# 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:** 45
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 5:46pm 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/734528/881 "2022-09-20T17:46:19Z")
I can’t imagine where the ad budget is going, because I never see any ads for this. I’d assume it’s largely marketing to the existing client base to get more money out of them. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2022, 6:46pm 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/734528/882 "2022-09-20T18:46:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I can’t imagine where the ad budget is going Promotional videos and free play events? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 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/734528/883 "2022-09-20T19:19:13Z")
The ad budget is probably the thing I’d question the least. They got hundreds of millions in crowdsourced funding. It’s quite possible none of that is due to advertising but whatever they’re doing to bring money in, it’s clearly working. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 12:30pm 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/734528/884 "2022-09-21T12:30:23Z")
> [@naita](#): > > According to the company financials all the money is going straight back out to pay for advertising and, presumably, a shit ton of developers Sure… “advertising” and “developers”, all of whom are real people doing real work, and not at all phony subcontractors funneling the money off to wherever. Sure. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 1:43pm 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/734528/885 "2022-09-21T13:43:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sure… “advertising” and “developers”, all of whom are real people doing real work, and not at all phony subcontractors funneling the money off to wherever. Sure. We are well past the break-even point of doubt as to whether the developers are wholly invested in developing a game, versus at least some of them developing cinematics to show off that LOOK like a game. If you read the updates, the feature creep has entered a level of… well, it’s either self-delusion or fraud. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 2:22pm 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/734528/886 "2022-09-21T14:22:43Z")
Well, that’s where budget money ultimately goes, right? Salary/compensation to _somebody_. In this case, it looks like the ad team is really, really good at what they do. ---
**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, 2022, 2:30pm 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/734528/887 "2022-09-21T14:30:13Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > In this case, it looks like the ad team is really, really good at what they do. Are they? I don’t see ads for Star Citizen, even when this thread bumps and my cookie trail gets a few articles and mentions of the game. It appears to rely entirely on word of mouth and game journalism. Hell, this very thread was started by a True Believer who was running around the internet spamming referral links. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 2:36pm 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/734528/888 "2022-09-21T14:36:25Z")
It’s entirely possible the advertising team is incompetent. But based solely on the results, something is going right. They likely have their own ways of measuring performance, but I’m not going to knock the ad people or the front line developers for this travesty. Rather, it’s the executives and creators and other folks at the top that have a lot to answer for. Some random person working what seems more or less like a normal job at a games corporation and just trying to make a living? Why blame them at all? Just by association? There are several companies that ended up being shams or otherwise crummy in a lot of ways (Enron, Bernie Madoff’s fund, etc) that had hundreds or thousands of regular employees who did not deserve opprobrium simply for working for what we found out eventually were crummy people. The ones up top that have to know it’s a scam and keep perpetuating it? Yeah, I blame them a lot. ---
**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, 2022, 2:50pm 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/734528/889 "2022-09-21T14:50:17Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Some random person working what seems more or less like a normal job at a games corporation and just trying to make a living? Why blame them at all? Just for association? I think it depends on the job they have. If they’re just accepting a paycheck for going in and working on components of the game? I dunno. The game has been in development for over ten years, so there’s no such thing as being unaware of its true nature, and working on the product means you’re contributing to the scheme. On the other hand, keeping your head down and getting a paycheck for working on bedsheet physics or whatever probably isn’t that big a deal in the grand scheme. On the **other other** hand, I’m sure they’re getting well paid, and they **know** they’re being paid with dirty (or at least smudged) money taken from gullible whales. But ad/PR guys? Community managers? Anybody who has a public-facing role (and that includes programmers who showcase their work in vlogs or whatever else) is absolutely and explicitly complicit in perpetuating the fraud. No question. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 9:12pm 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/734528/890 "2022-09-21T21:12:15Z")
I think “ad budget” means “bribes paid to gaming industry journalists to write articles”, and possibly “bribes paid to ‘users’ to hype the game on social media”. Maybe even “starting up ‘gaming journalism’ shell companies to write articles”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 10:37pm 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/734528/891 "2022-09-21T22:37:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > possibly “bribes paid to ‘users’ to hype the game on social media”. Maybe even “starting up ‘gaming journalism’ shell companies to write articles”. They’re called “Influencers” these days. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 12:54pm 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/734528/892 "2022-10-07T12:54:53Z")
