Will the game really necessitate being part of an org to survive or not?
That remains to be seen.
Seeing how popular Rexzillas videos are, suggested often when people ask about "gameplay" I guess groupplay is essential and that holds true for any game that offers only little content and relies on its playerbase to provide gameplay loops. Star Citizen calls this "emergent gameplay". Could be coop, could be PvP, without a system to seperate these interests (is PvP slider still a thing?) it all boils down to a mess in which some will thrive while other suffer, a perfect environment for preying on victims.
Star Citizens long development cycle births new things I just came to notice recently. When I comment on Star Citizen I do so from a point of view that started in 2012 as many here. But that isnt true for a lot of people currently "defending" the project against haters on the net. A lot openly admit that they joined only recently or watched this for a year or two. While its possible to "read up" on the projects history if people are willing to do these are the people who bring up the exact same questions we discussed and answered multiple times over the years. Everything is repeating itself...even the arguments and questions so I doubt very much that the newcomers actually have any experience with this project beyond their entry point or do in fact read up on stuff to catch up.
Which means they are not aware of the broken promises, missing things since 2015, dont realize that SC is developing into a direction that distances it further and further from its original concept and most of them dont grasp the utter waste of resources involved to bringing it to the point where "they" join with their 45 bucks and consider it "fun". Most of them pick up and continue to uphold the "this has potential" statement from 2014 not realizing that the current point of development is very likely the
PINNACLE of SCs capabilities, not an "early start". They disregard opinions and participate in discussions from a stance of ignorance, not knowing any better but like kids....thinking they have all the answers.
Many consider the "I have fun...so its a good game" argument to be the final word that cannot be countered not realizing that we had these arguments in here as well several times already. I do remember the attempted deceptions with edited screenshots which tried to prove a point, I remember the arguments about SCs "superior technology" all proven wrong afterwards and I do have the complete history from CIGs behavior as well as some of its toxic community members, all of them saying
anything necessary in order to make some cash/win the fight.....even open lies. Nowadays CIG cannot behave as loudmouthed as it used to be anymore. People are more sensitive when it comes to delays or no-shows so they put more effort into misinterpretations and rely on their online mouth pieces to uphold a promising image.
The experienced keyboard warriors also changed from absolute claims to objective judgements (...well
I have fun) because absolute claims of superiority were listened to, investigated and denied/refuted. But there are actually voices out there who still do this and I m reading them and think "what the....doesnt he remember all this? Do I really need to repeat a history lesson?" but then realize its no good. These are either people who disregard reality to a degree where they become fanatical or they are so fresh to the mix that they dont know any better....basically little kids trying to participate in adult talk. And I could make the effort of course but then I d have to do it again and again for the next newcomer who doesnt read up on stuff or doesnt care about the broken history.
Thats really what chaps my hide sometimes. Peoples willingness to look past the established and recorded history and grant another chance as if CIG didnt had enough of those already. It cant be trust due to human nature so its (abused) hope instead which is sad to watch as it all plays out.
I really dont care if somebody I dont know has "fun" with Star Citizen when I m focused on the promised superior technologies producing a next-gen game I was waiting on for years myself until I realize dI am being lied to. 2016 saw the implementation of the so called "procedural generation technology" and I remember very vividly how it was supposed to be a big step forward, a prove for CIGs capabilities and superiority over competeing games. Like many I was watching closely when it hit life. And the result was that its NOT procedural tech, its rather a hybrid requiring massive amounts of developer time to refine and complete. Investigations also hinted that no calculations were done at all but that the planets we see in SC are pure copy/paste textures (as pointed out in several screenshots over weeks/months).
So procedural tech was a blind shot...I could accept that its an early implementation requiring more work (obviously...) but that has happened in 2016.....has there been any further development on this feature afterwards apart from handcrafted assets of course? Is this the final product, lacking and subpar as it is right now? Or is it "on hold" until CIG finds the time to return to critical technologies that enable the game to become what they sold to the backers? I mean making new ships and counting the new money seems to keep em busy.
So I read a post stating things like "SCs procedural technology is already superior to anything else on the market" and I feel my mouth dropping in shock. Are these people as naive/clueless as they demonstrate? Or are they intentionally trying to provoke a reaction? Or are they living in a dream refusing to accept reality? They wont provide the answer honestly so I have to ask questions to determine what camp they are in. And truth be told, I often dont care. It mostly comes down to how people engage me in the first place. If I m ridiculed, offended or disregarded simply for having a negative impression then I ll too often return the favor by not caring about anything they can provide.
Which is the reason why this thread is still going strong....after years of discussion, its 10th version and thousands upon thousands of posts.
1. People dont know any better and start to particpate at a point that was concluded years back
2. continuous reports of SCs "great gameplay" that often portrait the alpha more capable and refined as it actually is (different perception and putting importance on certain things like pixel count)
3. continues disregard of proven lack in technology and capability or direction
4. pure hope replacing trust (SC
will be the best game ever ---> SC
might turn out to become an acceptable game)
and of course the sheer disregard of used time and money swept away as if it doesnt matter to get to the subpar point we are now. But I guess thats some form of mental callus coming from repeating occasions of disappointment and unreliability. At some point you probably have to make a compromise in order to keep going. The thing is that the FD forums are a good place to talk, even if all we do seems to be going in circles. At least we do so in a polite and civil manner (not voluntarily mind you, I guess the mods hate our guts by now
) and the sarcasm is often funny. People still discussing this had to change over the years in order to fall back on arguments that are irrefutable (like the "I have fun" argument) and accept facts like lacking tech and performance. Of course staying "hopeful" that this will eventually turn out to be a gold nugget rather then something smelly is their perogative and too often I read some kind of acceptance or dealmaking in the "well I think I got my moneys worth" statements pointing that people agree with the "haters" but cannot admit it openly.
