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

[forger]

i think you misunderstood a little 100 pound(150$) price it is not EXTRA price, it's total price you pledged:

-game is 35p;
-all future expansions are 35p;
-premium beta will cost only 30 pounds itself (100-35-35=30), and not 150$ (you still need the game and expansions, don't you);
-and standart beta is just extra 15 pounds on top of the game and +35 expansion pass = 85pounds

 

[fozzybear]

much love to SC and equally much Love to ED !!
Space Sims are back and we can already play one of them.
The only thing i am not sure about is how i will have to schedule my time that both get the attention they deserve, at least there will be a big headsup for ED.
And yes i love what i have experienced so far, even the frustration i feel when repeatedly crashing while docking.
I have no remorse in spending the money i did.

 

[M.E.A.T]

I would suggest the OP to read through all the negative threads about the current bugs, complaints about the flight model, the steep learning curves and so on. The ask yourself if you are still okay with it. If yes, then jump right in. If not then just wait till beta or final release.

I however enjoyed ED in its current stage a lot though. I also backed SC, but I won't be giving it much attention until beta releases.

 

[mkennedy026]

Why would you not want to support it? You said your a sci-fi fan. I backed Elite and Star Citizen. While I 'started' in 1985/86 with Elite I also played all the Wing Commander games and Privateer, moved on to X-wing, tie-Fighter x vs Tie eat all… This is the genre I prefer. Sounds like you do as well.

For a long time this type of game was ignored. Yet, it was the niche I preferred… I supported both from the get go for that reason alone. Back then i figured ONE of them had to be good! Now, I'm fine if both are great, and it may just be that way. My main point is support the games you like. Buy them, don't get them on the sly. Because if you don't, they will not make them anymore.

 

[Y2K]

Its simple. You get the game + all future expansions and access right now. In essence you are getting your moneys worth and adding a little bit extra that will benefit the polished game ^_^


Support ED !

 

[gazzareth]

I find it utterly amazing how much cash people are throwing at SC and then say ED is really expensive (not so much aimed at the OP but at the SC comunity in general).

From what I have seen, I suspect that ED will do a better simulation of the vastness and probably loneliness of space with some great combat thrown in. Going from previous games I expect SC to be more instant action.

Rather strangely for me ED's trump card is hyperspace, don't know if it is from the original Elite or watching Star Wars or the awfulness of X's space gates, but wormholes / gates just leave me cold... oh and if you ignore the instancing effect at the end, Elite's hyperdrive sequence is perfection.

To the OP I would say stop the monthly payment to SC and go for ED, then you will have the best of both worlds.

G

 

[LuxAngel7]

Wow I didn't expect such a large amount of responses, thanks to everyone who contributed their opinions and thoughts in answering my questions!

I also just want to say that it's really nice to see that all the answers were really polite and no one thought I was trolling or anything, the only other forum where people seem so level headed (at least that I've found) is back over at Star Citizen even though ofc there are exceptions there and I'm sure on these forums as well.

Sorry, I'm missing something here, you've paid 275$ and 20$ per month for SC, which as far as I understand is early alpha? But you are questioning paying $150 for ED?

Maybe I'm uninformed, i don't know too much about what is available in SC or its pricing model, but it seems to me that ED is better value.

Anyway, the posters above me have explained, Prem-Beta gives you all future expansions, which sold it for me!


EDIT: Ive just read the post 2 above me by Phoenix_Dfire. Completely agree with his statement. We are supporting this game because we believe in the development team and want ED to be made. If you want, just wait for release, and buy it at the 'normal' game price.

I think there was a slight misunderstanding, it's not the amount itself that gives me pause, but the high "buy in" price. Over at Star Citizen I started with a humble 40$ payment and got a ship, alpha,beta access, and the single player and mp games. I then later pledged more and more as I gradually found out more and wanted to contribute more to help make it happen (and get lots of amazing goodies like professional grade physical blueprints of the ships in game)

Participating in the beta would devalue the experience of the game for me, so I'll probably preorder the standard edition. Only reason I haven't done this long ago is that I couldn't be bothered making a PayPal account.

But I must say it seems very mysterious you've poured over $400 into a game which you have yet to play, whereas Elite is only $150 to get the game in your hands now, and you somehow need to justify this and not the $400? Does not compute. I mean, just paying $20 every month to have advertising fed to you seems insane to me.

It tastes like microtransaction brainwashing, like my friend who thinks paying $40 for a great AAA game is too expensive yet he gladly forks over $175+ to get a few more virtual cards in a supposedly "Free-2-Play" low-budget title like Hearthstone. This makes me sad on so many levels, that people so easily by into this. It looks cheap because you pay in small amounts, but in the grand scheme of things you get almost nothing for a huge amount of money.

