Star Citizen Focus Organization

Category: Drama

  • Gamplay Suggestions For CIG – Revisited One Year Later

    Gamplay Suggestions For CIG – Revisited One Year Later

    Update March 6th 2025

    There is a community post from CIG where players can list the most game breaking bugs available here.

    Gameplay Suggestions For Star Citizen To CIG Revisited in 2025

    Last year February SCFOCUS org and affiliates contributed to an article suggesting features to CIG. This article goes over those suggestions and we look at what made it into the game and what did not. Please note that we are aware that some of our requested features may not even be planned or may be confirmed internally to not be planned, however, it is still fun to look back.

    Caveat: We are also aware that changes in the game are unrelated to this list. No one believes that someone at CIG read this list and made any changes to the game. This does not stop us from making suggestions and then checking to see how the things we want to see in the game are coming along.

    Read the Original

    Last year’s suggestions can be found here.

    Ship & Vehicle Selling In Game

    This highly requested feature did not make it into the game in the past 12 months. Might we see it soon? Even that is unknown. This remains nowhere on the roadmap or mentioned to our knowledge.

    Secondhand Item and Ship Shops

    A wild request, probably not planned, definitely did not make it into the game in the last 12 months.

    Better Integrated Voice and Text Communications

    I know right? What were we thinking! However, in-game chat is working better and party markers are fixed as of the time of writing this article.

    New Starmap

    We got it but it was just like the old Starmap?

    Working NPC Bunkers

    Significant progress was made on NPC behavior and responsiveness. This feature did need urgent attention and it appears that with server meshing significant improvements in NPCs were made. Bravo.

    Cargo Hauling – Cargo Running

    Kind of the opposite to the suggestion happened. Instead of players being able to make more money without scripted missions the scripted missions are now paying far more than before and you can combine them with commodity trading to make even more. This does indicate a strong preference (priority) to scripted missions continues and is the course heading.

    Resupply / In-game Economy

    With the economy more dynamic and the scripted missions in a more integrated state, the supply / demand and the resulting emergent gameplay seems to be headed in a great direction. The original suggestion stands, that in-game missions should dynamically spawn based on activity. For example, a player crashes his ship and the game would spawn a salvage mission for other players (or eventually another NPC to accept). This already has been in the game for a while for things like Comm Arrays and bounties, but it would be nice to see it fully integrated in all areas.

    Insurance Claim Delivery Cost & Time

    Related to the previous suggestion, claiming ships should require people to bring the ship as per the original ISO pilot spec. This is the type of feature that could be after Star Citizen 1.0.

    Ability to Stack All Items of The Same Kind

    This one seems to be at least partly implemented. General inventory and freight is still being built out so Star Citizen is expected to continue to see positive changes with playability.

    Mass Drop / Throw Away

    The freight elevator that was implemented in the last 12 months enables players to dispose of a lot of stuff (assuming the hangar is not the personal hangar). Again, it is worth mentioning these playability systems are work in progress and it certainly feels so.

    Sell All Button

    This one did not make it. Buying and selling systems still need to be completed.

    Leaving Scanned Objects Highlighted

    Another feature request that did make it during the past 12 months. After scanning, objects now do, stay highlighted for some time. Very helpful indeed!

    Conclusion

    A surprising number of the suggestions appear to have made it into the game in a year. Other suggestions, on the other hand, seem to be as far away as ever. Since the original suggestions the game has evolved significantly and the immediate future contains a lot of plans for playability and bug fixing.

    As the game continues to take shape it is interesting to see how much of the game matches expectations and speculations that players have.

  • The Strange Phenomenon of Star Citizen Haters

    The Strange Phenomenon of Star Citizen Haters

    Star Citizen Haters, Trolls and Drama Llamas are Plentiful

    Previous articles have mentioned the very high amounts of hate towards Star Citizen since the beginning of this website. One of the reasons this site was created was to help dismiss some of the lies that circulated in the community at the time about Star Citizen, many of which have since been fully debunked (see Star Citizen Myths article).

    In the past decade, Star Citizen has gone from a myth about a game that could not be developed to what it is today: a high-fidelity, real-time combat, MMORPG with space sim elements and no loading screens besides initial load. Games that have released since Star Citizen’s inception continue to prove that this is the right way as recent releases have shown that what CIG is trying to do with Star Citizen really is cutting edge.

