The Star Citizen Thread v5

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Hey, were's my +rep? D:

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Remember, 1 backer's dollar = 4 publisher's. By extension :
- 1 backer = 4 publisher customers, hence the citizen counter
- 1h of "fun" in SC alpha = 4h of fun in any other AAA released game

Too bad this doesn't extend to development: 1 year of CIG work != 4 years of work in a publisher funded AAA game. :(
 
For example- Look what almost exactly a year ago SC follower were saying... (also the following one)

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/57576-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v-3-0/page341?p=2870002&viewfull=1#post2870002

:)

One thing that I have never got is how multicrew will work out in real life. The theorycrafting of guilds/groups of friends always seems to be done from the POV of the pilot/captain. What other meaningful roles are there that won't end up being horrendously boring after a while. There are obviously "best case" interesting scenarios but they won't necessarily occur every time.

As a note I think that ED could potentially have the same issue with player as opposed to NPC crewmates.
 
For example- Look what almost exactly a year ago SC follower were saying... (also the following one)

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/57576-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v-3-0/page341?p=2870002&viewfull=1#post2870002

Well I think that poster might actually nailed it because the year isn't over yet and 2.6 and 3.0 are expected in the last quarter of the year!

What he said:

Over the next year I believe that what we'll see in SC will overtake Elite by far though...

It's completely normal that some people find Star Citizen focus on features like: Multicrew, FPS, Atmospheric Landings, Questing, City's more appealing, just like other's prefer the more Space Simulator of a massive universe with factions at war and Alien contact/discovery's mechanics in Elite...

Basically if 3.0 update brings a glimpse of what they shown at the Gamescom Demo but at a Solar System scale, with the upgraded network to allow for more players per instance and better performance, I think they finish the hardest technical tasks in terms of rebuilding the engine to suit their needs. They will gain an even bigger praise from gamers and gaming media in general. Looking as the Gamescom demo made quite an impression and how people are having tons of fun with the little that Crusader provides I don't see that statement so far off. It's just a matter of perspective and preference in types of gameplay.
 
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I dont know about other Communications.
But I can tell you this.
Last time I talked to Support in regard of an Launcher Error.
Their Layout of the Answer as well as the Decorations were very Different from this Letter.
Their writing was much more professional. And the Header looked different as well.
So no matter how I look at it. But this Letter simply looks faked.

I would ask for an Refund just to check the response.
But the honest thing is. That I am expecting to simply get the Refund which I dont want. Thus wasting my advantages i got.
Because I just dont see this being anywhere close to being the authentic response.





As for Developing.
Well. Things rarely go as planned.
And while I agree that their Approach aint optimal.
I developed a hatred for the nowdays overly common. *we dont promise anything so we cant break any promises* approach.
Or the somewhat lighter. *we only promise stuff and announce it after its 80% finished anyways.* approach.




I agree they should make a list of what features they will prioritize. And in which order stuff is done.
And i sure as heck would wish for a timetable.
But their change of doctrine just happened. So i dont think they even decided what they are going to deliver as MVP.
And the scale is insane. So an accurate ETA is really unfeasible.

If you asked DB for an ETA on Seasons 3-4-5 you would not get an answer either after all.

So you are the guy that likes "promise everything and then make excuses if you cant keep the promise" in my culture its normal to promise only stuff you intent to uphold. Otherwise a promise has no meaning at all if you dont intent to uphold it in the first place.

For ED they promised those certain updates and those certain keyfeatures for the horizon season at the beginning of the year. So far they kept them. Even their rough dates beside the delay they had with 2.1, they kept them.
 
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Well I think that poster might actually nailed it because the year isn't over yet and 2.6 and 3.0 are expected in the last quarter of the year!

What he said:



It's completely normal that some people find Star Citizen focus on features like: Multicrew, FPS, Atmospheric Landings, Questing, City's more appealing, just like other's prefer the more Space Simulator of a massive universe with factions at war and Alien contact/discovery's mechanics in Elite...

Basically if 3.0 update brings a glimpse of what they shown at the Gamescom Demo but at a Solar System scale, with the upgraded network to allow for more players per instance and better performance, I think they finish the hardest technical tasks in terms of rebuilding the engine to suit their needs. They will gain an even bigger praise from gamers and gaming media in general. Looking as the Gamescom demo made quite an impression and how people are having tons of fun with the little that Crusader provides I don't see that statement so far off. It's just a matter of perspective and preference in types of gameplay.
If/when they don't do that much or more will you eat your hat and take a more realistic approach to CR's promises?