(And this is not to say Star Citizen is a low budget game or anything. I think it will be good. I think your head is just getting spun around by microtransactions. Which is why that model is becoming so popular. Also not to say Hearthstone isn't a very fun game - it is.)

I also would agree that the problem you speak of is a real one, where thanks to clever marketing people are led to incorrectly value the worth of a game and it's related purchases.

However, I assure you that's not what happened with me, I paid so much into SC only after making the "essential" or w/e purchase because I believed in it and I got lots of goodies too for it. See my first answer as to why I had a moment of pause in buying into ED.

He did that because he believes that eventually SC will be great.
He doesn't know much about ED so that's why he asked here.

So, LuxAngel, I would advise you to read the Design Discussion Archive with proposed game mechanics.
If you like what you see then maybe 150$ will not seem much for a great game.
Also, now we are way past the point where people could still wonder and be uncertain if the game will ever be finished, so you money will not be spend in vain.

Thanks for your suggestion, that sounds really very useful, I am really excited about ED and really want to play, so I will definitely check that out before I make the plunge.

I have backed both games. And I guess that the main word in this sentence is "backed". You do not buy a game, you back it (support it). In this case the total amount paid is irrelevant - it is as much as you are willing to pay.

Of course, having backed SC already I agree with this statement, as you can see from my previous clarification above, it wasn't so much "what I was buying" that worried me, so much as the fact that over at SC I can get "everything" for 40$ and later add more money to that if I want to support the game more, while here it's 150$ up front or nothing, which isn't anywhere near the degree of flexibility or "soft marketing" approach that SC is doing.

To be honest, if you are wondering whether to pay the money on not then you shouldn't bother. The game will drop in price soon enough. You will miss out on the offer for the content which will be available later, but that also gives you the opportunity to decide if you want to buy it.

I'm intrigued by the 20$/month you're paying for Star Citizen. I didn't think anything was released yet. What do you get for your money?

I appreciate your candor, and although I am "wondering" I am still very excited (and grateful) for ED, so I might/probably buy into it anyway.

As for the subscription, over at SC there are two models, a 10$ / month and a 20$ / month and you can have that for as many months as you want, whether it's one or 12. To save time I will just link you to where it explains what you get and how they work as it would be needless clutter to list it out here (plus I'd probably forget something)

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/faq/subscriptions

At the end of the day though, it's just about supporting the game and the devs, sure the perks are "nice" but they are no where near "worth" the amount of money you spend.

Although I am really excited about one of my favorite perks: I get to schedule a trip to their dev studios *at least* once a year (more if they are cool with it, like not to busy etc) and meet some of the devs, and they show you all the stuff they are working on that hasn't been released yet etc (no recording ofc ) I'm super psyched about that perk lol

Pffft ... I've ploughed $1,300+ into SC, it's just money, dive in and get Elite ... THE SPACE SIM is back!

lol I can't complain, I've been blessed to not have to "worry" about money, but damn dude...$1300? lol wow, hope you got an Idris at least

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

I am already happy just because we have such high quality space sim games being made! I feel like finally the masses of space sim fans are being taken care of lol

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.

*smiling* but seriously, I can 'understand' SC's backing structure much more than ED's. Like I mentioned previously, 40$ gives me alpha, beta, sp and mp game and a ship with SC, here I have to spend 150$ to play beta now, with admittedly the caveat that I also get the equivalent of a "season pass"

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

Thanks for your candor.

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!

Thank you very much for this and every other answer given on this thread.

Here's what I've learned: (lol)

- The high price structure was to encourage a limited number of "serious" backers for 'real' testing of the game

- ED players are just as nice and polite as SC players (yay)

- I will definitely be buying this game and all future expansions, so I will probably be buying into the beta after I read up on the current list of bugs, issues etc. as suggested in this thread.

Thanks to everyone who was kind enough to take the time to answer and I look forward to seeing you all both in Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen (and hopefully any other space sims that get made!)

LONG LIVE THE SPACE SIM! (rawr)

 

[Lobstris]

Chris Roberts and David Braben are making space games again

There is a whole bunch of retro appeal associated with that, however if you grew up in the 80's and had an 8-bit micro or the 90's and had an early PC or 16-bit home computer that's suddenly worth more than a massive collection of current gen console games and the consoles to play them on.

^^^^^ Just this. Backed both.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Ok, I am not trolling Star Citizen here and certainly not being critical of you, but you pay a $20/month subscription for a game that you cannot actually play yet? My hat goes off to Chris Roberts for being able to pull that off.

 

[LuxAngel7]

Ok, I am not trolling Star Citizen here and certainly not being critical of you, but you pay a $20/month subscription for a game that you cannot actually play yet? My hat goes off to Chris Roberts for being able to pull that off.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/faq/subscriptions

You get stuff and perks for subscribing, like being able to visit their offices in the world, exclusive "first looks" etc and other stuff, but at the end of the day it's a way for people who believe in the project to support it.