    Star Citizen’s accomplishments have not only not silenced the haters but the whining, trolling and hating of the game and company senselessly continue. It is as though people have become addicted to a Star Citizen hate fetish. The community has been successfully tricked by trolls, whiners and haters to gather their pitchforks and bash the game incessantly.

    Bizzare levels of bashing CIG from within and without the community

    It is not enough that the Star Citizen community is flooded with external trolls trying to derail the game’s development, much of the community seems to be dedicated to the same cause. With this in mind, let’s review the current state of affairs and try to determine where the problem is. Here is a rough list of the people trying to damage Star Citizen’s development and perhaps why:

    • Competitors hiring trolls to destroy the project (competition)
    • Envious gamers
    • Hardened embittered backers
    • Content creators making money on hate and drama
    • Regular old internet trolls

    The Core Problem? – Lack of Understanding

    “Star Citizen Intel Since 2015” has been the slogan of SCFOCUS.ORG since inception. That is what this org does, we gather intel on the game, gameplay and strategy (and we have been doing this a long time). Long enough to notice a clear trend in Star Citizen Hating. At the core of the issue lies people’s inability to put things into perspective combined with the mass formation phenomenon. This is basically a way of being where people like to gather behind a cause whether it is right, in their own interest or even logical.

    This problem will be broken down into the main misconceptions (lies) that are misleading backers and non-backers alike.

    The two main problems confusing the community are:

    • Lack of understanding of video game development cycles
    • The false assumption that CIG is mismanaged

    Understanding Game Development

    As a Star Citizen backer (or potential backer), knowing how long Star Citizen and Squadron 42 will take to develop and release is an important concept to have a good understanding of. One of the main objectives with this website was to attempt to collate information and views on the development of both games. Resources to help our own org try to determine the progress of the games can be found here:

    In the last 12 months of Star Citizen some of the released features that have made it into backers hands include:

    • Persistent Entity Streaming
    • Inventory and loot
    • Medical and healing gameplay
    • Arena Commander Rework
    • Misc Hull C
    • Tractor Beam (Traversal, items, cargo…)
    • Selling
    • Crash recovery
    • Multi crew mining and salvaging

    And yet the community (ourselves included) have said that very little progress has been made when compared with the main features we are expecting.

    So what is going on with development? It has been over 10 years of development yet the games have no release dates.

    Progress and Development

    What is going on with development is that CIG is trying to make three games at the same time with a new gaming studio they have had to grow and build. We have watched as the game has grown from nothing but hype all the way to Alpha 3.20. Without Star Citizen, the other games in this genre would be your only options. We backed Star Citizen because CIG was attempting something massive and different – not because we wanted just one more space game on the market.

    Recent releases have shown that CIG is on the right path. Recent Star Citizen updates have shown that the original vision is finished and playable. Congratulations CIG and well done. It has been a long road but savvy Star Citizen followers already noticed this year that the original concept is finished.

    Star Citizen is Finished

    Our org quietly celebrated this year the completion of Star Citizen’s core mechanics during glorious Jumptown combined arms events and during other moments. While the community was busy crying about delays and mostly insignificant issues, they missed the main thing that occurred this year – The game became playable.

    The thing is that even looking at our own Playability reports it would not be possible to determine that Star Citizen core features finished this year. Yet this is precisely what happened as other knowledgeable content creators who play the game have noticed as well.

    What changed this year? Why do you claim Star Citizen’s original vision is complete?

    It was not one particular thing that made Star Citizen a fully playable experience. It was a combination of released features that made it and some stability improvements along with optimizations that led to better frame rates. Player counts went from 50 to somewhere under 200 (usually 100+) depending on server loads. The gameplay loops were finished so that players can now:

    • Mine
    • Cargo trade
    • Salvage
    • Quest
    • Pirate other players
    • Bounty Hunt
    • Race

    The basics of combat are also in where players can:

    • First Person Shooter combat
    • Flight-sim combat
    • Combined arms combat (mixed ground & air)
    • Man turrets (multicrew)
    • Large battles

    There is now a large variety of weapon & component choices where combat is truly exhilarating. A lot of fun can be had with movie-like moments that have had our org members sometimes proclaiming:

    “The crazy bastard did it.”

