# 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:** 38
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 10:27pm 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/734528/741 "2021-10-13T22:27:05Z")
They should rename it **Star Citizen Forever**. The SC Kickstarter was launched on October 18, 2012. So we’re very close to the 9th anniversary. We should have a big celebration next year. Apparently they actually started working on it in 2010, so in a way we’re already well past the 10th anniversary. But I feel like it’s more fair to use the date when so many people bought ships and such that they expected to see in only a few short years. ---
**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 15, 2021, 10:09pm 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/734528/742 "2021-10-15T22:09:39Z")
Interesting Reddit post from a guy who took CIG to small claims court and got a refund. > **[r/starcitizen\_refunds - How to get a refund from CIG after 30 days (UK Only)](https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen_refunds/comments/q78fep/how_to_get_a_refund_from_cig_after_30_days_uk_only/)** > > 402 votes and 174 comments so far on Reddit ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 6:15pm 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/734528/743 "2021-10-18T18:15:33Z")
From what I read and watch on YouTube, it _almost_ seems like SC is close to a turning point where they can easily add new star systems and a dynamic universe. Being desperate for a new space sim with landable planets, I spent $45 and got a basic package. At first performance was terrible on my aging machine, as it had been on the free play events. I always chalked that up to their servers being overloaded. I followed every suggestion on their support page including updating my graphics drivers, putting my swap file on an SSD, and lowering my resolution to 1920x1080 (from 2560x1080) and got it running reasonably smoothly. I’ve gotten to the point where I can fly my ship, navigate to other planets/moons/stations pretty well, land at ground facilities, and complete waste disposal missions. Waste disposal missions generally involve landing at some deserted outpost and carrying 2 or 3 boxes from the outpost to my ship, then flying away from the outpost and disposing of the boxes however I wish. I fly into space, open the side door, and chuck them into space lol. Anything that involves combat I suck at, seems like we just keep jousting and I can’t penetrate the opponent’s shields. Maybe the starting weapons suck, so I’m working on doing the non-combat disposal missions to earn enough for more weapons. Speaking of weapons, I spent 30+ minutes wandering around a station looking for ship weapons, only to find out later from posting on a message board that station doesn’t sell weapons. Back to Port Olisaur, which is where I started looking but the weapon purchase terminal was bugging out at the time. Hopefully it won’t be now. The star system map/play area is larger and more complex than it initially seems, there are moons and stations around the planets, and many facilities on the moon/planet surfaces. Exploration potential is high if they make interesting reasons to go places. Flying over and walking on planet surfaces is impressive. It’s buggy and laggy at times. For an alpha, it’s good, style and textures are nice, space flight feels good, it supports multiplayer, and the transition to/from planets is good. For an alpha that’s taken 10 years so far, not as good. I wouldn’t classify SC as a “scam” exactly, it’s already better than some released space sim games I’ve played. But why people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on ships I will never understand, that’s the scam in my mind. But if they purchasers are happy who am I to judge, I guess. If I want a bunch of ships to play with I will play X4 or Empyrion. ---
**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 28, 2021, 7:19pm 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/734528/744 "2021-10-28T19:19:53Z")
Looks like Alpha 3.15 introduced a new way to grief: > **[Star Citizen Players in Safe Zones Can Overdose Others on Healing Meds](https://cogconnected.com/2021/10/star-citizen-healing-meds-overdose/)** > > Players in Star Citizen's test servers have discovered that they can overdose other unsuspecting players on healing meds and steal their inventory. Does anyone involved in the production of this thing actually know what they’re doing? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 7:30pm 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/734528/745 "2021-10-28T19:30:31Z")
That is funny, but actually I’d consider it a positive sign for the game. I always like to see emergent gameplay–unexpected results from the “rules” of the game interacting in weird ways. One of the classic examples is the [corrupted blood incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood_incident) in World of Warcraft, where a disease spell from a high level boss was carried back to starter areas and infected everyone, including NPC guards. Sure, they should fix it, but I don’t begrudge them for missing this one. All the other promises they’ve made, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 8:13pm 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/734528/746 "2021-10-28T20:13:26Z")
Also funny (and a bit less excusable): [![](https://i.redd.it/jg2tniduuzv71.png) ](https://i.redd.it/jg2tniduuzv71.png) [![](https://i.redd.it/3ts9b22eszv71.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/3ts9b22eszv71.jpg) ---
**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 28, 2021, 8:19pm 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/734528/747 "2021-10-28T20:19:52Z")
That reminds me of the Borderlands weapon that shot pumpkins. > **[Jack-o'-Cannon](https://borderlands.fandom.com/wiki/Jack-o%27-Cannon)** > > Jack-o'-Cannon is an unique shotgun in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel manufactured by Torgue. It is obtained randomly from any suitable loot source. Your body lies beaten, battered and broken. – Launches flaming Jack-o'-lanterns that explode upon... I think I have that shotgun on Claptrap in my game (I haven’t played it in years though). ---
**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 5, 2021, 6:26pm 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/734528/748 "2021-11-05T18:26:38Z")
Buy more ships! Buy more ships! Buy more ships! > **[Star Citizen Teases Intergalactic Aerospace Expo & Free Fly Event as...](https://twinfinite.net/2021/10/star-citizen-iae-2951-tease/)** > > Today Cloud Imperium Games released new videos about its growing space simulator Star Citizen, which is soon getting a relevant event. Oh, and be sure to watch our video of a space station in the new star system. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 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/734528/749 "2021-11-05T21:25:24Z")
$395 million and still in “alpha.” ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 3:49am 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/734528/750 "2021-11-06T03:49:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > $395 million and still in “alpha.”. At the moment my distraction du jour is _Pathfinder:Wrath of the Righteous_. I just looked up the details. Owlcat studios launched a [Kickstarter campaign](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/owlcatgames/pathfinder-wrath-of-the-righteous) in 2020 for extra funding and smashed their $300k goal, ending up with over $2 million. Why? I presume because they had delivered a good rpg already in 2018 and this was a sequel. And as I said here I am just a little while later in 2021 having a lot of fun, just like I did with the first game. It came out needing a fair bit of patching, but Owlcat has been working on it steadily and it is becoming smoother and smoother, as these things are supposed to go. It really boggles my mind how huge of a scam (semi-scam?) _Star Citizen_ has been. ---