The most used line on other platforms is again "wait till its finished, its alpha" and its hilarious really that we are at this point AGAIN.
Seriously.....does Star Citizen even hold any surprises anymore? Is it still a "fresh" and "exciting" experience today....mind you its an alpha so we can expect it to improve dramatically as this is by definition just a raw cut. Does Star Citizen really have the
potential anymore to improve drastically? On its own accord not hoping for technological breakthroughs in processor power or harddrives enabling CIG to provide what they sold in 2012. CIG has its work cut out for them for years to come. A list of things that the playerbase deems "critical" or which are required for the rest of the game (AI? procgen etc) yet there hardly seems to be any development going on in those regards. Instead CIG branches out into new directions that were neither adressed nor asked for and also not planned. Why do they keep adding new stuff to the already overloaded plate? More important....why are so many people willing to ignore these things and just keep looking forward either avoiding checking to the sides or the back or outright disregarding any other direction then forward?
And this is were acceptance becomes really dangerous (to the projects success). If you are so "hardened" to these sudden twists already that all you do is shrug and hope for the best while tryingo to have as much fun as possible while it lasts then you actively sabotage the projects chances of success. Because features like "spelunking" (hell I had to look it up in order to figure out its just cave walking lol...sounds so grandious) are not required, not needed and dont help with bringing SC to life. They are at best the icing on top of the cake but the
cake is still missing. I guess its that or starting to "hate" which in reality is "not forgetting things which already happened or are bound to happen again".
And it doesnt require any willpower on my part really like so many try to suggest (me "wasting" my life to hate on stuff...how sad). I d rather stop CIG right now until they can prove they have what it takes to avoid further waste and abuse of money/hope instead of sitting idly at the sidelines shrugging and coming up with stuff like "I am rich" or similar ridiculous counters trying to justify this collosal waste of money and time. My mind certainly is made up but I m open to discussions. As long as they are polite, civil and not just repetitions of old refuted things. I guess I am open to change....when change is justified. I havent seen that so far. Stability might have improved but it was "really bad" borderline unplayable and has become merely "bad" over the course of years. Some are willing to see this as an improvement. I rather see it as paying off debts....improvements are something different I am still waiting on.
I often get accused of being clueless because I dont play it myself. And I have given thought to this notion but see it as a no-win scenario for myself. I dont have to play every game on the market in order to figure out its qualities. I can safely rely on third parties or stream-services to determine a games qualities. Works for any other game. Why would Star Citizen be different?
And SC looks beautiful...no doubt, I accept that. Of course in 2019 its not as superior as it was back in 2012 or 2016 but it still looks nice. Looks have never convinced me of a games qualities tho. I wanted to know what it has to offer, how certain things worked, how extensive interesting gameloops were etc etc. I took my time to "look deeper....past the superficial glitter". And in SCs case there simply isnt anything beyond that point. I stated it often but if visuals and the ability to walk around are all it takes for you to consider SC a "good game" then it tells people more about
you then it does about Star Citizen. It tells about your preferences, or how developed your fantasy is. I made the effort to see this from the other side. Not often because frankly....there aint so many people who are willing to provide a restrained or realistic picture. Too many borderline shill or intentionally paint it in the most positive light which is already trying to affect my judgement. As such I can accept that some people are fascinated by SCs current state....but its because of things I personally consider "secondary" and not really important when it comes to high ratings.
trust me...if I keep going we ll end with a 20.000 word essay, at this time its easy to go in circles and repeat yourself.
So I am still waiting for CIG to deliver on its promises (its not really promises, its hard transactions really eh?) because frankly....I cant do anything else anyway. I am not hoping for any drastic changes, CIG is an old beast by now, set it its ways. Too reliable are the ship sales or the sudden announcements of something "new" that wasnt planned for. People worldwide only require the smallest things to bash a company or refuse to buy its products today. Its often hilarious to watch really. And then we have cases like CIG which has abused its paying playerbase heavily by pricing and misinterpretations but people still believe in them. You have to be conditioned in some way to come to these conclusions (or fall victim to the first impression when you are that kind of guy/gal) but video games are a volatile environment today.
So can SC become "a game" at some point? I guess the answer is yes, depending on how much more abuse the paying backers are willing to endure. Give this another 10 years, a few more outside technological break-throughs and an additional x00 million dollars and everything is possible I guess. My opinion is that a company like CIG simply
doesnt deserve to be successfull anymore. They had their chances and they blew it. Couldnt admit it but talked facts down and even engaged in deceptive marketing in order to make money. This is an opinion I wont budge on anymore. If you want to call me a "hater" because of that then so be it. I d rather dont forget then let history repeat itself on my behalf.
