Losing the faith

[Thalstan]

About 10 years ago, I backed for a game being made by Chris Roberts. It had big plans and a reasonable implementation date, but it could all be done with mostly existing tech. Sure, it would need some stuff like 64 bit precision and some tech that would allow for upgraded netcode to allow more player in, but for the most part, it was doable within the timeframe being advertised. 10 years or less development time, a single player game being out at the end of the year or maybe 2 at the most,

Then years go by. Massive new features are added. People flock to the game, and while scope increases, it still looks like the original pitch is (mostly) still there.

Pandemic hits. I am patient. After all, this is a huge disruption.

Today, I am wondering if this glorified tech demo will see the light of day as a playable game, much less them deliver on the promises they were making,

Millions of dollars wasted on tech that was thrown away, a convention what would have had me screaming “what about the game you’ve been promising for the past 12 years” as they laid out 1.0. I would have also tried to start a chant of “Chris must go”

I just don’t see this game releasing within another 6 years minimum, possibly 10. Starting to wonder if I will even be around by then, like other backers.

So, my question, should I give up on the dream, take a LONG break from all things SC…even spectrum and YouTube”, or just lower my expectations and “keep calm and carry on”

 

[Montoya]

No shame in taking a break.

There is no defending the time its taken them to get to this point.

Dune should be coming out, that will be a fun game. Play something else and come back when SQ42 is released! By then it will all be fresh and new again!

 

[Wolfy]

I really don't think it's worth putting money/time into a project you have doubts on or just are not having fun with. This is a hobby, it's okay to take a break from hobbies and come back when you feel it's worthwhile to invest time in.

 

[BUTUZ]

I've literally just left it to simmer for another few years. The game as it is now is pretty much unplayable. I have not got time to waste spending a hard earned hour or two on the PC just to have it all lost in some crazy ass bugs is just not what I need from a game.

So - I want the game to succeed. I've put the money in I put in and stopped funding over 3 years ago as I could see that this game is willing to absorb unlimited money and you won't actually get anything more from the money.

So I play other games and hope some day this game actually launches and is playable.

Sadly I think with CR at the helm it may not ever launch. Microsoft were right.

 

[Lorddarthvik]

My approach is that this ain't a job, it's supposed to be fun and not a chore. Don't think you'll be missing out much if you leave and come back whenever you feel like it.

What keeps me around, not here ofc cos that's obviously you lot, but in the game, is that in these past 12, damn even 15 years, it still is the only game that could make me go Wow, holy shit, I got shivers, and not from a well put together crazy movie quality cutscene, but from playing it. WHen the planets came out, the scale of things just blew me away and I'm hanging on to that high ever since... Nothing, literally nothing comes close, and I played hundreds of games in that time frame.

Some might have noticed that I stopped posting 6 page long rants about the state of the game, cos I just can't be bothered anymore. I just jump in, try to play it a bit, and if it's bugged beyond belief as it usually is, I just hit alt-f4 and give it a break.

We can only hope that this turns into something like a "real game" one day, but as you said, I'm too not sure if I'll be even around to enjoy it.

 

[Montoya]

The game as it is now is pretty much unplayable.

Yup, we have had some rough patches here recently.

I think CIG definitely feels the pain when the patch is bad, the player count drops and they had to cancel the free fly event.

 

[Duckforceone]

i took a 5-6 years break.... and i'm happier for it...

now there's squadron 42 just next year.... which will keep me happy for 2026.... and by then we should also have the new crafting and base building, so game will be a lot deeper by then

 

[Raven_King]

Echo much of the above. I've not been in SC for more than about 5 minutes since IAE in November 2024.

I still think the game will eventually come out. Hopefully - and it seems fairly likely to me - it will still be owned by CIG and not someone else who bought it in a fire sale, but I am a bit worried about the project eventually failing and then being 'rescued' by some game publisher or studio who is not obliged to stick to CIG's statements of their future intent.

The shift in CIG's focus for 2025 to playability and polish is good news, assuming funding being maintained sufficiently well to see the SC and SQ24 joint projects through to release, even if dates have to slip yet again. Releasing an unplayable game while we're still around is kind of pointless - while it's so unplayable, we don't get to play what we 'paid for' whether they release it or not.

Fixing sometimes hard-to-fix bugs that have a huge impact on player experience and game stability is not optional. I would rather have a stable, playable game in the PU at all times, than one with all the new features they want to add that's unplayable. PTU/Evo builds should also be a lot more stable, but some bugginess is necessary and inevitable there.

The tough thing to feel positive about is that bit about 'funding being maintained sufficiently well'. For all this to end up a success, funding has to continue at a predictable level. It can be a bit more or a bit less, as long as it goes up and down in a way that allows CIG's hiring and firing/natural turnover to adjust to their income in a manageable way. It might need to get smaller if the enthusiasm from backers wanes, but I'm worried they can't survive suddenly getting a lot smaller. That would lead to big cash flow trouble. Whatever we pledged already is largely spent or committed to already.

