Why should I pay 150$ to play beta now? Question from a 'Star Citizenite'

[Sterlino]

Let's face the true:

Most of the SC backers are nervous because they see Elite Dangerous coming out faster than their wanted game.

This is normal, they payd a lot of money to travel with their SC spaceship and all they see is tons of videos on youtube about Elite's players.

BUT

I am truly sure that Star Citizen DFM will comes out soon and everything will be re-balanced.

A lot of Bugs to test in Elite Dangerous Premium Beta
and
A lot of Bugs to test in Star Citizen Dog Fighting Module

...and everyone will be finally happy

 

[warbaby2]

So in my opinion there is no good argument to back one or the other. I love to see great space games and I would be happy if in a few years there are two of them, each with there own specifications an lore.

Well, yes and no... from a purely objectve, practical standoint, I got more game for my money from ED for now... that's not everything that goes into this equasion, of course. For me personally, the ED alpha/beta are more interesting too, since space combat is not everything that interested me in either project, but for SC, that will be all we will get for quite some time.

 

[chris5281]

I felt the different levels were an attempt to control numbers and be able to phase increasing levels of numbers into the Alpha/Beta/Gamma process.

Yes, I would agree. I think the Elite Kickstarter was very well thought-out. You had a clear and significant separation in cost between the 'major' rewards (copy of the game, standard beta, all expansions, premium beta, alpha) which meant that the number of backers at each level would strongly taper off. In between were the 'minor' rewards of physical stuff and small in-game baubles.

The Star Citizen model is completely different, offering access to everything for a very modest outlay. The evidence would suggest that this is a much more profitable approach, and I think if Frontier had gone this way they might well have made significantly more money in their Kickstarter. SC demonstrates the size of the audience for space sims, and it is clear that the price of early Elite access put some people off, and continues to put people off.

The problem with the Star Citizen model is evidenced by their issues with getting the dogfighting module out - the challenge of providing a working alpha to 400,000 is orders of magnitude harder than what Frontier have taken on. That's even without taking into account the much larger network infrastructure they require, and all this hardware will need to be up and running for years before the actual release of the game!

I'm a backer of both games and I hope they both realise their potential, but I have a lot more faith in Elite meeting its goals, because I think the project has been better thought out from the start. The amount of cash pledged to SC makes it look like the 800lb gorilla in the room, but they have the most enormous problems along the road which puts the whole project at risk. The selling of late-game ships is one huge issue I forsee. How long will it take me to earn a ship in-game which someone else has paid £100s for? If it's too long the game becomes pay-to-win. Too short and many pledgers will be raging. Trouble ahead!

Happily the games are not in any serious competition, because we won't see SC released for years yet. Frontier must be very pleased with the success of SC - as I say, look at the size of the audience hungry for space sims, and prepared to pay big money for it!

 

[Echo Seven]

Welcome from a fellow Citizen. I backed SC to about 1300 and ED to Premium Beta with Physical Goods.

ED is magnificent.

Back at Beta Level if you can wait, Premium Beta if you can't.

Most ED players can't get the SC backing level into their heads any more than we Citizens can figure out how 150 quid is a good deal for what we got for 40 a few weeks ago.

Just smile.

 

[govny]

you shouldn't.
If you have any doubt, wait till release.

 

[Nicodemus]

The other way to think of it is, pay now, download and play a working Beta in an hour. Have fun, explore and join the bug hunt. Have a say on what needs tweaking and suggest new ideas.

Or, stay as you are, forking out money for what so far is vapourware (although I do hope the SC backers get their DFM soon)

As someone else has said, just stop your $20 monthly payment and the Elite Dangerous Beta will be covered in 7 odd months.

Either way, I hope you have had enough info from everyone to make an informed decision, hopefully we'll see you in a Sidewinder soon, if not fly safe in SC!

 

[Dr Wookie]

I have a genuine and sincere question, preceded by a brief preface.

I, as everyone else here I presume, am a huge sci fi / space sim fan and am incredibly grateful for the amazing work Frontier is doing. Watching some yt vids of people playing this game literally made me giggle in excitement, something that only Star Citizen has been able to do so far.

My question regards the pricing of the Beta. I would absolutely LOVE to play the game already, in whatever form it is, and keep playing it until release, and maybe contribute with a few polite forum suggestion/feedback threads, but I feel quite..."intimidated" (? don't know if that's the right word) by the 150$ buy in.

I am not comparing this game to Star Citizen, but just to help understand why I am so hesitant, I will allow myself to make this one comparison:

I caught on to the Star Citizen craze very very slowly at first, and since from what I could understand it looked like a worthy project that I thought I would possibly end up loving to death I "pledged" or purchased a 40$ game package that came with a basic starter ship, alpha access, beta access, and obviously the single player and MMO game.