I do find it astonishing that people keep investing money after all this time. Can I ask a software question? Assuming that a load of game code was written ten years ago - would it still be useful today? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 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/734528/893 "2022-10-07T19:30:33Z")
A lot of it, yeah. Most of the improvements that are made with time to video games are just in the graphics rendering. Everything else could be kept as-is. Of course, they’re also trying to reinvent the wheel with their graphics rendering, so… ---
**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:** [October 7, 2022, 7:55pm 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/734528/894 "2022-10-07T19:55:39Z")
This thread is just shy of being 7 years old. Star Citizen is just as close to release now as it was back then. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 8:02pm 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/734528/895 "2022-10-07T20:02:09Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Assuming that a load of game code was written ten years ago - would it still be useful today? Oh, sure. World of Warcraft came out in 2004, and is still going. Bethesda Software released its first game using their Creation engine in 2011, and their current online game, _Fallout '76_ is still using it. The Creation engine itself was based on the Gamebryo engine, which was first used in a published game in 2001. Obviously, these engines have undergone a ton of tweaks and upgrades, and there may be a bit of “Ship of Theseus” about it, but ten year old (or more) engines are not uncommon in the game industry. ---
**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 7, 2022, 9:02pm 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/734528/896 "2022-10-07T21:02:54Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Assuming that a load of game code was written ten years ago - would it still be useful today? As others said, decade-old code is not a problem in and of itself. But I suspect what you’re getting at here is: are the developers going to find themselves on a treadmill, where because they’ve tackled too much to finish quickly, they’re going to find that when they “finish”, they actually have to start all over again because the stuff they did 10 years ago is obsolete? And that absolutely can happen. The classic case is Duke Nukem Forever, which was in development hell for \>10 years, partly because they kept having to re-do parts that became out of date. Some of that was graphics; textures and models that looked good a decade ago don’t look so great today. But some of it was actually code–because they didn’t have their own engine, and they kept switching to more modern engines (to keep up with graphics improvements, etc.) things like AI routines, game logic, etc. had to be rewritten. The code didn’t stop working exactly, but it just wasn’t applicable to the new engine. Star Citizen has also gone through a couple of engine changes. So, probably they’ve had the same issue to some extent, where the early code had to be tossed because it was for a different engine. I don’t think we know enough about their internal development practices to be sure, 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:** [October 7, 2022, 9:06pm 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/734528/897 "2022-10-07T21:06:17Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > As others said, decade-old code is not a problem in and of itself. But I suspect what you’re getting at here is: are the developers going to find themselves on a treadmill, where because they’ve tackled too much to finish quickly, they’re going to find that when they “finish”, they actually have to start all over again because the stuff they did 10 years ago is obsolete? > > And that absolutely can happen. Post #207, nearly six years ago: > [@Skywatcher](#): > > If the game ever gets going, how many … are going to find an unplayable mess no matter what hardware they have? ---
**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 7, 2022, 9:16pm 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/734528/898 "2022-10-07T21:16:21Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > 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. I almost forgot about this. We’re now very close to the 10-year anniversary of the Kickstarter! > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Post #207, nearly six years ago: When I tried it last year on a free weekend, performance was terrible on a 3080. Unplayable in parts. More importantly, though, there didn’t seem to be a _game_ there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:58pm 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/734528/899 "2022-10-08T12:58:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Obviously, these engines have undergone a ton of tweaks and upgrades, and there may be a bit of “Ship of Theseus” about it, but ten year old (or more) engines are not uncommon in the game industry. Plus, there’s a lot more to a game than the engine. Most games just license an already-developed engine from some other company, and most of what makes the difference between a good game and a bad game (or in this case, “no game there”) isn’t in the engine. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:20pm 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/734528/900 "2022-10-08T15:20:20Z")
I’m surprised they haven’t announced that they’re migrating to their own custom engine yet; that would let them make even more lofty promises while buying at least another half a decade of “development” time. [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=44) [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=46)