Nice one. Of course none of the points made are in any way new. The situation he describes have been like this for a loooooong time and make no mistake...he will be labled a hater and disregarded as well like everybody who acts in this way, stating that you love the game wont be a factor for the toxic crowd which is mostly responsible for the projects current condition but I get it.....if you care you ll keep trying and if the old statements have been used so often to no avail because people are daft or intentionally deaf and some spin doctors have created rebuttals to the even most logical arguments over time you simply express the same old problem in a new way hoping you ll break through this time.
I do believe that more and more people are waking up because Star Citizen as a whole doesnt seem to make a lot of progress despite the time and resources going into it. Not everybody is a fanatic who follows and analyses every minutia and detail of the development. Many people check in once in a while and from that point of view not a whole lot has happened. This becomes appareant to me when my wife asks me whats "new" in Star Citizen and even tho I think about it....I cannot tell her a whole lot without boring her to tears with tiny little details that nobody cares about. Star Citizens development is actually FULL of tiny little details only. But try to pack a few major improvements into a single sentence and you ll fail. Thats how slow it is.
The "nerds" will be able to excuse the status because of the future plans and knowing the reason for yet another delay and proclaim themselves the "true fans" disregarding anybody who doesnt spend 4 hours+ a day to talk about SC (and possibly isnt concierge as well) but this group of people exists in any hobby and usually they are so far off the crowd in behavior and knowledge that the term "nerd" is used and creates another layer of chasm that prevents the community from getting on the same base.
PvE carebeers. PvP hardcores. Elite guilds. Member of the leadership...the list of "exclusive clubs" and means to elevate yourself from the masses is long and has existed for eternity.
In the real world these places are catering to the rich who dont care about money or need to manage their income in order to maintain their standard of living and of course.....everybody wants to be a member because being one means you "made it" or something. These "elite" manufactorers or service providers dont do anything special or new or unique in any way. They provide the same things that "cheap" providers do.
Food, cleaning, service. Among all the places which offer a select kind of service you will have certain places charging double or even triple the price then the rest...doing the same thing. Of course the decoration is nicer, the personal is more friendly and in general you are treated like a king....which is nice but doesnt explain the difference in price. I have been guilty of this as well. When I purchased my first BMW it came with an exclusive membership in a nearby car garage handling only BMWs. It cost a lot more but the difference was carried by the seller for the first 2 years so I didnt mind.
What it did do is to get me used to the level of standard that doesnt exist in the majority of car garages even tho the service is the exact same.
So the free (good quality) coffee, young receptionists giving me a degree of attention that would make my wife go chewbaca on their behinds. Air conditioned and nicely decorated "waiting areas" with lots of amenities you name it. Even the "grunts" were always well dressed, clean and made sure to take a minute to explain stuff to you. After a while you confuse this luxury with the "norm" and are shocked once the membership ends and you go visit the "normal" places for the service you seek because everybody I know shops and choses mostly by price.
That is what happens with CI-G and Star Citizen. I wouldnt ve thought it possible years back but obviously this is exactly what it has become. A place for the entitled or "rich" or people who wants to elevate themselves from the rest of the scrubs via money. And CI-G provides the special attention and treatment based on the level of pledging they do. As there are contact zones between the scrubs and the "elite" you will see exchanges that are not as cultist as SC has been labled but demonstrate the same old routine we can observe in the rest of the world.
People think they are "better" because they spend more money or attention and go to great lengths to maintain that difference for a number of reason (ego would be the number one tho). You do have a small percentage of the entitled who actually do know what they are talking about but I m talking single digit here. Most of the "invested backers" talk about crazy things and usually show by their posts that they have no idea whats happening anymore touting outdated stuff or plain out lies. But they are "members" of this club and that is making them feel better or superior so spending more money each month or maintaining confidence for that kind of feeling....sure...happens everyday.
If this is truly whats happening then CI-G can go for a looong time to come without delivering any product at all. The constant "war" raging between the chosen and the haters actually confirms the actions of the few who keep it floating. So many people "hate" on you simply because you have money or see things they dont.....wow you really must be special. Kind of "flatearther" level of mindset but truly....it applies to every "elite club" on the planet. So logic and reality go right out the window. People envy you for what you have so you must be right...end of story.
Under that theory I believe that most of the members in the club currently dont actually care about the game or if it ever releases. They are currently "living the life" because of all the attention they get.
The question remains if the flock of elite members CI-G has managed to capture are actually enough to keep the thing going. No doubt a lot of high-level backers ARE well-endowed or patient or at least willing to spend more then is healthy but the thing I know about the rich is that becoming rich isnt done by spending money....you become rich by either being smart with investments or you know how to save yourself a ton. You dont become or stay rich by snorting all the white powder to feel good. And thats what Star Citizen actually is. A drug. The actual product is not superior, more advanced or in any kind special but the "dream" is. The dream (which changed over the years btw...) continues to provide a scenario that is so perfect that people can rally behind it despite the current state of the game. This might give the impression that everybody who defends CI-G to the teeth or has a lot of money invested equals being rich but of course thats not the case. Like in the real world a lot of people try to become members for a variety of reasons and not because they do have money or they care about the game (I bet life today has become really hard for all those "gold diggers" when dealing with all these charlatans pretending to be rich when they are not.....)