Are you happy to accept that bet?
 
:)

One thing that I have never got is how multicrew will work out in real life. The theorycrafting of guilds/groups of friends always seems to be done from the POV of the pilot/captain. What other meaningful roles are there that won't end up being horrendously boring after a while. There are obviously "best case" interesting scenarios but they won't necessarily occur every time.

As a note I think that ED could potentially have the same issue with player as opposed to NPC crewmates.

Dunno, being max 4 humans on the ship at the same time- it seems to me quite more likely to find three more tasks to perform... one can be manning turrets or off bore weapon systems, two more to go.
Place on in Engineering and another one at the sensors... Ta-dah. Seems pretty easy.
 
Over the next year I believe that what we'll see in SC will overtake Elite by far though...

It's not even going to be close, they simply don't have the technology to pull it off, the FrankenEngine is not up to the job and time is running out. CIG don't have the AI in place, they don't have the basic mechanics in place, they don't have the economy in place, and you already have two mayor game releases coming out this year and next year.

IF FDEV release the FPS as season 3, SC will need to be more than just one system, or they would need something that will completely blow other space games away, if not they will be a foot note in the space game history.
 
Right now it's self-sustaining. If people are throwing money to CIG then CIG will keep going. The instant that this stops happening, assuming what CR and the letter implies is true, they will collapse very quickly.

Ironically if CIG produce a "gold" release and halt ship sales it seems that this may well sink them.

EDIT: If this is the case then you're getting close to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme

EDIT 2: Wow, I love wiki as this describes the grey market to a tee: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
They've been haemorrhaging cash for quite a while now. Just look at the daily funding graph. If they were a much smaller and much more efficient company that didn't make use of some of the most expensive production facilities in the world; didn't have a penchant for ridiculously overpriced furniture; and weren't spread out around the world, they'd need to bring in roughly $100k a day/$3M a month to break even. The gamescom sale that is held up as an example of how great they're doing just barely gives them one extra month.

So they're already not self-sustaining and have been eating into reserves for pretty much the entire year. From that perspective, it's not all that surprising that their refund letters are becoming more and more whiny and desperate as time goes by.
 
Dunno, being max 4 humans on the ship at the same time- it seems to me quite more likely to find three more tasks to perform... one can be manning turrets or off bore weapon systems, two more to go.
Place on in Engineering and another one at the sensors... Ta-dah. Seems pretty easy.
Yup that's easy but still pilot centric - the pilot is doing everything for almost the entire journey.

We can't have ships constantly falling apart or minigames to keep the engineer busy.... the sensor guy just reports "hyperspace" or "that stuff you can see on the radar, oh and some planets" and the others er... er... 'goof around'? erm. sit in a turret and enjoy the view, hoping a ship comes into view?

Do you wanna be the guy who sits in the cargo hold and waits? I wanna pilot this time
 
Dunno, being max 4 humans on the ship at the same time- it seems to me quite more likely to find three more tasks to perform... one can be manning turrets or off bore weapon systems, two more to go.
Place on in Engineering and another one at the sensors... Ta-dah. Seems pretty easy.

Um, I did ask " What other meaningful roles are there that won't end up being horrendously boring after a while" as I can think of a lot of shipboard roles, but very few that I'd actually want to do.

Edit: Ninja'd :)
 
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So you are the guy that likes "promise everything and then make excuses if you cant keep the promise" in my culture its normal to promise only stuff you intent to uphold. Otherwise a promise has no meaning at all if you dont intent to uphold it in the first place.

For ED they promised those certain updates and those certain keyfeatures for the horizon season at the beginning of the year. So far they kept them. Even their rough dates beside the delay they had with 2.1, they kept them.

Intentions are not promises, just because a dev says he would like this feature or this kind of gameplay sometimes things just don't work out and they have to be changed or completely removed. It's completely normal, people holding their best efforts in making their dream game (both Braben and Chris Roberts are doing their dream games, these games are about passion not about money). Dev's like Chris and Braben are passionate about these grandiose ideas of building the games in their heads, ofc they will ramble and have a "dreamy speech" when asked about what they would like to accomplish. That is good, that's the passing, ambition and drive to accomplish something great and unique! They should be supported not bashed. But some gamers just think about themselves so you end up with endless circling discussions about flight models,
solo play, ship transfers etc.

If/when they don't do that much or more will you eat your hat and take a more realistic approach to CR's promises?

