1984 now, where it seems to be denied that was ever the case (destroy history to obscure the truth). But I'm not that patient, to wait 5,6,7 years for a game. There are many folks here who have found priorities change as we age and the older some of us get, the less inviting such an immersive game seems to be.

But, he's not a theif or a fraudster. He's simply a very driven, idealistic creative mind that doesn't know when to stop. And that is not good business. As Bob Ross used to say, you need to know when to leave things alone. Maybe there'll be a squirrel living in a nice little tree somewhere in the SC universe.

 

[ShiBDiB]

Publishers exist for many reasons, but an understated one is keeping a studio focused. If Star Citizen had to answer to a publisher about the amount of feature creep that has occured it would be in a much better state than it is right now.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Publishers exist for many reasons, but an understated one is keeping a studio focused. If Star Citizen had to answer to a publisher about the amount of feature creep that has occured it would be in a much better state than it is right now.

We don't want a bad product and then bash again for being gimped...

For example how Eidos killed Deus Ex HR, by gimping it and thus making the story stupidly short and full of holes.

 

[ShiBDiB]

We don't want a bad product and then bash again for being gimped...

For example how Eidos killed Deus Ex HR, by gimping it and thus making the story stupidly short and full of holes.

Eh blaming publishers for bad games is overblown, unless a games release date gets pushed up drastically there's really no excuse in today's use of cookie cutter engines to not be able to meet deadlines. Not saying it doesn't happen, but the alternative being never ending feature creep being tacked onto a framework that barely works definitely isn't any better.

A game the size of SC is the perfect example of where DLC/Expansions should be used.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Eh blaming publishers for bad games is overblown, unless a games release date gets pushed up drastically there's really no excuse in today's use of cookie cutter engines to not be able to meet deadlines. Not saying it doesn't happen, but the alternative being never ending feature creep being tacked onto a framework that barely works definitely isn't any better.

A game the size of SC is the perfect example of where DLC/Expansions should be used.

Couch critique.

Risking to kill off a franchise, a guaranteed income, with a bad product is greater. And in case with DX:HR, they did it, butchered a fine game in the core. Thus the announcement for not making sequel because it sold poor, disbanded studio. Well it is chicken or egg? Well... wasn't it an obvious outcome? Why did they hurry then?

For example Final Fantasy 15 was in the make like 10 years. Last DLC came out recently, thus making 13 year dev cycle? Isn't it a problem with perception of things? I am not hurrying anywhere either way.

 

[64K]

He is a dreamer but real game creators are. He just needs to be supervised.

 

[moproblems99]

I hope he succeeds this time because what he's aiming to make is like the holy grail of sci-fi games: something too ambitious for publishers to bankroll. If Roberts fails again, it will be decades before we see an immersive space sim.

Nobody wants him to fail (I hope). People just want to make sure he doesn't get lost.

He is a dreamer but real game creators are. He just needs to be supervised.

Exactly. He has the chance to make the greatest game of all time. If he fails, it will be a long time, if ever, that another attempt is made.

 

[Sora]

Games doing fine, the usual shitpiece that the gaming journo's crap out for easy advertising revenue and the usual ignorant completely detached people who comment and opinionate over it.

SQ42's coming out in 2020 which will inject more cash into finishing SC, everything is on track, all money is accounted for as per german reporting regulations and the haters just continue to do narrow minded crap like cmpare it to elite flop.

the people who whinge about pledging probably should have kept track of the project and voted when the community decided to push the stretch goals and not release an unfinished product.

Publishers exist for many reasons, but an understated one is keeping a studio focused. If Star Citizen had to answer to a publisher about the amount of feature creep that has occured it would be in a much better state than it is right now.

Publishers exist to make money.

nothing more.

 

[moproblems99]

Games doing fine, the usual shitpiece that the gaming journo's crap out for easy advertising revenue and the usual ignorant completely detached people who comment and opinionate over it.

SQ42's coming out in 2020 which will inject more cash into finishing SC, everything is on track, all money is accounted for as per german reporting regulations and the haters just continue to do narrow minded crap like cmpare it to elite flop.

the people who whinge about pledging probably should have kept track of the project and voted when the community decided to push the stretch goals and not release an unfinished product.



Publishers exist to make money.

nothing more.

If you are going to piss on people then you should proof read.

 

[dorsetknob]

Games doing fine, the usual shitpiece that the gaming journo's crap out for easy advertising revenue and the usual ignorant completely detached people who comment and opinionate over it.

