Time for my hot-takes on the $27,000 controversy away from that thread where we're the idiot cultists and our opinion is tainted by the mind control of CR;
I feel like CIG's brand has been mismanaged severely. Star Citizen should be a brand that's about doing exciting things, over-coming incredible tech-hurdles and introducing things we haven't seen before. Instead, Star Citizen is known as the game that sells ships for $10,000+. I feel like that takes away from both the community and the developers who work their tails off for us. It's frustrating for us to not be able to talk about the game without being weighed down by the massive prices some of these packs go for, and I imagine it's just as frustrating for developers to see their hard work dismissed because of the same thing.
Scam, Vaporware, Duke Nukem Forever comparisons, all of those are silly. I find them uninformed, it takes just a few minutes of researching to know that this game is in active development, with progress towards all of it's goals, and it offers us a comprehensive build to play (performance issues aside). These comments only get people that back the game and give a shit about it worked up and turn threads into shit-flinging contests.
That being said, the funding model will obviously gain attention and scrutiny. The business practices from CIG over the last few months haven't exactly been well received.
I think it's painfully obvious that CR promised things well before they could actually be done, and now CIG are chasing their own tail trying to deliver. I think they'll accomplish those but I think it's good that CR has kept his mouth shut for a while now. I would prioritize differently, and with 5 studios across the world, there's a constant battle I imagine on what they're going to be doing next and where focus/attention should be placed.
Let's not forget that CIG is building out two games, SQ42 also takes up a significant portion of their resources, and while tech is shared, we don't get to see it right away. This is a huge thing that most people forget, SC has taken on a life on it's own, and the fact they're developing an AAA modern Wing Commander with an incredible (and expensive) cast alongside it gets forgotten.
Have we seen progress in reasonable time frames? I think 3.1.4 is a step up over 3.0. I think the Monthly Reports, the ATVs, and what we get to see shows that they're working extremely hard on this game. If 3.2 brings all of it's features, it'd be a step up over 3.1.4. At the same time, this game is so huge, with so many things that need to get done, it's difficult to say we've seen 'reasonable' progress. Again, not because progress is slow, but because there are two games to be finished and one game happens to want to be a universe simulator. There are many things that are still talked about like they're in the distant future, a lot of the deep gameplay that makes games engaging doesn't seem to be coming this year. I think the talent, money and work-ethic is there to see the two games through, but it won't be soon.
I think it's okay to not be okay with Star Citizen's business model. I don't encourage anyone to buy into the game unless they like what they see, and are willing to gamble on CIG. I also thinks ships are expensive, I know why they're expensive, but it doesn't make it sit any easier with me.
I think it's okay to question the legitimacy of Star Citizen's chase for ambition. Nothing with this game is set in stone, and CIG developers have a hard-time of saying "no" to ideas presented to them, this is good and bad.
I think it's okay to be skeptical of whether or not the game will ever be 'finished'. The budget dictates the scope, the problem with that is, budgets typically are based on future funding. A dip could mean we see features cut - which isn't necessarily a bad thing with how much CR has promised. Then again, it might be your favorite feature that's cut.
I think it's fine to criticize the way they prioritized their goals. I would have certainly done things differently, focused more on design and system, but I'm not at CIG so I can't say whether I'm right or wrong. I think it's okay to not be happy with the level of progress while still understanding significant progress is being made.
I think it's good to approach this game with an open-mind and have a open debate, with both sides dealing in facts.
I don't think it's okay to use ad hominem attacks and call the community; dumb, idiots, believers, cultitsts, rabid fanbase. It's insulting, we feel like there's no room for a debate when our opinions are dismissed for liking a game that we enjoy playing, or wanting to see it be successful.
I don't think it's acceptable to insult the developers of the game, the business model is not created by the developers. The developers work as hard as any other studio in the world, and making games is EXTREMELY difficult. CIG has some of the best talent in the world, and the things they're being asked to do borderlines on unreasonable or even unthinkable, yet they have continued to deliver.
I don't think it's acceptable to dismiss the considerable and measured progress the development team has made towards it's goals the past year. "Taking too long" isn't a totally reasonable argument, games take a long time to make. God of War is a much smaller game in scope and took 5 years (because they had to redo the engine to meet their goals). Delays are usually accepted; "take as long as you need" is a common saying, the same should be applied to Star Citizen. CIG has only been in full development on BOTH Squadron 42 and Star Citizen for 2-3 years, the other years were dealing with a much different game, with a much smaller scope.
I don't think we want anyone to be offended FOR US. We are the community, the broader community decides what happens with this game. It's not fair to tell us what our game should be like; "they should have released a smaller game, they should have stopped adding features, etc" - The community DIDN'T want this. The reason funding is as consistent as it is, is because generally we are happy with the direction this game is going.
There are a lot of people on this forum who don't care about this game who speak for us, and then dismiss our opinion because we are part of the community. It's mind numbing how many discussions go; "they should have cut features and released a smaller game and added onto it" - "no we didnt want that, we wanted more features" - "well, you and all the other CR/CIG believers of course believe in the game! of course you want more features of course you will defend it!" lol
I hope that in the future our opinions won't be dismissed, that the ad hominem attacks against us stop. That the attacks against the developers stop, and people realize that it's fine to have a balanced opinion.
Calling it a scam, calling the developers lazy, calling the community "stupid, suckers, idiots, cultists" isn't going to result in any well reasoned debate and is against the Member Etiquette, IMO.
I look forward to FAIR AND BALANCED discussions.