Are you happy to accept that bet?

But I allways had realistic approaches to CR promises why would I bet If time was never an issue for me? I'm not the one that changed my mind about the game. Everything is going as I expected because I knew that at least 5-7 years development was need to build a company from scratch and make 2 games at the same time with the scope and quality Chris Roberts wants. I have no issues with waiting, all I want is the best game possible. That's why I pledged.

They've been haemorrhaging cash for quite a while now. Just look at the daily funding graph. If they were a much smaller and much more efficient company that didn't make use of some of the most expensive production facilities in the world; didn't have a penchant for ridiculously overpriced furniture; and weren't spread out around the world, they'd need to bring in roughly $100k a day/$3M a month to break even. The gamescom sale that is held up as an example of how great they're doing just barely gives them one extra month.

So they're already not self-sustaining and have been eating into reserves for pretty much the entire year. From that perspective, it's not all that surprising that their refund letters are becoming more and more whiny and desperate as time goes by.

Keep on wishing [big grin]
 
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Yup that's easy but still pilot centric - the pilot is doing everything for almost the entire journey.

We can't have ships constantly falling apart or minigames to keep the engineer busy.... the sensor guy just reports "hyperspace" or "that stuff you can see on the radar, oh and some planets" and the others er... er... 'goof around'? erm. sit in a turret and enjoy the view, hoping a ship comes into view?

Do you wanna be the guy who sits in the cargo hold and waits? I wanna pilot this time

Well well, of course I was just being extremely lighthearted. If you've ever seen the new Battlestar Galactica- just think about the episode where Boomer as the Sensor officer in the Raptor tries to analyse the asteroid belt to find Ice. Or Fuel. Can't remember.
That's the kind of thing I imagine- Activities that make the life of the pilot easier.

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Um, I did ask " What other meaningful roles are there that won't end up being horrendously boring after a while" as I can think of a lot of shipboard roles, but very few that I'd actually want to do.

Edit: Ninja'd :)

Hey I could waste the whole evening putting down in a HUGE WALL-O-Text post what I see as a crewmember- but 'tis not te time nor the place! :)
 
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Well well, of course I was just being extremely lighthearted. If you've ever seen the new Battlestar Galactica- just think about the episode where Boomer as the Sensor officer in the Raptor tries to analyse the asteroid belt to find Ice. Or Fuel. Can't remember.
That's the kind of thing I imagine- Activities that make the life of the pilot easier.

Yeah, but these are trivialities or minigames, essentially. Not really meaningful!
 
I still remember fanatics trying to tell me how NMS will take "away" players from ED and will completly wreck it.
I still hear the same claim for SC.

I still say ED is coming along nicely they have their beginning phase of ED done, and will add more and more stuff over time.
Its like trying to tell me that a new mmo will crush WoW that is already running for years and is established.
It would be the same ridicilous claim if i had said that ED will wreck EVE online when it will release.

The longer ED runs the harder it will be to get wrecked by any upcoming space game.
The one true thing CR said several years back was true if he takes more then 3 years to release something that it would get stale.
 
I don't really get Mulicrew either. For example - in WWII sims some people want multi-crew bombers so that you could put 10 people into a B17. Well, it made sense in real life but it is pretty silly on the computer. Having dedicated gunners is okay, it is necessary for the few minutes during fighter attack but then it is totally pointless other times for them to just sit there staring at their screen for hours. Then there is the navigator/gunner - sure he can gun when under attack but during navigation? He's just going to watch a map, compass, and the few instruments to keep the bomber on course. The bombardier/gunner? He'll sit there like the rest of the gunners for hours until under attack or he's needed for the bomb run but guess what happens during the bomb run? The pilot hands over controls so the pilot just sits there doing nothing. It's a novelty, something that may done occasionally but the current situation of having two people man a 10 station bomber like the B17 is not only adequate it is the most sensible. AI takes over the other gunner stations when not occupied by a human player, and it is the way it will most often be used. Modelling it so that the B17 has dual controls so that the bombardier controls it while someone is still occupying the pilot's seat during a bomb run is such a waste of development effort. It's theorycrafting that it will be cool to sit there as a passenger during flak runs but after one or two it will be mundane and most people will stop doing it. Same thing with multicrew in SC or E : D. It's going to be used a few times and then die off. There will be the one or two in the gunner station(s), and I guess they could have someone messing with the shields? I dunno, seems pointless, and then the captain/commander/pilot who is flying which is what everyone wants to do. No one wants to be the schmoe just staring at a screen pressing 4 different colored blocks and yelled at "SHIELDS AFT MONKEY!"

