# 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:** 19
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 2:17am 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/734528/361 "2018-09-21T02:17:33Z")
Yeah, the original post in the thread had a referral link. The guy was just spamming forums hoping to get some in-game currency. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 4:40pm 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/734528/362 "2018-09-23T16:40:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > They were a spammer promoting the game. You might as well hope for a conversation with the sender of a Viagra email. Nonsense. With the Viagra spammer, you have to give up after four hours. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 3:56pm 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/734528/363 "2018-10-03T15:56:37Z")
[Methinks Roberts is about to have a whole bunch of his thunder stolen.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/) Single-player only but X4 sounds & looks damn good, and I just bought a new computer which happens to have the recommended specs. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 5:44pm 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/734528/364 "2018-10-03T17:44:58Z")
Aren’t you forgetting Elite Dangerous? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 6:51pm 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/734528/365 "2018-10-03T18:51:59Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Aren’t you forgetting Elite Dangerous? X4 sounds like it’s taking the best elements from that game plus the best elements from No Man’s Sky and creating something new. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 12:38am 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/734528/366 "2018-10-04T00:38:04Z")
Ooh that game looks good. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 1:30am 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/734528/367 "2018-10-04T01:30:07Z")
I can make a minor contribution (just like I did to Star Citizen!): the game, such as it is, is fucking mind blowing. I finally can run it now (requires at least 8GB of RAM) on it’s lowest settings and it still looks amazing and is true to four dimensional space, gravity, etc. It’s complicated as fuck though. The keyboard really needs an old school overlay there’s so many damn commands. I did a quick run through with a friend who’s experienced with it and has a God PC to run it on and through Discord and headphones he patiently guided me through simple tasks, then through more complex ones, including flying the ship I had already bought, but that got rough. “Q does this, you need to hit K for that, etc etc”. Fuck, I can’t remember all that stuff. Apparently as its in ongoing development, it only has a couple space stations, a few moons and some asteroids to visit, but there’s AI controlled (I forget what the AI Navy is called, the MSC or some such) space for shipping lanes, etc, and outside of that you risk being attacked by pirates, and all kinds of pretty cool shit. My friend has sent me several jaw-dropping screen shots from his rig of corpses floating in front of his ship that he and his friends just destroyed that were pirates, cool otherwordly spacescapes, etc. If the game ever fully gets off the ground, the possibilities for where to go, what kind of career you want to have doing whatever you want in this vast, vast galaxy is going to start to take shape. Allegedly. At least, those are the notes I have. Still pretty damn cool so far, although I was so overwhelmed at first (and intimidated) that I begged off after about an hour and I am screwing up my courage to play again. I hate absolutely sucking at games, and I completely suck at this one. Learning curve seems steep for the casual gamer like me. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 2:26pm 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/734528/368 "2018-10-04T14:26:27Z")
I guess what I really could have said was that its right now more like “a really cool place” as opposed to “a game”. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 3:19pm 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/734528/369 "2018-10-04T15:19:08Z")
You could say it’s EVE with walking. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2018, 5:10pm 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/734528/370 "2018-10-04T17:10:00Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I guess what I really could have said was that its right now more like “a really cool place” as opposed to “a game”. Given that there is plenty of incentive to continue development with no requirement to specify exactly what is being done with all that money and negative incentive to officially stop development, it’s highly likely that “a really cool place” is all this will ever be. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 5:29pm 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/734528/371 "2018-10-04T17:29:06Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I guess what I really could have said was that its right now more like “a really cool place” as opposed to “a game”. That’s basically how I’d describe _No Man’s Sky,_ even in its current very awesome state. The problem is that NMS never aspired to be much more than the “chill exploration simulator” it is. That’s a stark contrast to _Star Citizen,_ which aspires to be the very best part of every space sim ever created. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 6:44pm 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/734528/372 "2018-10-04T18:44:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > That’s basically how I’d describe _No Man’s Sky,_ even in its current very awesome state. The problem is that NMS never aspired to be much more than the “chill exploration simulator” it is. That’s a stark contrast to _Star Citizen,_ which aspires to be the very best part of every space sim ever created. “Star Citizen isn’t a game, it’s an idea! It’s in all of our hearts!” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 7:10pm 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/734528/373 "2018-10-04T19:10:42Z")
X4 is simply a harbinger of what will inevitably happen; other games that were what Star Citizen should have been will come along and snap up all the customers while Star Citizen is still in “development.” ---
**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:** [October 4, 2018, 7:11pm 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/734528/374 "2018-10-04T19:11:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > That’s a stark contrast to _Star Citizen,_ which aspires to be the very best part of every space sim ever created. And, evidently, what X4 is going to be, just without the multiplayer. ETA: nice simul-post. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 7:57pm 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/734528/375 "2018-10-04T19:57:34Z")
I want to be excited for X4. Then I remember X:Rebirth and get pissed off all over again. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 2:18am 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/734528/376 "2018-10-12T02:18:49Z")
Sooo…the new trailer for “Squadron 42” just dropped to demo the single player mode of this game that’s coming. If it looks anything like the trailer, and it probably will given the PC system requirements to even run this game, it looks…AWESOME!!! If they deliver on this all the doubters will disappear. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VppjX4to9s4/maxresdefault.jpg "Squadron 42 Cinematic Teaser") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppjX4to9s4) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 4:59am 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/734528/377 "2018-10-12T04:59:35Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > If they deliver on this all the doubters will disappear. Your statement is quite tautologically sound. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 12:10pm 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/734528/378 "2018-10-12T12:10:25Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > If they deliver on this all the doubters will disappear. That’s been true since the game was announced in… 2012? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 12:43pm 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/734528/379 "2018-10-12T12:43:14Z")
Yeah, an extended cutscene without about 5 seconds of actual gameplay doesn’t exactly make me slaver in anticipation. And whoever made the decision to have the characters look exactly like their famous voice actors should be tossed out an airlock. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 12:49pm 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/734528/380 "2018-10-12T12:49:24Z")
Well, hey, that’s what Chris Roberts did with Wing Commander III back in 1997 or whenever it was. That’s a Youtube video, so who cares? Games aren’t videos. [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=18) [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=20)