# Star Citizen is the Future of PC Gaming, and it \[was\] Free to Play this week (Edit: No Longer Free) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [October 13, 2015, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528 "2015-10-13T06:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/181 "2016-11-01T19:01:13Z")
Hey, Mods: Any chance we could get a strikeout line through the “And it’s free to play this week” part of the title? That hasn’t been true for months, and this thread still shows up high in the thread list. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/182 "2016-11-01T19:18:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > 0._._-I can see that as being pre-release, but I can’t find record of other games releasing patches [to this extent](http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Patch_Notes) for a game that doesn’t even have a projected release date. If you could show me an example, so that I could see that it actually _does_ happen on a regular basis? I feel like we’re getting hung up on semantics here; Every time you add a new feature to your build, it’s technically a “patch” or a new version, or something. So you get lots of patches/versions/whatever. I can’t point you to an example because most games don’t publish their Alpha-level patch notes. But why would development during the Alpha phase be any different from how things work in the “beta” phase, which you can easily see by looking at the list of patches for any Early Access game on Steam? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/183 "2016-11-01T19:34:28Z")
Pretty sure **Czar** is simply pointing out that the patch notes for Star Citizen amounts to little more than busywork so backers feel like Chris Roberts is actually doing something with their money. Other than furnishing his new LA digs. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/184 "2016-11-01T20:07:47Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Pretty sure **Czar** is simply pointing out that the patch notes for Star Citizen amounts to little more than busywork so backers feel like Chris Roberts is actually doing something with their money. Other than furnishing his new LA digs. The word “patch” evokes the feeling of an extant product. “Development update” does not. So they call them patches. I have to stress that for all my honest negativity, it’s obvious Star Citizen would in theory be the coolest thing ever, if it was actually a functioning game. But this isn’t going to happen, not well, anyway. Perhaps it’s simply that the technology doesn’t exist, or that it’s going to require a company that actually has some money to make a similar game happen. Maybe it takes a few tries before someone nails it. Clearly, there is a market for a game like this. “No Man’s Sky” was released to incredible fanfare and subsequent incredible disappointment. “Eve” has plodded along cheerily for years, and “Elite: Dangerous” is around, too. Someone will fill this market space sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/185 "2016-11-01T20:20:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have to stress that for all my honest negativity, it’s obvious Star Citizen would in theory be the coolest thing ever, if it was actually a functioning game. But this isn’t going to happen, not well, anyway. As I said 115 posts ago: > [@Skywatcher](#): > > _Spore_, in space. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/186 "2016-11-01T20:24:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But it’s not a _game_ yet. I’ve heard of games being in development, but I’ve never heard of the creation of a game being called a constant series of “patches”. When I picked up Diablo II I’m sure it went through a lot of changes and development before it was released to the public, but the first _patch_ was released after the game went on the market. Patch does not imply post release in any way, there were hundreds of patches to that diablo game before you ever got your hands on it. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/187 "2016-11-01T20:50:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Latest fact-check update.](https://www.dereksmart.org/2016/10/star-citizen-shattered-dreams/) Read it and weep. …I think that the whole Star Citizen thing is a giant boondoogle as well. But you are citing Derek Smart. Its a bit like citing Alex Jones on his opinion on what happened on 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/188 "2016-11-01T21:15:55Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …I think that the whole Star Citizen thing is a giant boondoogle as well. But you are citing Derek Smart. Its a bit like citing Alex Jones on his opinion on what happened on 9/11. More like asking [William Rodriguez](http://www.pcgamer.com/derek-smart-threatens-legal-action-against-cloud-imperium-games-over-star-citizen/) on his opinion on what happened on [9/11](http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1219050.interview_the_untold_story_of_september_11/). