I'd say there would be still incentive to deliver if they believed they could deliver on something approximating what they promised.
My suspicion is that CIG know they can't, and slapping a release label on the game will open the floodgates of negative reviews along the lines of "500 million for this?!!?!"
This is why for the last few years CR has been waffling on about development as a service and the like.
Thats how I see it, too. I recall sometime ages ago, someone pointing out the limitations of the internet, the speed of light etc, and showed what CIG promised is just not possible. CIG, since forever, has proven that is true, since they haven't and probably cant actually have everything running at once. I extended that idea and coupled it with the limited number of virtual ships for sale, since that concept in itself is comical, that if they were ever to release the game, maybe they can only have 1 Idris(is that even a thing anymore?) per system, or game wont run.
A patch each quarter since several years...
Do you agree that to deliver the game as promised, they need a lot of money, and selling ship works well to fund the project ?
Because, even if the game is fun now, it's not the final product awaited, it lacks a lot of gameplays. It's like enjoying tasting the chocolate while you make a chocolate's cake. It's good, you enjoy it better than the cofee's cake beside (because you don't like coffee), but it's not the cake yet.
The only reason is the base game is not finished. There is 1 system, no salvaging, no jump point, no server meshing, quanta system starting only to be added, etc. You seem to think that these systems are optional to the game, they are not. You can run a car without seats, roof and windshield but you can't sell/release it without adding thoses.
It's been a long time since CIG promised new functionality. CR said the release will be there when server meshing is stable enough and a bunch of systems will be in. Claiming lands and owning bases for instance had been said to be developped after the release.
Do you agree they have already gone through a lot of money? Or do you think nearly 500 million is not enough? How much do you expect it to cost, then? If you'd say they're a quarter of the way there, would that mean they'll need 2 billion dollars to get close to be finished? If others dont provide the 2 billion, are you get them to that mark? Thats a lot of money, to me, but maybe it's chump change to others?
I think 500 million is more than enough, if the game was possible to make. Since I see it as impossible, it doesn't matter how much money they get. That's why I see it as a scam. They know it, as well as I do. If they released it, as is, and said feel free to donate, so they can keep improving it, I'd actually be 100% fine with that. Right now, they're promising and have promised impossible things and they know it. It'll never be a cake, even if it has all the ingredients in it.
Im not arguing whether it's fun or not. Because, from what I see, some SC fans find it fun crashing to desktop, or ships blowing up because of a hand trolley, but they'd not have fun, and probably write pages of "where are ship interiors?" fueled by rage, if any other game had similar issues. It's like they're game-ists...is that a thing yet? So much fun!
I thought from the latest con that server meshing, 1000 players, big battlecruiser warfare is not going to happen ever? As in, they will not be releasing what was promised?
Oh, what I mean is there's so many people who are enjoying the game as is, so if they released it, those people would still be enjoying it, but threads like this would change, since they're not misleading people to pledge, or whatever, to something impossible. People would buy what they see, and bam, thats that. We'd be discussing whether the mechanics could be improved, or what the future expansions would be. And about reviews...reviews are only there to get more sales. SC is beyond that. Lets say someone gives it a bad review today, if they released it? Would that change the ~460 million they've already received? Do you think it'd even effect future sales? Lets say it did? They might try and fix that by improving the game? Or they'd pack up, take their millions and go away? Im sure many are fine with that. Meanwhile folks are waiting for it to be stable? The game is impossible, as promised, so how could it ever be stable?
Funny, I heard some comedian saying how the phrase "hear me out" never ends with anything good. But...and this is a wild hunch...hear me out...
This guy is a SC backer. Big time. A few months ago, Odyssey alpha came out, and from what was shown, would probably blow SC out of the water. SC around the same time had a fish fry...no, a free fly, and also a big patch. That patch dropped, and from what I saw, was not as good as was told it would be. Then Odyssey is released, but much worse than the alpha. To the point a lot of EDO folks jump to SC. Some are fine there, but since then, each Odyssey patch has been worse and worse. Like, almost forcing people to jump to SC. A game this fellow backs. But lets say that is because SC isn't in the state it was supoosed to be, 6 months ago. Because, people like this, and others, keep beleiving what those SC folks keep promising. Another patch due next week for EDO. A big one. My hunch is this will be the worst patch, since then, and the flocks that go to SC from that will be huge. But this guy kinda runs the competition to SC too, yes? So why would he allow EDO to get worse and worse and worse, knowing folks will try SC? My only guess is that he knows, once they release EDO as it will be (since they already have that, which we havent seen yet) everyone who went to SC will be coming back. And at the least, you can say, EDO really did give SC a chance, yes?