Multicrew, beyond what already exists in that people can get in gunner stations, is just such a waste of development time. Do that later on, when the rest of the game is functioning and fun.
 
1. Uhh...But they've said they've given us, "Persistence" they even have a FAQ on it :) - https://robertsspaceindustries.com/faq/persistence

2. Do you have anything backing up that statement that we can lock our ships? I'm looking for facts. Please post them. I only have the ship I pre-ordered for. I do not have access to other ships unless I steal them. If someone steals my ship and destroys it I have to pay aUEC in order to spawn it or wait for the timer to run out. The cost goes down the per the timer.

3. Why did they release the hangar module then? Why do we have the pre-alpha? If it was true they wouldn't have hangar flair being released monthly(or is it weekly?) for subscribers. - https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/15283-April-Subscriber-Flair A list can be found here - http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Subscriber_flair

4. Sir, you are putting words in my mouth. When did I say it was "dropped"? I said it hasn't been implemented yet going on 3 years. The rest of your sentence is garbled, please reformat or explain.

5. I'm sorry, I don't understand. The two are built on the same engine and have the same ships/weapons/items. Please explain what you are trying to get at. I see a lack of progress, and not an infinite amount of capital to keep it going.

6. Again, you are putting words in my mouth, I can't force anyone to do anything. I can just point out they still have yet to deliver. Please link the article(s) or actual stats on your 30% claim. We are discussing SC not another game, stay on topic.

1.
Well that was Explained already. I will just assume you Read it.

2.
I said its a Guess. Not a Fact. So dont expect one on this.
I Simply assume that once Ships are going to be an Persistent Asset. This will also be looked at.

3.
Once more.
Their Original Plan was Releasing Everything at once.
This became Unfeasible because the List Piled Up more and more.
Hence Change of Doctrine towards FIRST Releasing a Game. THEN adding all the extra stuff.
Hangar Module is not very Importand. So its going to wait. Till the actual Game is out.
Not Originally Planned. But thats how it is. And Honestly Said I am glad about it.

4.
Sigh. Lets leave it at that. We both know this will just go on forever with Disagreeing.

5.
Voiceacting, Triggers, Storytelling and Plot.
An Single Player Campaign has alot of Extra Requirements that take alot of Time.
If you only Place a Character in an Empty Room with Mechanics etc. Thats not going to be an Interesting Game :)

6.
Google is your Friend.
And I dont mind that. I am merely telling you. That Delays are something incredible Common in this Industry. And are more likely than a Timely Delivery.

If you are hiring another team money is going out of your account as people generally don't work for free. The number one killer of start up businesses is cash flow. So that money may have been budgeted at one time, but what happens if you budgeted say $5M for goal X and goal X ends up costing $10M? Well where does that money come from? Mostly likely that answer from another goal's funding gets raided in order to pay for goal X. Then it comes time to start on goal Y only instead of having $5M to do it you now suddenly have $0 because the budget allocated for Goal Y was spent trying to make Goal X happen.

Edit: As far as an exact number...maybe not. But we do have a very good idea of what their burn rate is as myself and several others using slightly different methods all have arrived at a burn rate of around $3M per month. That doesn't include any one time expenses such as hiring voice actors and doing mo-cap for squadron 42. While they are a private company in the US, in the UK private companies have to file their financials and based on what the UK is spending that $3M per month number seems to be on par.

See Mate. Exactly what you say there. Is the Reason why you Contract a Team.
If you just Pay a Company by Monthly Work. You can assume this will take forever. And you.ll Pay each Delay Extra.
Hence simple Solution. You make a Contract to get something. And Pay the Price for that.
You get an Certain Buffer of Course. But you Secure yourself against an 5M Project ending up 10M by making sure that if the other Company you Contracted fails to Deliver they are Paying Contract Fail Fees thus reducing your own Losses of this.

As for that Nice Estimate.
Yeah. Thats the Current Estimate of the Haters.
Assuming that to be True. They would have been Bankrupt already tough.
Which means that makes no Sense.
I doubt its 3M per Month. Because I would seriously have no Idea where they would Spent this Money.
3M of Monthly Costs. Would be something like 200 Highly Skilled Programmers working on it. Including Equipment.
Which is not the Case.
An more Realistic Guess including an Fair Number of Highly Skilled Programmers. And a Ton of Professional Programmers. As well as other Staff and Equipment. Would be around 1-2 Million per Month at Max.
Which is a Fair Amount for a Project of this Size.


