Holly smeg! Are they really donig this!? :S
Well, people are begging for them. I don't how well SC will turn out, but their marketing campaign will be taught at colleges in the years to come. They've managed to trigger something in people's reptile part of the brain that makes them beg for a $200 imaginary space ship while at the same time wrinkling their nose in disgust at a $30 expansion that doubles the gameplay (we've had a discussion like that in the SC forums with a guy who had spent $1500 on ships saying he didn't feel comfortable with $30 expansions).
I'm no stranger to it either. Back in last October/November I lacked any hobby and had some disposable income so talking/getting information about the ships had become my actual hobby instead of the game.
The whole illusion broke when I got into the Elite beta and saw how temporary a ship is and how much of a non-issue i is to upgrade to better ships. It also taught me that getting a bigger ship doesn't mean you'll have more fun. Went back to the Cobra from the Anaconda because I just liked it more.
Provided that SC has a relaxed progression like they've been saying it will and doesn't turn into a Korean grinder MMO, there will be a lot of people who will feel deflated once they realize that their $200 space ship is just a tiny game asset that anyone can get their hands on with a week of grinding or a month of relaxed gameplay.
