What is your school of thought on ship purchases?

[Sprek]

When considering purchasing ships for real-life money, larger ships tend to provide a much better $/UEC ratio. Generally speaking, larger ships are a better "value" (insofar as in-game items can be considered valuable).

I am currently thinking about consolidating my hangar into a handful of larger ships, even though I have no guarantee that I'd be able to crew them, on the rationale that if they don't work out, I could sell them off in-game and be able to afford any smaller ships I want. By this logic, it doesn't make sense to buy small ships like the 300 series, any of the ground vehicles, any of the fighters, or any of the cheaper medium size ships like the Cutlass.

On the other hand, I think there is a good argument to be made for buying ships because you think they will be fun, or just because you like how it looks. In real-life, people buy objectively poor value luxury items all the time because they feel better wearing that nice watch rather than a $20 Timex, for example. Maybe flying fighters is your thing, so the cost is worth it even though a Hammerhead is a better monetary value.

Now, all of this ignores absolute cost. It assumes you've already spent enough for this to even be a consideration, mainly because I have and this is my sly way of getting you to help me organize the fleet :)

So what do you think? Do you go for pure value, or are you cool with a poorer UEC conversion for small/luxury/alien/specialty ships that you might enjoy more and not have to worry about staffing?

How does being in a large org like ours influence your buying decisions? I mean, how many Carracks does this org have? Do I really need one? (Yes, of course I do.)

 

[Wolfy]

I only buy the ships I want to use ingame. If I don't want em, I don't buy em. Easy.

 

[Sprek]

I only buy the ships I want to use ingame. If I don't want em, I don't buy em. Easy.

Would you sacrifice the smaller ships you like to get into the larger ships you also like because the larger ones are a better value?

 

[Wolfy]

Would you sacrifice the smaller ships you like to get into the larger ships you also like because the larger ones are a better value?

I mean.. probably... it takes longer to get the big ships, if I only have to earn smaller ships it will go much faster.

 

[Printimus]

When considering purchasing ships for real-life money, larger ships tend to provide a much better $/UEC ratio. Generally speaking, larger ships are a better "value" (insofar as in-game items can be considered valuable).

I am currently thinking about consolidating my hangar into a handful of larger ships, even though I have no guarantee that I'd be able to crew them, on the rationale that if they don't work out, I could sell them off in-game and be able to afford any smaller ships I want. By this logic, it doesn't make sense to buy small ships like the 300 series, any of the ground vehicles, any of the fighters, or any of the cheaper medium size ships like the Cutlass.

On the other hand, I think there is a good argument to be made for buying ships because you think they will be fun, or just because you like how it looks. In real-life, people buy objectively poor value luxury items all the time because they feel better wearing that nice watch rather than a $20 Timex, for example. Maybe flying fighters is your thing, so the cost is worth it even though a Hammerhead is a better monetary value.

Now, all of this ignores absolute cost. It assumes you've already spent enough for this to even be a consideration, mainly because I have and this is my sly way of getting you to help me organize the fleet :)

So what do you think? Do you go for pure value, or are you cool with a poorer UEC conversion for small/luxury/alien/specialty ships that you might enjoy more and not have to worry about staffing?

How does being in a large org like ours influence your buying decisions? I mean, how many Carracks does this org have? Do I really need one? (Yes, of course I do.)

While I plan on earning a lot of ships with in-game money, I do put forth some cold hard cash on concept ships so that I can support this project and the development as CIG moves forward in creating the best damn space sim ever.

 

[Lorddarthvik]

I don't buy ships with real money cos:
1 can't afford em
2 I want th climb! I want to earn as many of them in game as I can. I'm a collector kinda person, when I play games like Forza I tend to buy cars I like the look of, regardless if I "need" em for a race or never gonna drive again after 5mins

Exceptions so far included:
one aurora mr ,cos cheap and required to blot out the sun!
One Mustang alpha CitCon edition, cos it was cheap, looks cool, and supports the development, and I wanted something a bit more fighter-ish than my 300i and aurora anyways


To answer your question: to me this is just a game, I don't care about "value for money" . If I like it, and can afford it, I buy it regardless of "value" .

For example if I could afford a Terrapin, I'd buy it in a heartbeat, regardless of it's "gameplay value" , cos I love how it looks, how it flies, and that's all I really need.

 

[Black Sunder]

While I plan on earning a lot of ships with in-game money, I do put forth some cold hard cash on concept ships so that I can support this project and the development as CIG moves forward in creating the best damn space sim ever.

This echos my feeling.

 

[Sprek]

While I plan on earning a lot of ships with in-game money, I do put forth some cold hard cash on concept ships so that I can support this project and the development as CIG moves forward in creating the best damn space sim ever.

Yeah, certainly. But most people aren't a never-ending spring of dollars, right? So at some point, you have to start making some choices. That's where this post comes from. You've given them some money, you've supported development, and now you perhaps want to optimize the dollars you have in the game.

Or maybe you don't? That's the question.

 

[Printimus]

Yeah, certainly. But most people aren't a never-ending spring of dollars, right? So at some point, you have to start making some choices. That's where this post comes from. You've given them some money, you've supported development, and now you perhaps want to optimize the dollars you have in the game.

