Thanks, I would figure someone would noticed it. I think it's a short'n'sweet phrase that applies to Star Citizen and it's game development process, as gamer's expectations clash with the harsh reality of observing (and tasting!) the sausage getting made in a project this big and ambitious It would never be pretty sight, that's why it's allways done behind doors. But since CIG business foundation rely's on it for all the good and bad that it takes. It's really a necessary evil that Star Citizen backers learned to embrace as it gives them a much closer and detailed look at the game they backed compared with the closed "traditional development" method.
I've already mentioned a while back the "dangers" of comparing SC and ED. (TLDR: they are so far apart in game design and the experience they strive to give the player that it's like comparing oranges and apples, just look at each company take at game development, flight model, basic missions, multicrew experience, avatar/ship design etc. Same like comparing the old Elite with Wing Commander/Privateer, set in space yes, but play and offer completely different experiences)
That same error is done when while cataloging Star Citizen or Elite with other traditional MMO's because usually we tend to think about the Everquest/WoW/GuildWar's which are the standard mmo's with all the emphasis going to character creation and player interaction/socialization and thousands of players interacting in the same environment.
Yes Elite is a mmo in the sense that it has many players playing in a shared universe but not necessarily together, ok it's missing a lot of RPG features by not focusing on the avatar primarily while Star Citizen focus in player interactivity and socialization is in it's original core design at the expense of the "massive" number of players. With the expansion of scope and tech the aim is now for bigger figures of players to interact in the same instance with custom network tech being developed for that propose.
The way I see it Elite at it's core design is more of a single player spaceship-sim sandbox that allows for curated online interaction while Star Citizen goes more for the traditional MMORPG style with a client/server model. While P2P works well for Elite style of gameplay it would never work for games like WoW and Star Citizen where PvP and resource gathering/economy is such a big part of it's game design. Just Imagine being able to avoid death in WoW by alt-f4 while in combat or re-logging near the thorium ore endlessly to farm it...
That leads us to player/character development/progression. Both SC and ED don't rely on lvl's like traditional mmorpgs do but use item and currency loss to keep it interesting. While Elite rely's on credit's farm to buy new and better ship's and upgrades through several activities they are all tied to flying a space ship, while in Star Citizen having legs there's more options, as demonstrated in the baby PU players can complete quests and earn credits without flying a ship. It's different takes on the kind of game experience that the developers want to emphasis on. Any mmo game as different kinds of player variants between the casuals and the hard-cores.
Loading/Unloading cargo manually is not just about time sink but also money sink. Pay to have it unloaded, the bigger the cargo the more you have to pay to unload, probably will take more time. Safer job's will be paying less for more "work" while risky jobs pay much for "less" work but more risk. Besides, Carrying cargo is a core part of gameplay that implicates questing, EVA, team-work, pirate/bounty interaction etc. Not just trading.
That's one of the many appeals of Star Citizen's. The options in gameplay while keeping different players connected and playing together, I like to fly cargo from point A to point B while my friend likes to shoot pirates, instead of we both play on our own way while helping each other. Bounty Hunting, Pirating, Repairs, Miners etc all playing connected in a seamless universe.
I think mixing a cool Tony Zurovec gameplay concept to make long distance journeys less of a bore, a Star Citizen backer question and a David Braben dream goes a long way but doesn't quite match the implication of the cargo mechanic for Star Citizen gameplay.
Always in the sense that's how game development works. Incrementally adding planets~content as they develop~test them.
Going back into game development plan's is always a fun exercise to do after a game's release to see how much and what changed. Doing it during development is rather pointless, and to make a fuss about it is rather strange because it's probably gonna change even more further down the road. Every game changes from it's core design in some way or another, same goes for it's development "plans and schedules".
Update 3.0 and Gamescom Presentation are different things.
Update 3.0 is the biggest update in Star Citizen development by adding not only planetary landings / procedural planets but a bunch of new tech and playable content. The leap from 2.6 to 3.0 is huge and if CIG has to delay it further Gamescom they will because they can.
Gamescom and Citizencom are show's where CIG show's it's backers the development progress of the game, in tech, content and direction. The live played demos by a group of QA is just a part of it, to demonstrate CIG intentions for some of the game loop mechanics. Simple as that.
Intelligently CIG also showcases new concept/hangar/flyable ship's, and like it was always done. It's followed by a sale and backers splash them with some millions more because they like what they see. Same as last year, and the one before and so on. Re-watch Gamescom 2013/14/15 etc It's all about showcasing the overall direction of the game, gamer's like it and want to support it, and they do, in spades, I mean dollars. Millions of them. That's how CIG is able to keep independent of Publishers, by providing their backers with info about what they are pledging and making the game of their dreams.
Yes I think indeed the idea is to have everything at a smaller scale and slower, what are meaningful and simple tasks in other games being taken to the next lvl in Star Citizen and adding depth and context to the world. Unloading and loading your ship takes time and money, adds to the decision and gives you time to waste exploring the city, leading to players going into bars and shops, interacting, finding quests etc.
PCGamer wroten an article on the 3.0 Update (which they got to play and confirm, again, to seamlessly go from space into planet)
Followed up with Theft and Insurance article: http://www.pcgamer.com/how-star-citizens-ship-insurance-works-and-how-players-will-exploit-it/
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