Can't speak for others, but had my eyes on the Star Citizen piece back in '13, when I was set to retire from the Army. For years, I'd wanted an online version of Wing Commander Privateer and an updated Wing Commander game, and that seemed to fit the bill, since the cat who produced both was in charge of the kick-starter. At the time, I put no money in to the project and just kept it in mind, thinking it would be cool if it came into being.
Years later, I downloaded and played No Man's Sky, but I was disappointed in what I played - it just wasn't what I was seeking. So did some searching for the kind of game I was looking for online, and Star Citizen came up ... ironically, found nothing about E-D at the time - that was in late '16. Had never considered kick-starter projects before, and wasn't really excited about paying money into something that did not exist, so did some more online digging. Alpha 2.6 was out at the time, and folks were having fun in the build, so I took the plunge with a $35 package.
One thing to know about me, and maybe it is my military background, but I never go into anything half-way or part-way - but full-bore. So over the years, I purchased some extra ships for the game, not even using most - but I thought they were cool and I like collecting stuff (still have a Timex Sinclair 2068 and Apple IIc Plus - and bought an extra H-D motorcycle I didn't need).
Whether or not SC is successful in the long-run (however that's defined), I've had a blast. Our org was online yesterday for an event for around four hours or so, and afterward joined an org mate in his heavy fighter to man his turret for some NPC missions.
What I have discovered about Chris over these years is he's a notorious micromanager, likely holding back progress by getting too far into the weeds and listening to the Good Idea Fairy ("Wouldn't it be cool if we added ...") - in effect becoming his own worst enemy. I've seen no evidence that he's a good manager or leader, and the haphazard development of CIG over time shows it in spades. Honestly believe he wants to see the vision of his game come to fruition, but don't believe he has the management skills necessary to keep out of his own way.
Enter Clive Calder. Chris made a deal with him, and Calder bought into the project. Unlike CR, Calder is a proven manager and accomplished investor, and he knows how to drive his investments to success, as evidenced by his billions. Once Chris made that deal, he more or less let the devil in the door, and Calder is expecting results. For that reason, I believe CIG is working fulll-speed on Squadron 42, which is what Calder backed, and that is why we are seeing so little movement on the PU proper. Chris announced to the world that Squadron 42 would go into beta within the next few months a while back, and my guess is that Calder is not letting that transform into merely lip service. Calder is bringing to the fight was was before lacking - purpose, direction, and motivation toward the achievement of a goal.
Meanwhile, push-back on Spectrum reached a fever pitch during the last disastrous free-fly, trollish behavior overran the forum, and CIG likely instructed the mods there to lay the smackdown on folks in reaction. That prompted an overreaction and overreach historically unwitnessed in Spectrum or the predecessor forums, driving folks like me away, and leaving almost exclusively "white knight" posters and their sycophants. Honestly, I'm thankful - was spending entirely too much time posting there, and the last couple of suspensions cured me of it, as I've decided no longer to post there, save as part of ETF commentary.
Firmly believe Star Citizen and Squadron 42 will be published, though unlikely to the extent of CR's vision ... even if only after CIG is bought out by a major publisher. Even with the buggy and glitchy builds, the alpha builds can be fun and immersive as heck, and I believe what they've achieved will force a quantum leap in how future games are designed.
And that's a good thing.
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