The more time passed on, the more I became absolutely enamored with the project, team, potential etc etc. Long story short, I have know purchased a 275$ game package and have been a 20$ /month subscriber for the past year and some months, including gifting several 40-60$ packages to close friends.

So when I find out about Elite: Dangerous naturally I'm like "Star Citizen AND Elite?? DID I DIE AND GO TO HEAVEN!?"

However, I find myself very very hesitant to plop down 150$ for a "premium beta"

(which by the way, isn't very clear as to what's different than the standard beta apart from one apparently starts before the other)

Why is there no price that at the very least is as much as a normal game? Every early access or beta / whatever price I have ever seen (with the exception of the sheer lunacy that was the Planetary Annihilation alpha) was never priced so high, much less more than the final product release price.

Yes, I understand that it includes future "expansions" (again, kind of vague, the store only mentions general game play mechanics they plan to add) but to me it doesn't make sense that it costs WAAAY more to show my support now as someone who believes in a game and a team when there isn't a final product available yet, than it does for someone to just wait a while and then go "oh let's give this a try".

My question and concerns are sincere, I am not trying to say Star Citizen is better than Elite, just like I wouldn't say it's better than EVE or that puppies are better than kittens.

I'm just genuinely very very excited for this game and would like to ask anyone to help me understand exactly why the apparent backwards pricing model and why I shouldn't just wait.

Disclaimer: I work in Marketing in an extremely demanding and unforgiving environment for the world's largest logistics and shipping company, so I might just be expecting more communication as to what / why I'm buying at such a high price, so keep that also in mind before anyone jumps to the conclusion that I'm just hating on Frontier or whatever.

I've only read the OP, and I have a simple answer: if you have to ask, then don't buy it . If you think of it in value for money terms, it will never be worth it when the full game is 1/3 of the price. If you want to support the development of the game, then go for it!

 

[Yaffle]

I backed here for emotional reasons, I wanted a game that awed me as a child to be remade, and remade how we all wanted it to be back then, with real people in the other ships. I want a Cobra, not any old ship, no matter how cool it might look right now. The Cobra's simple geometry is iconic. I want to see sidewinders and Fer-de-Lances and Kraits. I want to go and do what I want in an impossibly large playground. I want to be a kid again.

I have no emotional attachment to SC, or any of Mr Roberts' games. I actually missed them all as a kid probably because they were not Elite, but Elite wannabes to me.

I may buy SC when it's out. I may not.

If you are in a similar position, have an attachment to the RSI game but none for ED why not do the same. Get this when it's out (I'd strongly suggest the updates pack too) and be happy of your support for the other game.

We are fortunate to have two remarkable looking games up and coming at the same time.

 

[Alien]

Or, stay as you are, forking out money for what so far is vapourware

Before November 6th 2012, Elite IV (as we called it then) was considered vapourware.
Star Citizen will get made. There's simply too much money invested by too many people (me included) for it not to be made sooner or later (probably later)

 

[Jeheil]

I want both games to be a success,

You cough up the money for Elite Prem for two reasons.

1) You want to back the game, you are making a donation to something you have a passion for, it is money 'thrown' away as far as a guaranteed ROI
2) You want early access to participate in the Beta, secure your main V1 copy and subsequent releases. This probably accounts for 50-60% of the money, assuming it makes gold release and assuming there is at least one major release.

Is it worth it.

Well I #$@ away that much on a boozy night out and fancy pants meal. I have already had 12-14 hours fun out of it. So its already cheaper than equivalent time at the movies, meals, pubs and golf/bowling...some other outdoor (shudder) activity.

So for me....if I never logged back in....10 quid an hour for great fun....I do that all the time !!

If you are a student who seperates the 2ply toilet paper so it last longer and you can use it for sandwiches/notepaper/medical bandages then NO...NO its not worth it...plus you cant afford the lost time...and you shouldnt be up at this time anyway...clean your room...and my goodness you need a bath

 

[Mikevet]

I bought the alpha for £200 and didn't even have a pc. Now with a further £2000 spent on pc, headset, joystick etc. This spend is entirely for playing Elite - I won't use the pc for anything else.
Am I mad? Probably.
Rich? Not any more!
Value for money? Absolutely.
Would I dive in to beta if I wasn't already in? Like a hungry cormorant.
But maybe that's just me.

 

[warbaby2]

Before November 6th 2012, Elite IV (as we called it then) was considered vapourware.
Star Citizen will get made. There's simply too much money invested by too many people (me included) for it not to be made sooner or later (probably later)

That may be, but the project is much bigger in scope/more ambitious then ED is, atleast from what is planned right now,... to many new technologies, too many parties involved, to many ways it all can go wrong. ED knows eaxactly what it wants to be, SC still has SO many "maybes"...