**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 10, 2021, 5:11pm 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/734528/751 "2021-11-10T17:11:01Z")
> **[Star Citizen developer plans 1000-person Manchester mega studio](https://www.eurogamer.net/star-citizen-developer-plans-1000-person-manchester-mega-studio)** > > Star Citizen and Squadron 42 developer Cloud Imperium Games plans to open a huge new studio in Manchester, making it on… ---
**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 10, 2021, 5:24pm 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/734528/752 "2021-11-10T17:24:18Z")
I’m guessing that’s why the TOS was revised to say they don’t have to specify what they’re doing with all the money they’ve been raking in. I wonder how many [$21,000 doors](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/734528/164) are in there. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:54am 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/734528/753 "2021-11-11T01:54:53Z")
I used to say it was a huge scam, and now I’m starting to think it’s the biggest troll ever. “We can’t get a game out in time, what we need is a giant new office!” ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 4:20pm 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/734528/754 "2021-11-11T16:20:32Z")
I’ve been following this thread out of morbid fascination for two years, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Chris Roberts has realized, perhaps unconsciously, that his business model depends on never actually producing a finished game, just the buggy demos. There’s no way the game can live up to the anticipation; look what happened to _Cheers_ when Sam and Diane finally got together. ---
**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 11, 2021, 4:24pm 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/734528/755 "2021-11-11T16:24:58Z")
Yes, I think it was definitely a legitimate attempt at developing the project early on, I don’t think it started as a scam. But everyone knows now that they can’t actually release, it would be the end of everything, massive backlash. Some of the true believers (like Roberts himself) probably don’t acknowledge this consciously and justify it to themselves as taking the proper time to make the most ambitious game ever, but I think on some level they know. It’s not the same situation, but it reminds me a little bit of GRRM and the song of ice and fire series. He knows that he’s not going to be able to write a satisfying ending and so he’s just delaying and delaying over and over again until he dies. But the fans are still convinced that he’s working on what’s going to be the most amazing ending to the series of books ever and it’s going to be so great! I’m not saying it’s the same thing, because GRRM is not asking people to pay $300 for, I don’t know, character art or hypothetical chapter summaries or whatever analogy you’d use, but there’s a similarity in the true believer “the delay just means it’s going to be that much greater!” similarity between the two situations. Both know that the product will never live up to the hype at this point, and so they are highly disincentivized never to release them. The outcome will be different, though. GRRM’s plan is to die and have his estate refuse to release any of his materials, and fans can think to themselves “I’m sure something amazing was 90% done and it’s a tragedy that it was never finished”, but there’s no such option with star citizen. It can’t just disappear from the limelight or convince fans that it would’ve been great (although I’m sure there are some true believers, heavily invested, who will try to come up with some sort of narrative). I guess it will just sort of fade from the public over the next 10 years or so, with holdouts who are convinced that it’s not dead yet still justifying their fandom till the end. I am curious, at any point, if they’re going to consider it released at any point and just face the backlash, or if they just sort of fade away withoute ver officially releasing anything. ---
**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 11, 2021, 9:05pm 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/734528/756 "2021-11-11T21:05:38Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > There’s no way the game can live up to the anticipation; look what happened to _Cheers_ when Sam and Diane finally got together. So what you’re saying is that Cloud Imperium is teasing fans with an endless pre-release state, and it’s essential to maintain that sexual tension. Once they release, it’s spent. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 9:07pm 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/734528/757 "2021-11-11T21:07:57Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > So what you’re saying is that Cloud Imperium is teasing fans with an endless pre-release state, and it’s essential to maintain that sexual tension. > > Once they release, it’s spent. Gives a whole new meaning to “edgelord”, dunnit? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 3:40pm 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/734528/758 "2021-11-12T15:40:27Z")
I’ve tried a lot of space sim games and once you get into space, do some missions, and land on some planets Star Citizen is actually a really nice game. It has better a flight and planet engine than many/most other space sim games. Elite Dangerous is the closest, but it only recently allowed players to get out of their ships, and they still don’t model full atmospheric planet flight AFAIK. But it’s far beyond my comprehension why people are spending hundreds/thousands of dollars on Star Citizen ships. I would say that’s the scam, but people are willingly paying for them so I don’t know. I can boot up X4 Foundations and play around with all the ships I want for free, including a full fleet of Star Wars ships. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 3:32pm 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/734528/759 "2021-11-14T15:32:09Z")
I have started misreading this thread title as: Star Citizen [was] the future of PC Gaming It would be such a better title. ---
**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 15, 2021, 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/734528/760 "2021-11-15T12:43:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I used to say it was a huge scam, and now I’m starting to think it’s the biggest troll ever. “We can’t get a game out in time, what we need is a giant new office!” It’s probably a smart move, right? As the number of funds raised creeps up to half a billion dollars,\* eventually even the most wide-eyed of believers will begin to really wonder what it’s all being spent on. Ramping up a massive studio on a five-year schedule is a great hole to throw money into. \*half. a billion. dollars. [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=37) [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=39)