# 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:** 25
**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:** [November 19, 2019, 10:18pm 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/734528/481 "2019-11-19T22:18:16Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Don’t expect a full release for at least another four years.](http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/star-citizen-creator-chris-roberts-on-the-future-of-gaming.html) I don’t have much hope that the game will ever come out, but I don’t think he’s saying he’s delaying the game until ray tracing is perfected - just that it’s a technology he’s looking forward to. ---
**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 19, 2019, 10:41pm 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/734528/482 "2019-11-19T22:41:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > I don’t have much hope that the game will ever come out, but I don’t think he’s saying he’s delaying the game until ray tracing is perfected - just that it’s a technology he’s looking forward to. Note what question he answered; he pretty much came right out and said that he’ll wait four years for technology to catch up. The interviewer should have pressed him for clarification. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 3:06am 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/734528/483 "2019-11-20T03:06:24Z")
I don’t especially mean to be cruel, but while I’ve followed the story for quite some time now, and there is technically a “game,” can anyone confirm my impression? It seems that, yes, there’s sort of a bare-bones world you can wander, but there aren’t really any systems to interact with. You can shoot other players, but there just isn’t any kind of economy, let alone a way to progress. Exploration seems to be functionally nonexistent and there are huge tracts of real estate in the game that have no purpose whatsoever. What I mean is that there isn’t even a real deathmatch system, let alone any of the deep world systems that are supposed to be in the final product, right? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2019, 7:36pm 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/734528/484 "2019-11-24T19:36:31Z")
[A release date has been announced!](https://www.polygon.com/pc/2019/11/24/20980517/star-citizen-release-dates-pc-theaters-of-war-squadron-42-anvil-carrack-citizencon-2019) Oh no, not for the game. For the Anvil Carrack, a $350 concept ship that went on sale in 2014. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2019, 7:52pm 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/734528/485 "2019-11-24T19:52:47Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > [A release date has been announced!](https://www.polygon.com/pc/2019/11/24/20980517/star-citizen-release-dates-pc-theaters-of-war-squadron-42-anvil-carrack-citizencon-2019) > > Oh no, not for the game. > > For the Anvil Carrack, a $350 concept ship that went on sale in 2014. Even more importantly, they’re adding another feature/game mode. This is a game suffering from epic feature creep and this is just another example. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2019, 7:56pm 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/734528/486 "2019-11-24T19:56:05Z")
The crazy thing is, that extra mode could be its own game! A class-based FPS that features three distinct phases, each at a different scale and culminating in an epic space battle? It’s like the original Star Wars: Battlefront on crack and I would totally play that game. Somebody should make it. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2019, 8:40pm 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/734528/487 "2019-11-24T20:40:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Somebody should make it. Agreed because Cloud Imperium won’t. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 11:42pm 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/734528/488 "2019-11-24T23:42:16Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Even more importantly, they’re adding another feature/game mode. This is a game suffering from epic feature creep and this is just another example. To be fair, it is unthinkable to release a game in 2025 without a Battle Royale mode. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 1:11am 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/734528/489 "2019-11-26T01:11:03Z")
So the title of the thread still holds true then? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 1:21am 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/734528/490 "2019-11-26T01:21:21Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > So the title of the thread still holds true then? Yes because this game is always going to exist only in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 1:35am 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/734528/491 "2019-11-26T01:35:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Star Citizen” is still more “Wing Commander,” just way open ended, at least in theory. Still, needs more cats. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 3:31am 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/734528/492 "2019-11-26T03:31:59Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Yes because this game is always going to exist only in the future. lulz. What’s funny is I contributed a low level donation and upgraded my PC just to play this game with a friend. It’s actually quite awesome if your rig is specced to run it. The problem is I hated it because it’s extremely complicated for this piker. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 2:20pm 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/734528/493 "2019-11-27T14:20:11Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Even more importantly, they’re adding another feature/game mode. This is a game suffering from epic feature creep and this is just another example. “Feature creep” really doesn’t describe this. It’s way past that. The linked article is… surreal, I guess. I mean, the announcement weas made at CitizenCon. They’re holding conventions for a game that isn’t out yet. I can understand going to BlizzCon, because you can celebrate games that, you know, exist. World of Warcraft and Diablo are actual games that were published in a finished form and are playable as advertised. The author of this article, Owen Good, dutifully repeats alleged features and CIG marketing statements without even the slightest hint of the fact that the entire enterprise is a ridiculous joke until the4 end of the peice when he writes that the gargantuan money sink has “… made the spaceflight sim quite a controversial project.” It’s like when Donald Trump says clockwise is actually counterclockwise and the media says “Directions are a new debate.” I’m still back and forth on whether Roberts and his inner circle are honestly trying to make a game or if it’s now really just a Ponzi scheme. (Ponzi scheme is not exactly a technically correct term but I don’t know what else to call it.) Obviously they started out wanting to make a game; I just don’t know if they have yet truly switched over to primarily trying to keep the suckers buying air. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2019, 4:37pm 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/734528/494 "2019-11-27T16:37:09Z")