It was actually started at the behest of people who wanted it, not as a marketing / store tactic. And originally there weren't even any perks.

If Frontier were to enable such an option, I guarantee you that people would subscribe. Maybe not a huge % of fans, but some. Just like with SC.

 

[ZeeWolf]

Ok, I am not trolling Star Citizen here and certainly not being critical of you, but you pay a $20/month subscription for a game that you cannot actually play yet? My hat goes off to Chris Roberts for being able to pull that off.

Some of us paid quite a bit for the ED alpha, technically as a game it still isn't *that* playable (limited at least)

I think if it wasn't for the pedigree of the individuals behind these projects we wouldn't be throwing money at them in such high numbers.

 

[AfterForever]

It was actually started at the behest of people who wanted it, not as a marketing / store tactic. And originally there weren't even any perks.

The world has gone insane and here's proof of it.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/faq/subscriptions

You get stuff and perks for subscribing, like being able to visit their offices in the world, exclusive "first looks" etc and other stuff, but at the end of the day it's a way for people who believe in the project to support it.

Yeah, I read what they offered and some of the stuff they offer is just dubious: pay $10/month to get a catalogue of exclusive stuff you can buy!

Some of us paid quite a bit for the ED alpha, technically as a game it still isn't *that* playable (limited at least)

I think if it wasn't for the pedigree of the individuals behind these projects we wouldn't be throwing money at them in such high numbers.

Yes, I fully understand the support of the game, but I fail to understand how $20/month when no game is available is justifiable. My wife would go bonkers if I was paying that out and not actually playing anything.

 

[Shigawire]

Star Citizen will blow ED out of the sky graphics wise (if you have a monster machine)

I'm not convinced that it will. ED will have seamless planetary landings, with huge epic planets, not fake 4x4km Cryengine vistas with a skybox.

That alone counts as "better graphics" for me.

 

[Mrjupp]

I do like the concept of Star Citizen and my eldest son enthuses about it but has never tried it. I am however an Elite player since the very first game and shall be so until they bury me in the dirt with a keyboard and joystick in my hands.

I have always liked the concept of the independent trader and loved the nihilistic approach to space trading, combat and the versatility of those early games. Elite Dangerous is all that and a lot more.

So for all you *****es out there harping on about Guilds, Rules, Rangers and all that claptrap, just remember one thing, this "Brown Coat" (yes I am also a Serenity fan) will never bow down to authority. The expanse of space is too great for that and with such a massive galaxy to roam in the future with this game, I'll be out there on the rim, putting a finger up to the "man".

 

[Caribou]

So for all you *****es out there harping on about Guilds, Rules, Rangers and all that claptrap, just remember one thing, this "Brown Coat" (yes I am also a Serenity fan) will never bow down to authority. The expanse of space is too great for that and with such a massive galaxy to roam in the future with this game, I'll be out there on the rim, putting a finger up to the "man".

I look forward to killing you with my guild - the Harpies - we enforce the rules you rimmers ignore. I look forward to watching your finger float past in cold empty space.....

 

[Mrjupp]

I look forward to killing you with my guild - the Harpies - we enforce the rules you rimmers ignore. I look forward to watching your finger float past in cold empty space.....

You'd have to find me first. Space is big. You'd have to beat me in combat and that's just not going to happen.

On a separate note and for anyone reading please pass this question on to the developers, can a heat signature of a ship be suppressed if you are "sun up" to a target? If my ship was as close as I dared to be in proximity to a star and my target was further away, can my heat signature disappear, irrespective of the usual cloaking stuff? After all, the radiation and heat from a nearby star would be immensely greater.

 

[fljp]

My joy playing Elite after 20 years is priceless...

 

[Memnoch]

That's pretty much it for me too. I never got into the Wing Commander series so it doesn't mean anything to me. So Chris Roberts doesn't have the same draw for me. I grew up with Elite and later played the Frontier games to death so this was a no-brainer for me.

The OP I would say this: if you think the $150 price is too much then wait till Standard Beta. You will get a better product at the end of it and hopefully won't have to put up with many bugs as we will have identified the nasty ones before hand, with any luck. By that time the DFM may have been released. You will be able to decide whether you need two space sims on the go at the same time or not from an informed position with first had knowledge.

 

[Mu77ley]

it will blow it out of the sky graphics wise (if you have a monster machine)

I've seen lots of SC fans claim that, but as a backer of both (I've actually sunk twice as much money into SC as I have ED) I've yet to see any evidence of that at all. It mostly seems to be an argument based on wishes and unicorns...