Or maybe you don't? That's the question.

Depends on how you view CIG and their glass door development process. If you cant afford to further support them or simply choose not to, pick the ships you want to start with and set some goals for yourself in the verse. Giving yourself something to work towards will definitely help when it comes time to make the hard decisions about which ships to keep and which to sell off. Hope this helps!

 

[Sprek]

I don't buy ships with real money cos:
1 can't afford em
2 I want th climb! I want to earn as many of them in game as I can. I'm a collector kinda person, when I play games like Forza I tend to buy cars I like the look of, regardless if I "need" em for a race or never gonna drive again after 5mins
...

To answer your question: to me this is just a game, I don't care about "value for money" . If I like it, and can afford it, I buy it regardless of "value" .

For example if I could afford a Terrapin, I'd buy it in a heartbeat, regardless of it's "gameplay value" , cos I love how it looks, how it flies, and that's all I really need.

This is a great answer. I'm particularly on the fence with the Terrapin. I own one as part of an explorer's package. I like how it looks, but I'm also concerned about its gameplay value versus dollars spent, costing nearly as much as a Constellation or Mercury. I feel like it's not worth it, but I'm also wondering if its value will become more apparent later. Maybe it's the Yoda of ships and I shouldn't judge it by its size.

Part of me wants the climb. Part of me worries that the 1-2 hours of contiguous time I get per day to play just won't be enough. Alas the days of 12 hour game WoW sessions are long gone for me!

 

[Shiwaz]

Great question Sprek
I guess all "values" ingame are dependant on the soft release being a succes, which is why I hope people are in it for the long haul. Like really.
I try to buy ships which fit exploration, cargo/data running and science gameplay and I love CI's model for assigning prices to assets, especially concerning ships.
Just makes the most sense to me that mass and onboard facilities = adv. material and construction expenses = higher market price.
Anyhow an asset is only worth anything if you plan on ever selling it, which I likely wont.

 

[Bambooza]

The biggest issue I see once you step outside the idea of these ships look good in my hanger to I plan to use these ships to further my wealth in game is that the game is currently undefined. We have no clue what tasks let alone what ships will be best at said tasks to gain the most profit. It could very well be that the large ships even flown well will always be a money sink. And ships like the Cutless and Terrapin will allow for superior profitability over ships like the Idris, Polaris, and 890 Jump.

Currently in 3.5 while I could do long trade routes in the Starfarer or Widow with the Constellation I found it was far more profitable to take up mercenary work with the Superhornet earning 6k every 3 to 4 mins. Trading in Medical Supplies and Agricium has a profit of about 34k ever 20 mins but runs the risk of losing 200 to 300k on server crash/trolls. And this was a change from prior releases were 3.0 trading was king.

The take away is simple we do not know enough about the game rules to truly speculate about the profitability of larger ships. On top of that, even the ships themselves that are flight ready have been tweaked and the ships in concept are just that concept sales fluff. So spend your money supporting the game on ships that visually appeal to you but don't get hung up on what tasks you imagine it can do or how profitable it will be in the game.

 

[Sprek]

Great question Sprek
I guess all "values" ingame are dependant on the soft release being a succes, which is why I hope people are in it for the long haul. Like really.
I try to buy ships which fit exploration, cargo/data running and science gameplay and I love CI's model for assigning prices to assets, especially concerning ships.
Just makes the most sense to me that mass and onboard facilities = adv. material and construction expenses = higher market price.
Anyhow an asset is only worth anything if you plan on ever selling it, which I likely wont.

Yeah, the game being a success is definitely an assumption I am making. Probably not a safe one either because so many game mechanics are still up in the air, and we're still left with basic questions like what are you really going to do over a 5-10 minute quantum travel period? I know they talked about fixing things on the ship, but I sure do hope these ships aren't breaking down quite that often (except maybe Drake :)

Anyway, I agree, I love how every manufactured good has a "recipe" and things are priced accordingly. At least in terms of UEC pricing.

 

[Sprek]

The biggest issue I see once you step outside the idea of these ships look good in my hanger to I plan to use these ships to further my wealth in game is that the game is currently undefined. We have no clue what tasks let alone what ships will be best at said tasks to gain the most profit. It could very well be that the large ships even flown well will always be a money sink. And ships like the Cutless and Terrapin will allow for superior profitability over ships like the Idris, Polaris, and 890 Jump.

Currently in 3.5 while I could do long trade routes in the Starfarer or Widow with the Constellation I found it was far more profitable to take up mercenary work with the Superhornet earning 6k every 3 to 4 mins. Trading in Medical Supplies and Agricium has a profit of about 34k ever 20 mins but runs the risk of losing 200 to 300k on server crash/trolls. And this was a change from prior releases were 3.0 trading was king.

The take away is simple we do not know enough about the game rules to truly speculate about the profitability of larger ships. On top of that, even the ships themselves that are flight ready have been tweaked and the ships in concept are just that concept sales fluff. So spend your money supporting the game on ships that visually appeal to you but don't get hung up on what tasks you imagine it can do or how profitable it will be in the game.