So long as the game remains in development, all of the money they’ve received are pledges. Nobody has bought anything. Per the terms of their EULA, they’re not responsible for their own promises until they’ve released a finished product. They have a successful business model that has brought in more money over a longer period of time than many, many games. They’re paying salaries, keeping the lights running, holding conventions, etc. The Star Citizen Kickstarter closed in November of 2012, so that means the game has been making money for \*\*seven years. \*\* So… why finish? ---
**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:** [December 2, 2019, 11:20pm 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/734528/495 "2019-12-02T23:20:13Z")
And they just broke the quarter-billion mark. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 11:22pm 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/734528/496 "2019-12-02T23:22:44Z")
Out of idle curiosity, does anyone know what the second-most-expensive-video-game-in-history was? How much did it cost? How long did it take to reach completion? ---
**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:** [December 2, 2019, 11:51pm 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/734528/497 "2019-12-02T23:51:22Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Out of idle curiosity, does anyone know what the second-most-expensive-video-game-in-history was? How much did it cost? How long did it take to reach completion? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 cost $250 million to make. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96227-How-Much-Did-Modern-Warfare-2-Cost-to-Make](http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96227-How-Much-Did-Modern-Warfare-2-Cost-to-Make) Adjusted for inflation that works out to just under $300 million. It’s considered the most expensive game ever made. Keep in mind that 80% of the cost of the game was marketing. Actual development costs were around $50 million. So despite its bloat, Star Citizen isn’t yet the most expensive. It’s getting there. Also more expensive was GTAV, its adjusted expense in today’s money was $285 million. Assuming the total cost of Star Citizen is the $250 million being cited, it is in third place. It’s ahead of Star Wars: The Old Republic, which cost a bit over $223 million adjusted for inflation. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2019, 12:05am 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/734528/498 "2019-12-03T00:05:20Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m still back and forth on whether Roberts and his inner circle are honestly trying to make a game or if it’s now really just a Ponzi scheme. (Ponzi scheme is not exactly a technically correct term but I don’t know what else to call it.) Obviously they started out wanting to make a game; I just don’t know if they have yet truly switched over to primarily trying to keep the suckers buying air. The technical term is vaporware. Of course that runs the gamut from a product that is earnestly being worked on but fails to release, to a scam that was never real to begin with. The Phantom console comes to my mind when I think of malicious vaporware: > **[Phantom Entertainment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Entertainment)** > > Phantom Entertainment, Inc. (known as Infinium Labs, Inc. until 2006) was a company founded in 2002 by Tim Roberts which made computer keyboards. However, Phantom was best known for the Phantom, a video game console advertised for Internet gaming on demand in 2004; it was never marketed, leading to suggestions that it was vaporware. The company's website was last updated in late 2011. > Infinium Labs was founded by Tim Roberts in 2002 as a private company. In January 2003 it issued a press relea... That involved people connected to organized crime, the product was never intended to be made, and the SEC went after them. I doubt that Star Citizen is anything like that. I think that they went into this with the intention of making a real game but they just don’t know when to rein it in and set up realistic goals. I think of it like this… Imagine a high school is putting on a Halloween event. They put together a planning committee and go about getting a budget. Suddenly they get a huge influx of cash from a wealthy alumnus who wants to give back to the school and announces that the cash has to be used for the event. Now they suddenly have many thousands of dollars to spend and they go crazy with more and more outlandish ideas. Their plans become too much for a high school to support and the group of students are unable to get everything prepared in time for Halloween, and so the event never happens. That sudden windfall is too much of a good thing. I feel like that’s what happened here. The Kickstarter gave them such a budget that they kept adding features, which led to more pledges, and then funding becomes a self-sustaining creature where they need to promise more and bigger things to bring more pledge money, etc. So they’re bringing in lots of money for something that will never get done. No intentional fraud involved, just delusion. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 2:52am 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/734528/499 "2019-12-03T02:52:42Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Also more expensive was GTAV, its adjusted expense in today’s money was $285 million. And GTAV has made around $6 billion. ---
**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 6, 2019, 8:51pm 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/734528/500 "2019-12-06T20:51:31Z")
[A BBC tech program, Click, will be looking into just why Star Citizen is taking forever to release … on December 14 at 1:30p UK time on the BBC News Channel.](https://www.mmorpg.com/star-citizen/news/star-citizen-delays-and-funding-to-be-investigated-by-bbc-program-click-1000054591) [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=24) [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=26)