 

[Nicodemus]

Before November 6th 2012, Elite IV (as we called it then) was considered vapourware.
Star Citizen will get made. There's simply too much money invested by too many people (me included) for it not to be made sooner or later (probably later)

Indeed, and that was my point. What we have now is something tangible to play and test. Don't get me wrong SC WILL get made in some way or another but until they release the DFM it is still vapourware for everyone who has spent money on it so far.

That's the big difference so far, having something to get our teeth into vs something promised and promised and still not yet delivered.

 

[warbaby2]

Indeed, and that was my point. What we have now is something tangible to play and test. Don't get me wrong SC WILL get made in some way or another but until they release the DFM it is still vapourware for everyone who has spent money on it so far.

That's the big difference so far, having something to get our teeth into vs something promised and promised and still not yet delivered.

Exactly... also, the fact that the AC (Arena Commander) was push pretty much last minute, not because it had some minor bugs, but because it was basically broken, tells tales about how complicated and volatile the whole project seams to be for CIG at the moment... I mean, there is a reason something like that didn't happen to FD.

 

[Cosmos]

The more time passed on, the more I became absolutely enamored with the project, team, potential etc etc. Long story short, I have know purchased a 275$ game package and have been a 20$ /month subscriber for the past year and some months, including gifting several 40-60$ packages to close friends.

Hmmm.. I never knew SC had a subscription too

When it comes to ED premium beta on the face of it does appear a little steep. I was chatting to a few friends on steam who had seen me playing it (I find using the overlay really useful) and they are extremely interested but also mentioned the cost of premium beta and are most likely going to wait till beta before jumping in.

Most people don't seem to understand the value of the expansion pass and whilst that is somewhat speculative I think its significant. It occurs to me the the SC model starts you off with the idea that its cheap access and yet through certain marketing pressure people have quickly put way more money into the project than they intended to. I can't say I find the strategy an honest one.

It comes down to what you find has a good value proposition. I've been waiting and looked each year for the last 20 on news about a new Elite game and thought this day would never come. The project is delivering something exceptional, I am continually impressed and expectations consistently surpassed, and if I was to make an unbiased appraisal of both projects its not really hard to see which one would receive positive acclaim, because which one is delivering?

Since DB arguably created the entire genre of game I've always sought of appreciated his vision, and hes very much delivering. I've spent a lot over the years in games, many hundreds of pounds on subscription games, etc.. A years worth of EvE subscriptions would pay for a lifetime of next gen Elite and I have helped make sure its return. And when it comes to EvE, I thought that spreadsheet of a game, has sucked the life out of the space sim genre, dracula style, for far too long - never mind perceived griefing, its tedious beyond belief, but I know which I'd prefer to play..

So in all honesty with all that said and done. £100 for premium beta is a bargain. It just strikes me that Frontier could do a better job of marketing but when I look at hyped up games that don't deliver I'm beginning to wonder if they have deliberately played this strategy of not shouting or hyping but quietly been focusing upon the project, and letting the game speak for itself.

Whatever you decide I hope to see you in game some time, perhaps beta or the final release

 

[Cosmos]

[deleted double post]

 

[stephen_usher]

Exactly... also, the fact that the AC (Arena Commander) was push pretty much last minute, not because it had some minor bugs, but because it was basically broken, tells tales about how complicated and volatile the whole project seams to be for CIG at the moment... I mean, there is reason something like that didn't happen to FD.

Now, now. I think that SC have just been bitten by aiming for marketing timetable release dates rather than when things are ready. They'll probably re-think their strategy after this and learn a valuable lesson.

It's a storm in a teacup in the big scheme of things. A hiccup and a wake-up call.

I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.

 

[warbaby2]

I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.

I sure hope so... maybe they should dial down their PR compaigns a bit and concentrate more on game development...

...sorry, great bravado by game developers always makes me a bit icky.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

its a fair question.

I look at it like this.

the game is actually £70 if you want the game and the season pass.

is this expensive??? no more so than BF4 was with its pass/

Dont get me wrong, it IS the top end of pc games prices but then, unlike BF4 it isnt a game which gets a 12 monthly refresh, ED should all being well last for a good number of years.

I think if you like space shooters £70 is a no brainer. That will get you into gamma which is the 1st level which will hopefully not be bug ridden and game progress will carry onto the main game.

so now the question remains...... is beta worth £30? this is tougher, and for you, I actually would say, maybe not. You will get the Star citizen alpha in a matter of days, so that will give you a bit of a space fix. I would say get ED and the season pass, and save your £30. ($50)

(for me however as a raving elite fanboy I could not resist)

 

[Bobbydylan]

Now, now. I think that SC have just been bitten by aiming for marketing timetable release dates rather than when things are ready. They'll probably re-think their strategy after this and learn a valuable lesson.

It's a storm in a teacup in the big scheme of things. A hiccup and a wake-up call.

I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.

Indeed. I'm sure everything is fine with SC.