And the people that "MIGHT" invest or invest further would like Opinions Independent of the developer who has an AVID interest in promoting his wares

 

[Sora]

If you are going to piss on people then you should proof read.

Pissing on people is your job, every time you make a comment about an active development studio doing work that you don't like is to piss on them.

Publishers are not there to reign anyone in, their job is to allow a product to reach markets it couldn't otherwise and plan marketting and events.

The only time a publisher has 'reigning in' control is when they have bought into the studio and many often lack the insight into what the product is intended to achieve.

The real scams are the rehashed trash game series that keep getting pumped out with no real evolution over the last, such as cod, battlefield and the assasins creed series.

 

[moproblems99]

Publishers are not there to reign anyone in, their job is to allow a product to reach markets it couldn't otherwise and plan marketting and events.

I thought they only existed to make money?

The real scams are the rehashed trash game series that keep getting pumped out with no real evolution

Don't disagree with you on that.

 

[rtwjunkie]

The real scams are the rehashed trash game series that keep getting pumped out with no real evolution over the last, such as cod, battlefield and the assasins creed series.

Except you’re wrong on that. Some have evolved and basically reinvented themselves. Maybe if you weren’t armchair quarterbacking from the corner you’d know that.

 

[Vya Domus]

I don't know if it's scam or not but I have to say, these guys figured out a really innovative way to keep drawing money in endlessly. That's impressive.

 

[moproblems99]

I don't know if it's scam or not but I have to say, these guys figured out a really innovative way to keep drawing money in endlessly. That's impressive.

It can't be a scam because they do have something to show for it. Just not as much as I would expect for nearly a third of a billion bucks.

 

[Vario]

I don't know if it's scam or not but I have to say, these guys figured out a really innovative way to keep drawing money in endlessly. That's impressive.

they are in the business of selling 2d and sometimes 3d models of space ships, its really lucrative.

 

[R-T-B]

If Roberts fails again, it will be decades before we see an immersive space sim.

I'm already playing one. It's so real it even suffers from boredom. It was mentioned earlier: Elite Dangerous.

 

[64K]

Besides how many people Roberts is employing as evidence that Star Citizen isn't a scam there's also to take in consideration that he will probably make additional hundreds of millions of dollars when the games are finished and go for sale. He would be foolish to not finish the games. I think he wants the games to be epic and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Too many games get rushed out by Developers and have too many bugs and badly need polishing. I'm not a backer though and I can understand the frustration of all of the delays.

When he started out on these games he never expected to get 40 million dollars from backers and he asked the backers to vote on whether they wanted him and his team to expand on Star Citizen and most voted yes. He's now raised 225 million dollars. The goals kept changing and time takes time but I'm not a backer and will just wait until the Squadron 42 is finished to buy it.

 

[Vario]

Besides how many people Roberts is employing as evidence that Star Citizen isn't a scam there's also to take in consideration that he will probably make additional hundreds of millions of dollars when the games are finished and go for sale. He would be foolish to not finish the games. I think he wants the games to be epic and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Too many games get rushed out by Developers and have too many bugs and badly need polishing. I'm not a backer though and I can understand the frustration of all of the delays.

When he started out on these games he never expected to get 40 million dollars from backers and he asked the backers to vote on whether they wanted him and his team to expand on Star Citizen and most voted yes. He's now raised 225 million dollars. The goals kept changing and time takes time but I'm not a backer and will just wait until the Squadron 42 is finished to buy it.

When RSI youtube channel features a new update, the update usually is something cosmetic and superficial like either a new ship advertisement or a change to the lighting or texture or sound effects rather than concrete gameplay development. I doubt there will ever be much of a game from this, or atleast a game worth playing that isn't just eye candy and boredom. Sure it isn't a scam as something is being built, but I don't think it is of much substance. He makes enough money selling virtual ships, thats the core business model.

 

[64K]

When RSI youtube channel features a new update, the update usually is something cosmetic and superficial like either a new ship advertisement or a change to the lighting or texture or sound effects rather than concrete gameplay development. I doubt there will ever be much of a game from this, or atleast a game worth playing that isn't just eye candy and boredom. Sure it isn't a scam as something is being built, but I don't think it is of much substance. He makes enough money selling virtual ships, thats the core business model.

You may be right. I think I read that they took 46 million dollars more last year. They even offer a DLC for $27,000 that includes every ship in the game. Can you imagine spending $27,000 on a DLC? I guess if you were rich you wouldn't mind.