Even the looks can change as we see with the recent makeovers. All of what you said is why I feel like it's BS every time Disco says buying a ship should be a commitment (whenever players are complaining about having their ability to trade ships around constricted). Yeah, that might be true when the game is live. Right now though, even flyable ships are largely a question mark.

Operational cost versus profitability is a whole concern on its own (and I think some cap-ship owners are going to be upset by that if CIG holds true to what they said in the Polaris Q&A). But from a real-world money perspective, let's say you have $400 in the game and that's your limit. Do you buy a $350 large ship and a $50 starter ship, knowing that the $350 ship will be extremely costly and difficult to acquire in-game? You could have had a bunch of cool smaller ships for that price, but those are also much easier to earn in-game because of the way prices increase on larger ships.

 

[Slo]

Buy all the things!

 

[Slo]

I buy ships cuz they look cool, cuz I might need that krakken some time, to support the game and cuz it's the only game I will be playing when I hit retirement age. I will still work for some time after that but my free time at home I will be in game.

Sure hope it's finished by then!

I use Paypal credit, same as cash if paid in 6 months. Gotta love it. Only ship left to pay off is the bikes I bought. Will be paid in a month or so and then I can unmelt my Pioneer. It's the only ship I melted that I want back and is the last ship I see buying for a while. Hell, I don't even know where I will keep 'em all. Last count was over 30 ships/vehicles. Hell, I even bought a tank! Cuz, you know, it's a tank!

Unless they come out with something else I like.

 

[MurderingPsycho]

I buy ships to support the game because I like that CIG seems dedicated to making the game "right" instead of just trying to churn out the same game that every other studio is making. I intentionally stick with the smaller to medium size ships (with the exception of the Carrack because I'm weak) because earning ships in game is going to be a big part of the game play. I have a pretty large collection of small to medium ships because I want to have to work for the larger ones in game.

As far as the "value" of the ships in game, I would be more concerned about what I want to do with them than with the in game value of them. With the amount of money that it sounds like you have put in the game I would hope you would be playing it for enough hours to get your money's worth. If that's the case, you should be able to make plenty of money in-game, using the ships you like, to buy the ships you want later on.

 

[AccidentProne8]

I buy to support the game, and as someone with very limited time to play, I want to be able to jump in and "live" whenever we get a release.

Mostly the former than the latter. As an ex-freelancer fanatic, I'm really hoping to see the game succeed.

 

[Talonsbane]

When CIG offers up a ship that I like (which has been most of them), I'm happy to purchase them when my finances allow because those proceeds go to help with the further development. As the game mechanics, functions & features are developed & placed in the game, I'll figure out what sort of game play I like most & want to do more of after official launch. I'm also planning on learning as much of how everything works in game up to that point because I'd like to spend about 1/2 of my time hanging out around the various starting areas to teach new players how to get started in the Verse, so that their initial experiences are as positive as possible & they will invite their friends to join them in game. A growing community of Citizens, will help SC last as long as possible, which benefits all of us in 1 way or another.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

"What is your school of thought on ship purchases?"

My outlook is slightly different, in that I don't think I am purchasing any ships. My pledges of funds to the project are donations to the project, at a particular level attached to a certain reward.

Over the years smallish contributions here and there built up to the point where I was able to then chop and change the rewards I had into what I was looking for to use in the game with the bonus of Life Time Insurance to ensure losing a ship does not cost me in the long run.

The only ship I consider to have bought is the one in my game package, because I bought the game and it contained a ship, an Aurora LN, my only non-LTI ship.

Someone on TEST at some point pointed out the value to pledge of the larger ships. It made sense to me too. So I looked at the largest of craft and what they would likely offer me in game. At this point the Kracken wasn't a thing so the only craft capable of carting all my shizz around was the Endeavor with Hangar module. With 100 systems to explore in the final game, whats the point in putting down roots on Arc-Corp or Loreville? Travel time takes long enough as it is right now, so I'll pack up as many ships in my hangar as I can and explore the 'Verse.

Further to that it was by far the largest ship for the least amount of funds (The base version is still only $350 i believe) and it offers some unmatched capability with the explorer cab apparently capable of diving into the corona of a star (someones got to go and collect all the stardiving TESTies back out of the sun) and the supercollider module seems to match what I wanted to get up to in game too...

So a little rejig of my fleet, a little additional pledge funds, and I now have the cap ship that matches me and what I aim to do.

I have since seemed to concentrate on ships advertised as having better range - the Vanguard, the 315p. I abandoned all fighters smaller than the Vanguard as I couldn't get past wave 3 on Vanduul Swarm and realised i'm total crap at that pew-pew so why waste my time with that kind of ship :)

How does being in a large org like ours influence your buying decisions? I mean, how many Carracks does this org have? Do I really need one? (Yes, of course I do.)

I always take the view that although everyone in TEST is welcome aboard my ships just as I may be aboard theirs, the chances of us being in the same part of space at the same time to be able to meet up and ride out is relatively slim in a game of such scale. What I think I'll need is hopefully what I have.