"Everything will work out". A mantra, credo, motto...call it what you will. It provides an anchor of reason and sanity in this crazy thing that Star Citizen has become. Personally I dont think it will because I dont believe that Cash Roberts actually tries to produce what he promised. He just tries to keep this money sink going because it directly benefits him....at the loss of thousands of other people he doesnt actually care about. Thats why its a scam for me. Doesnt matter if there is a basic foundation or "something" in place or that people argue the point by technicalities. The intention alone makes it a scam and tho Cash Roberts "might" not have started out that way he certainly follows the money now.
Posts like these constantly wear on the Star Citizen armor by wording the same doubts and facts differently to reach people because stuff like "its not a game" or "its been 7 years" fall on deaf ears via conditioning. Who here doesnt know all the instant replies and retorts pro-defenders have available to even the most obvious flaws by now? The "you are just a hater" is the perfect endgame which cannot be countered so its played heavily because face it...theres not much else these people can play. Of course it requires a certain level of delusion and ignorance to facts but if you manage that...you are set (and if you take a look at who currently is president do I really need to say more?)
You could simply give up and leave these people to their doing and many do exactly that. "Cant change the world" and all that but thats actually wrong. The world is running on the shoulders of the small people but they dont know it and the rich and powerful do anything to maintain that lie otherwise....who would provide them their lives?
In CI-Gs case it means they require a certain number of whales to keep running. As long as this number can be maintained they dont need to care about working or actually do anything. Just another ship sale or another "personal" post by the "creator" regardless how dumb, crazy or clueless it is and the cash keeps rolling in. The "gold rush" has ended a long time ago tho. Current affairs are shouldered by the sacrifices of the remaining whales and tho there actually might be some select few who dont care about the money, for most it "will" be a sacrifice to maintain the dream and it makes them touchy and sensitive. There wont be a lot of new people coming in which means expansion or increasing income isnt possible for the company. Losing even a single whale is going to hurt in the long run but thats where these posts come in.
Keep trying and if for every 100 posts of this kind you get one deep backer leaving because you managed to "wake him up" then it was worth it. Eventually CI-G will notice the heat and by putting them under pressure you increase the probabiliy of cracks in the armor. When they mess up another patch, when they introduce new bugs and dont manage to fix old ones. When they announce a new "star" feature that is actually pretty mundane and fails at hyping. The "entitled" are expecting a whole lot of things CI-G has to provide and failing at even one of them can miff these people up to no end.
"Hell, I just wanted to take my golden ship for a spin and this bug doesnt let me....RAGE"
"You know...I put 25.000 dollars into this project. I feel that I deserve a certain level of attention"
"I dedicated a lot of my waking hours to this project. I know everything there is to know and a whole lot of stuff that YOU never will know...developers should listen to me"
As you can see....motivation is different but it usually doesnt require any kind of end product. The current state is sufficiant for many.
Our sun will die eventually turning our living breathing world into a dead one but do I really need to base my actions on that scientific truth?
My lifespan is a certain number. I am not immortal. I WILL die eventually. I need to accept this truth but that doesnt mean I shouldnt live a different life acting as if I am immortal.
Same thing. Some people will realize that Star Citizen is dead and not going anywhere, they accept it and try to make the most of it (by all these side activities I outlined above). This group of people is actually much much smaller then the whale backer community. Most people who realize they set on the wrong horse will try to save as much as they can or distant themselves. While there are certainly a high number of people who are ignorant or blind to the facts these posts will reach some of them eventually if they are keep surfacing. Sometimes it requires a change in tone or something new to happen (thanks CI-G for all the mess-ups) but it does happen once in a while.
That is the lifespan CI-G has. This "critical" number that keeps them alive.
And even tho I personally (or any other individual) dont have the power to topple this giant by myself I can work on the erosion that will eventually reveal this illusion. Eventually when the news come in "CI-G collapses overnight" or "Star Citizen a SCAM" I ll know I did my part and was right.
Yep sounds like I made a decision. Mature thing to do actually. And I mean what I say but that doesnt mean I am right. It also doesnt mean that I cannot change my opinion. I am right until I m proven wrong. I think I will be able to admit I was wrong when CI-G releases a perfect game that is superior to anything else on the market or some pro-defenders manage to bring up an argument that isnt plain out crazy, made-up or attacks me immediately for not believing into SC.
Fat chance....but still....people become millionairs every day because they win the lottery eh?