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/189 "2016-11-01T21:25:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > In short, because the business model smells terrible. > > You’re correct in that very large games take a long time to develop. “BioShock Infinite” took five years to make, to use a big-budget example. Big things take a long time to make. You can’t make a big budget movie in a couple of months, either. Now, Star Citizen is at five years and doesn’t appear to be close to release, but let’s assume a game of this ambition takes seven years, or whatever. It’s not that I find dubious, it’s that it’s being funded _exactly_ the way you would fund a scam. > > The thing is, BioShock Infinite - or GTA V, or any other big game - were not funded in development by having the prospective customers pay hundreds of dollars for pictures of imaginary ships. They were funded by soberly run companies that expected a return on their investment. Companies that, if they were not given material evidence of progress towards a sellable product, would cheerily kill the program and fire the developers. > > Yes, I know Kickstarter and the like are a new way of looking at project development, but as you well know this is now way past that sort of thing where you get people to chip in ten bucks to a little project. This is on a different plane. The manner on which Star Citizen earns its money is precisely the manner in which a Nigerian 419 scammer earns their money; it is following the path of a confidence trick. > > 1. An amazing treasure is promised (in this case, what would in theory be the greatest PC game ever made.) > > 2. The mark is invited into the confidence of the scammer. They are told they can be special and different - a member of the Squadron, possessed of special things the newbs won’t have, and all that sort of thing. > > 3. Props and razzmatazz are used to convince the mark of the reality of the treasure (demos, the fancy website, pictures of ships, technical requirements and the other traits of a large budget video game.) > > 4. The mark is asked for a small investment. > > 5. Once the mark has invested some money, promises of progress towards the treasure are made. As progress is made, the mark is asked for more money, with explanations as to why the money is needed. (In this case, “Stretch goals.”) > > Obviously this isn’t a perfect analogy, because in a classic confidence scam you would not know the actual identity of the scammer and his shills. I really don’t think Chris Roberts is out to scam anyone, but the way in which his company is draining the same people for money based on the promise of virtual treasures is indicative of a situation where Mr. Roberts is in serious, serious trouble and he knows it. Perhaps not legally - I am sure they’ve got their bases reasonably well covered - but businesswise this has every indication of being a case where a business incapable of completing the job has gotten themselves in over their heads. > > I have a lot of trouble coming up with any other logical explanation as to why Roberts has reached the point where he’s asking hard core marks for $750 for an imaginary ship. (And I do mean imaginary; the “Polaris” ship is just a picture, not actually a thing they’ve built in the game.) A legitimate business enterprise doesn’t keep asking for donations from customers based on empty promises; a legitimate business enterprise finds money from legitimate revenue streams, investors, or loans. There is nothing about the “please give us a lot of money and I promise one day you might have this awesome, awesome ship that presently is not remotely close to being a thing” pitch that should inspire confidence. Everything about that says “This is a business in desperate, desperate trouble.” Adding to all that, there’s also an element of MLM-marketing at work, as shown by the OP of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/190 "2016-11-01T21:29:24Z")
Edit: Forgot the OP had a referral code or something edited out. Thought it was weird to call it MLM without that. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/191 "2016-11-01T21:32:54Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Edit: Forgot the OP had a referral code or something edited out. Thought it was weird to call it MLM without that. He posted a referral link instead of a direct link, in an effort to get in-game bennies-in effect it was pay to post. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/192 "2016-11-01T22:04:07Z")
In a strange way I kind of feel bad for Chris Roberts. Yes yes I know he’s laughing all the way to the bank. But seriously, I feel like the Star Citizen is a victim of its own success. Had they made a good amount of money instead of the absurd amount of money actually raised, they would have simply made a great space flight simulator and called it a day. It probably would have been a great game. The problem was they got so much money they scope exploded, and then kept exploding and continues to explode to this day. There’s no chance of this ever releasing in a state close to what has been promised, if it ever even releases at all. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/193 "2016-11-02T08:13:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Now, I’m not into game development, but I’ve never heard of game patches announced for games that have yet to be released before. I recall seeing patches for games after they have been released to the public, but is [55 patches(to date so far)](http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Patch_Notes) a normal thing for an unreleased game? The early days of Minecraft worked something like this. Thing is, Star Citizen does have a release build, that backers can play, and it is regularly updated. It’s not currently brilliant, but everytime I check it out more has been added, so it’s definitely _advancing_. I still wouldn’t drop $750 on a picture of a ship though. Edit: To be clear, early Minecraft released a lot of patches for an alpha game that had no planned release date. It did not continually ask for money for anything other than copies of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/194 "2016-11-02T15:15:37Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > In a strange way I kind of feel bad for Chris Roberts. Yes yes I know he’s laughing all the way to the bank. But seriously, I feel like the Star Citizen is a victim of its own success. Had they made a good amount of money instead of the absurd amount of money actually raised, they would have simply made a great space flight simulator