No I build stuff for air traffic control, military and space for a relatively small company of a few thousand employees. But we have corporate lawyers.

As for the letter, gladly:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14979-Chairmans-Response-To-The-Escapist

Popehat wrote up a pretty concise analysis:



My colleage response was that if Ortwin ever got pulled over by the cops for a license check, he'd probably talk himself into jail.

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It's the particle-wave duality of business: Depending on who looks when at the emissions coming out of CIG, the company is either broke or filthy rich.

1.
Ah Thanks for Sharing.
Especially because this is Nicely Showing the Logo and how an Letter from them usually Looks like.
Which does further my Opinion that the Letter we got earlier is a Fake.

Now let me Ask one thing.
Did you Notice the Headline ?

Chairman's Response to The Escapist
(Or: The Long Troll)

This Letter was Fairly Clearly not exactly meant as an Legal Response.
But more as an sort of Snide Comment. Not exactly Professional. But I doubt that they seriously Expected the Escapist to actually Follow any Such Demands.
Its simply an Official Response to get some Media Attention and Show that they Disagree and Deny this Article to be True.


2.
Well. I could see him doing that *gg*
This Letter shows fairly good that he is the type go making Jokes and Snide Remarks if he is Displeased with something.
Hes basicly the Perfect example for the NPC in Elite Dangerous which on Security Scan around the Star Port says "On what Grounds are you Scanning this Vessel" ^^
In some Countries like the USA. This kind of Comment can seriously get you into trouble if your Pulled over by a Cop xD
Some Countries Police Officers seriously got little Patience with such Reactions ^^


Not really going to Explain this Letter here tough.
In Opposite. The Style of Writing. As well as the Letter Head are actually making me even more Certain. That this Letter earlier Posted on the Topic. Is an Outright Fake.

Because this Letter you Shared there. Is an Fighting Response. It Shows a Great Deal of Pride. And an clear behavior of Defending that Pride even if you get negative Consequences.
Which is the Total Opposite of the Letter Shared earlier in the Topic. Which Ignores the own Pride and attempts to appeal to someones rationale and reason by telling him about the consequences he causes by his actions etc from an inferior standing.

The Guy which Wrote the Letter you Posted. Would NEVER IN HELL accept to make an letter like the one Posted earlier in the Topic.
 
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I don't really get Mulicrew either. For example - in WWII sims some people want multi-crew bombers so that you could put 10 people into a B17. Well, it made sense in real life but it is pretty silly on the computer. Having dedicated gunners is okay, it is necessary for the few minutes during fighter attack but then it is totally pointless other times for them to just sit there staring at their screen for hours. Then there is the navigator/gunner - sure he can gun when under attack but during navigation? He's just going to watch a map, compass, and the few instruments to keep the bomber on course. The bombardier/gunner? He'll sit there like the rest of the gunners for hours until under attack or he's needed for the bomb run but guess what happens during the bomb run? The pilot hands over controls so the pilot just sits there doing nothing. It's a novelty, something that may done occasionally but the current situation of having two people man a 10 station bomber like the B17 is not only adequate it is the most sensible. AI takes over the other gunner stations when not occupied by a human player, and it is the way it will most often be used. Modelling it so that the B17 has dual controls so that the bombardier controls it while someone is still occupying the pilot's seat during a bomb run is such a waste of development effort. It's theorycrafting that it will be cool to sit there as a passenger during flak runs but after one or two it will be mundane and most people will stop doing it. Same thing with multicrew in SC or E : D. It's going to be used a few times and then die off. There will be the one or two in the gunner station(s), and I guess they could have someone messing with the shields? I dunno, seems pointless, and then the captain/commander/pilot who is flying which is what everyone wants to do. No one wants to be the schmoe just staring at a screen pressing 4 different colored blocks and yelled at "SHIELDS AFT MONKEY!"

Multicrew, beyond what already exists in that people can get in gunner stations, is just such a waste of development time. Do that later on, when the rest of the game is functioning and fun.

Dunno, I loved B-17 The mighty 8th and if begging on my knees for an hour would have gotten me someone to actually fly the thing while I was in the bomber nose position (and some guys to shoot enemy fighter in the meanwhile, or tend the damage in the bomber) I'd have done it.
Twice.

EDIT: Also something like drop-in / drop out would be acceptable for me.
 
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