So new ships and new variants have to keep being made and sold for maximum income (note to CIG's marketing dept: this is not the same as the maximum conceivable price plus a bit just to see if the backers will swallow it!), and there are already something like 233 ships, vehicles and variants that have been sold at some point or other, flyable and concept. That's based on a quick count of the RSI > All Ships view in CCU Game. It shows 40 ships and vehicles and variants as being in concept or in production. Those numbers might mislead a bit because some variants are little more than skins and loadout alterations from a base model, e.g. from ships sold before skins were possible for all new ships. The ATLS is one of those.... as is the Javelin, two Idris variants, two Krakens and the infamous BMM, among many other big ships still in concept. But with so many types of ship and vehicle in player's hands now (approaching 200!), and with whales having bought so many of them already, the incentive to keep pledging more new money for more existing ships or the newest release has to diminish at some point. Sales to generate pledge income will have to continue to be driven largely by the big annual ship sales and new ship launches. There's little else for CIG to sell that won't go down badly with backers. Warbond CCU offers seem to have been rather less generous the last year or two than they were in the years before; the CCU game is not quite as good a way to 'save' money as it once was.

Tough sell, getting tougher. And there's that backlog of concept ships already sold that will need to be worked through too.

And with a game in a fairly poor state now, shouldn't we all just exercise a bit of self-restraint, hold off on new pledges and grind for what we want in game?

 

[Montoya]

For all this to end up a success, funding has to continue at a predictable level. It can be a bit more or a bit less, as long as it goes up and down in a way that allows CIG's hiring and firing/natural turnover to adjust to their income in a manageable way. It might need to get smaller if the enthusiasm from backers wanes, but I'm worried they can't survive suddenly getting a lot smaller. That would lead to big cash flow trouble. Whatever we pledged already is largely spent or committed to already.

I have been saying that for 10yrs, and for 10yrs they seem to be doing just fine.

Even though you and I are not spending money, there is enough coming in from new backers to keep it going.

Should there be a drastic drop for what ever reason, the most likely course of action will be to drop 50% of their employees and close down the LA and Texas studios, consolidating in Manchester, Montreal and Germany. They will still function perfectly fine like that, but obviously there will be a lot more dev time needed between patches if that happens.

 

[Mudhawk]

Well Thalstan, if you got doubts about this game then it only shows that your brain is still working fine.
Seriously, whatever they promise of focused bugfixing, this game will bite us in the ass for years to come.
It already cost us all a lot of time, sweat and money and the payout we receive is somewhat questionable most of the time.
BUT

in these past 12, damn even 15 years, it still is the only game that could make me go Wow, holy shit, I got shivers, and not from a well put together crazy movie quality cutscene, but from playing it.

No way I can phrase that in any more meaningful way short of ripping off Mr. Shakespear.
"In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,
For they in thee a thousand errors note;
But ‘tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who, in despite of view, is pleased to dote;"
(Sonnet 141)
Seriously folks, I hate this game with almost the same passion that it hates me judging by all the creative ways it comes up to end my characters existence.
But sometimes, when the Moon is in Auarius and the cherries bloom or something, this rotten piece of code just grabs me by the noggins and shows me something grandiose.
And then I spend the rest of the year running around like a desperate junky hoping for another golden moment like that. Despite all the abuse.
It's a dysfunctional relationship.
And I guess we both need therapy.
But back to you, Thalstan.
If you feel the need to walk away, for a while or forever, then do it man.
There's a lot of other, great games out there.
And once the stars call to you again, well, your know the way to the hangar, right?
And by then maybe the tram actually function.
One can always dream, right?

 

[Montoya]

Now for the positive part!

This game is still spectacular!

Running into your shiny spaceship, turning on those engines, flying out of atmo and into the vacuum of space. There is nothing else like this!

Nobody wanted it to take this long.

I really need to see some base building, crafting and some serious PVE game loops, but we know its coming and Im here for it!

 

[Daak Gelrin]

I think most of us long time backers are having the same thought process.

Nothing wrong with taking a break and playing something else fun for awhile.

I still play, but when I hit a session killing bug, I just call it a night and don't waste any more time.

I used to try all the workarounds to get back into the game and continue play but now I just say, "Right, that's enough SC for today." Then go play something else.

Sometimes I can play for a few hours, sometimes I can't get out of the habs or to my hangar. /shrug

I still love this game, and want it to succeed, but I've gotten too old to waste time trying to work around some goofy-ass bug.

 

[Sky Captain]

I just don’t see this game releasing within another 6 years minimum, possibly 10. Starting to wonder if I will even be around by then, like other backers.

For quite some time now, I have seen Star Citizen as a game to play in retirement. Seeing it that way helped me reduce my expectations a fair bit. If I'm an old man when release finally occurs, I just hope to not buy a new PC with the latest high-end tech to drive Squadron 42, then find out that Star Citizen requires even more upgrades. As far as CR goes, he is known for big delays in the industry. Perhaps he might 'need to go' to get the company back on track with an achievable vision on a schedule. However, I'd bet the CIG board of directors sees it differently. They are looking at the hundreds of millions already raised without delivering a full product thinking ... he's a genius. For now, I still see the vision and relate to it, so am hanging in there supporting the project. But we need to see progress.