What does LTI mean to you?

[maynard]

LTI is purely a staus symbol that says, " i backed early."

all my ships but one have it

the one that doesn't is the AMD limited edition Mustang

citizen ID# 19866

fuck yeah

 

[Printimus]

To me:

It means I don't have to pay an insurance claim on the ship it's attached to.

thats not how it works..... lol
having insurance at all, means you dont have to pay for a claim. Expediting the claim, that will cost you irregardless of LTI or not.

 

[Citadel]

Like many others have said it provides me with a small amount of peace of mind which is convenient in itself, I wouldn't go to crazy lengths to get a ship with LTI but using cheap LTI tokens and CCU'ing is something easily done....so why not!

 

[Gearen]

Everything

 

[Thalstan]

LTI for some means they backed very early.

LTI for others is a status symbol

However, for some, it means that you won’t lose the money you spent on the game. I’m one of the people who would say...at the end of beta, put LTI on any ship that purchased with cash (aka, via the web store, and not purchased with in game currency) as a reward for those who ponied up to fund the game. Maybe exclude game packages, or maybe have all game packages include LTI. That way someone who comes in and buys a game package 5 months after release is still on the same level with others. That said, outside of game packages, no other ship should be sold for cash after release.

LTI is the only reason I still put funds into the game. Without it, the amount of time needed to buy insurance for yet another ship means less in game cash for me. If ships were cheap....5-10 bucks each..then I would expect nothing more than a little bit of insurance..say a month or two, and if I lost a ship, no big deal. At even 100 bucks for a cutlass, it’s a big deal. If you go to ships like the 890 jump, it’s even more of one.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

thats not how it works..... lol
having insurance at all, means you dont have to pay for a claim. Expediting the claim, that will cost you irregardless of LTI or not.

Yes, I didn't say that right did I?

What I meant was "It means I don't have to pay an insurance premium on the ship it's attached to"

 

[Vavrik]

I would agree, I've just had a few conversations with my friends about SC in the past and a recurring issue about LTI kept coming up. They all said that things like LTI even if it was a small advantage didn't look good from the outside looking in and stopped them for getting invested in the game. I told them that you can still get LTI but they basically said no matter how you slice it, big or small advantage, it was still an unattractive element of the game. Which honestly hearing it from their point of view I cant disagree.

Its got me thinking if removing or changing LTI is some way might be better for the game.

Edit: Would achieving a better game image for new players be a good reason for you?

Your friends are not wrong, and that is a real problem that CIG has only partially recognized. You can downplay LTI as meaningless, but it is not meaningless. It may be a minor advantage in the end, but it is an advantage that a large segment of players are going to have over new players. It's also the primary crack that CIG uses to get new money in game. This guarantees that CIG is having to spend a large portion of their budget on marketing and concept ships, rather than game play.
This is a problem for a lot of potential players. It also sets up a situation that competitors are with different funding models are beginning to encroach on CIG's leadership position. They need to accelerate game development, and get this game into production now, or in some semblance of now, not in 202x.

 

[BUTUZ]

LTI means less hassle throught the next 5 years of gameplay - plus, it's free, so why not??

 

[Shadow Reaper]

I think when people see how important NPCs are and their cost, the desire for LTI will shrink to miniscule. I think when you look at what it will cost to man turrets, etc., ship insurance is not going to figure significantly. Yeah, it's great that anyone can buy a starter package and play indefinitely with it, but in the case of those who won't have time available to grind, we'll make a budget we think we can live with and go from there. Insurance is just one slice of the budget.

 

[Halvix]

And here I was thinking LTI meant Life Time Inebriation... I am so disappointed now. I need a beer.

 

[Vavrik]

I think when people see how important NPCs are and their cost, the desire for LTI will shrink to miniscule. I think when you look at what it will cost to man turrets, etc., ship insurance is not going to figure significantly. Yeah, it's great that anyone can buy a starter package and play indefinitely with it, but in the case of those who won't have time available to grind, we'll make a budget we think we can live with and go from there. Insurance is just one slice of the budget.

I understand this, but I'm not going to start off by relying on NPC's. Part of my problem is that I'm a software architect, and I work with AI quite frequently. I've met some fast AI, but I've never met a smart one. Ever.

 

[Deroth]

I understand this, but I'm not going to start off by relying on NPC's. Part of my problem is that I'm a software architect, and I work with AI quite frequently. I've met some fast AI, but I've never met a smart one. Ever.

Smart is a relative term...keep in mind your likely pool of comparably inexpensive players to hire will either be highly inebriated or in dire need of inebriation to be any measure of useful.

 

[Bambooza]

I understand this, but I'm not going to start off by relying on NPC's. Part of my problem is that I'm a software architect, and I work with AI quite frequently. I've met some fast AI, but I've never met a smart one. Ever.

Given they are only as smart as their creator... :)


One thing AI can do is ruin the game if they are always perfect shots.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

I understand this, but I'm not going to start off by relying on NPC's. Part of my problem is that I'm a software architect, and I work with AI quite frequently. I've met some fast AI, but I've never met a smart one. Ever.

Smart is a relative term...keep in mind your likely pool of comparably inexpensive players to hire will either be highly inebriated or in dire need of inebriation to be any measure of useful.

One thing AI can do is ruin the game if they are always perfect shots.

Recall though, CIG has said the AI for the turrets will not be as good as the NPCs, and PCs will be better than NPC. Thing is, if you're flying cargo, who wants to sit in a turret and hope they get attacked? Exactly no one, and if you're paying a player for protection, they're better off in a fighter. So turrets I think, will generally be manned by NPCs, and they will not be cheap. Exceptions will be turrets with guns so big it's worth having a player in them. A pair of S2 guns in a Connie are not worth a player's time, IMHO. If you don't love all the extra missiles on an Andromeda, the Aquila is the way to go.

 

[Sirus7264]

Hey test!

So what does LTI mean to you?
Is it a badge of honour; to show that you helped fund development?
Are you afraid you might lose a ship you spent money on?
Do you just like the idea of not having to spend hull insurance on your ship?

Personally its all of the above for me. Would it upset you if LTI was removed or changed?

If they remove it i better get something on everyship i have that has it like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for one ham and cheese for another. I just want it so i can be lazy about what i do and do not always need to be in the positive for money to play whatever ship i want.

 

[sum1]

What does LTI mean to me, well I will tell you....
Llama Transformation Institution.

 

[Crymsan]

I do not really blame them for using it as a warbond gimmick but all ships bought with real cash (at some point) should not be able to be taken away. How useful it will be remains to be seen as the components are starting to come into the game which of course wont be covered. If they need a credit sink in game there are plenty of others i.e. NPC costs and so on.

 

[Ammorn]

To me, LTI stands for Life Time Inebriation, because instead of spending money on insurance, you can spend that money on beer.