and called it a day. It probably would have been a great game. The problem was they got so much money they scope exploded, and then kept exploding and continues to explode to this day. There’s no chance of this ever releasing in a state close to what has been promised, if it ever even releases at all. I don’t really agree. The whole reason I didn’t back this in the first place is the insane level of ambition demonstrated even in the project as explained by the Kickstarter campaign. I know I’ve said this before somewhere, but if Chris Roberts had shown up and said “I’m gonna make a new Wing Commander game. It can’t CALL it Wing Commander, but that’s what it’s gonna be. We’ll add some online multiplayer dogfights and the ability to have another player as wingman via the internet, but it’s basically gonna be Wing Commander.” I would have said “TAKE MY MONEY!” but he didn’t. He showed up with this insane sprawling mess of promises that in the considered opinion of me from four years ago, was completely beyond what he had shown was in his ability to create. The fact that it has grown even more insane with feature bloat since then is just the disease following its natural course. I don’t think this game would have done better with more “reasonable” donations, because it was already insane when he started soliciting. ---
**Author:** ![Emerald\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Emerald\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emerald_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/195 "2016-11-02T15:39:18Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Thing is, Star Citizen does have a release build, that backers can play, and it is regularly updated. It’s not currently brilliant, but everytime I check it out more has been added, so it’s definitely _advancing_. I tried the free fly, and it was disappointing and also made me feel kind of bad for Chris Roberts. It was visually impressive (minus the terrible frame rates in the persistent world), but none of it was _fun_. The dogfighting felt insubstantial, because there wasn’t enough feedback about whether or not I was hitting my opponent or being hit. Five years in, I expected more. There was nothing in the game right now that hasn’t been done, better, in other games from 10 years ago. Reading dev blog notes that say they are going to have to rewrite even more of CryEngine in order to not kill everyone’s frame rate whenever a big ship loads does not fill me with hope. Chris Roberts (or his management team) seems to be missing some important project management skills around defining objectives and minimizing risk. I found this [thread on Neogaf](http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1122810) to be a useful background on Derek Smart. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/196 "2016-11-02T16:03:54Z")
It seems to me that what the crowdfunding is being used for is open-ended research and development, not a particular project. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/197 "2016-11-02T19:25:49Z")
> [@Emerald\_Hawk](#): > > Chris Roberts (or his management team) seems to be missing some important project management skills around defining objectives and minimizing risk. The thing is…we should have already known this. Freelancer, at the very least, is exactly what happens if you do pretty much the Star Citizen thing, except you do it 15 years ago, and Microsoft steps in to save you from utterly failing. And my dim understanding is that Starlancer had some issues along these lines as well. Chris Roberts has not demonstrated he can make a game more complicated than Wing Commander: Privateer. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/198 "2016-12-13T22:15:09Z")
[Star Citizen is now the third most expensive game ever developed](http://powerupgaming.co.uk/2016/12/10/star-citizen-overtakes-gta-5-to-be-third-most-expensive-game-to-develop/) with no end in sight. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/199 "2016-12-27T17:01:06Z")
How fucked is Star Citizen? Contrary to what was originally reported by [Engadget](https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/24/star-citizen-switches-to-amazon-game-engine/), [Econotimes](http://www.econotimes.com/Star-Citizen-Changes-Game-Engine-As-Crytek-Shuts-Its-Doors-466096) says the word from Cloud Imperium is that transitioning from CryEngine to Lumberyard has not been smooth. > [@](#): > > The nature of Amazon’s engine had substantial differences compared to the CryEngine, which made adaptation a challenge. > > :snip: > > The team was left with no choice but to painstakingly create and release modules that would make the title functional in the way that the studio envisioned. This proved challenging since, as fans of Star Citizen know, the game is meant to be a full-fledged MMO space simulator. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528/200 "2016-12-27T17:37:07Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > How fucked is Star Citizen? Contrary to what was originally reported by [Engadget](https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/24/star-citizen-switches-to-amazon-game-engine/), [Econotimes](http://www.econotimes.com/Star-Citizen-Changes-Game-Engine-As-Crytek-Shuts-Its-Doors-466096) says the word from Cloud Imperium is that transitioning from CryEngine to Lumberyard has not been smooth. As I understand it Lumberyard is a fork of CryEngine. But The CryEngine the devs have been working with now included a ton of custom technology (like 64 bit indexes) And that was the main bit of work. It’s done though, the transition is complete according to what they are saying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-citizen-is-the-future-of-pc-gaming-and-it-was-free-to-play-this-week-edit-no-longer-free/734528.md?page=11)