    While we expect it will be many months before the community and general gaming public even realize this has happened, what is on display is that there is a disconnect between what is currently playable and the assumption spread throughout that Star Citizen has nothing playable or competitive. In game events like Jumptown and community events held by groups like  XGR Racing (applause) prove that there is a lot in the game already and that people claiming there’s no game to be played are clueless pitchfork agitators rallying behind the wrong cause.

    Summarizing Progress

    In summary: Progress is slow but fast progress was never promised. What was promised (and what we backed) was quality over time. Time during this development has shown that the progress is real and the quality also. While whiners will continue to proclaim that there’s very little progress and focus on the small issues before their eyes, the rest of us will observe Star Citizen’s development reaching the end of Alpha with Early Beta closing in.

    Content is a lot easier to add to the game than core mechanics. Star Citizen has been content starved for along time and probably explains why a lot of content creators focus on the drama instead of the game. While we do not expect these content creators to change their formed ways, we do expect game-related content will start to grow in comparison.

    The CIG is Mismanaged Myth

    The CIG is Badly Managed Myth is something we have been reporting about since 2019. Even though far inferior AAA games have continued to release over the last years (including 2023), the community still clings onto this myth.

    Let’s quickly review without going into too much detail why bad management is a myth. CIG has already achieved:

    • Grown from a dozen to a studio of over a thousand (circa 1200 employees)
    • Development from nothing to play to a game with competitions with the British Army and machinima creation
    • CIG really did make a high fidelity, fps, flight-sim, MMORPG that you can playtest today
    • CIG is developing 3 games at once (Star Citizen, Squadron 42 and Arena Commander)
    • Over $600M (Star Citizen) + unknown millions with Squadron 42 of funding
    • Over 10 years of growth and still going

    Yet people within the community still claim (constantly) that CIG is mismanaged. Do people know what mismanaged companies actually look like?

    I suppose if you totally ignore reality, other games that have failed to release or released but failed to impress, only then you could get away with spreading such myths.

    The Moral of the Story

    The strange phenomenon of bashing a game you want developed is real and permeates the community to some extent. Players will ask for the game’s development to speed up or complain about how long it is taking (which is the same thing). Understanding how long it takes to build things is difficult. Ignoring the real world examples of things taking longer than people expected is not difficult, it is lazy.

    Additionally, spending resources and time hating a game you want to see finished, or bringing out pitchforks when there are unforeseen delays is counterproductive as well as annoying.

    Final Words

    This is probably not the last time we will visit the strange phenomenon of Star Citizen Hate. Scam! cries have been getting louder as the game approaches completion and people try even harder than in the past to kill this project. There was another game that released this year that had record numbers of posts and comments about how it was going to kill Star Citizen and finally prove how misguided and mismanaged this project is. – It didn’t happen. Instead, a few more people realized what is actually going on.

  • 7 Years of Progress Since Star Citizen – A Promise

    7 Years of Progress Since Star Citizen – A Promise

    Disclaimer:

    This article is reviewing the video from Brigant70 (on YouTube) about the promise that was Star Citizen at the time. The title of this article does not reflect the start date of the project, simply the video being referenced and is not meant to be click-bait. This article is purely opinion by SCFOCUS organization and written by a fan of the game. This article costs money to create and maintain and is provided solely for the purpose of enjoyment of the game. It has been an honor and pleasure to create content for the community for so many years now and looking back to see what others have created since even before me brings a tear to my eye.

    Thank you citizens and developers of Star Citizen!

    Review of Star Citizen – A Promise

    Star Citizen – A Promise, by Brigant70, is a video from September 2013 presenting his version of the dream that was at the time Star Citizen. Looking at this video from over 7 years ago it is apparent that the graphics have come further along than the rest of the game. Much of what was speculation at the time has been slowly becoming reality.

    While both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 continue to seem far away the immersion and fidelity presented in “A Promise” has made a lot of progress. It can be seen that progress continues and the dream today remains alive with funding is still growing. $20 million now almost seems like a good month for Star Citizen so it is crazy to see how much the momentum has grown over the years.

    Where is the Vision Today?

    The following video by Fleet of the Faithful Knights (on YouTube) was recently found (while writing this article) and reflects well the promise that Brigant70 portrayed back in 2013.

    While the hundreds of planets are still missing and Squadron 42 appears nowhere to be found, graphically the vision has somewhat materialized and progress, while painfully slow, continues.

    Do you want to see more Machinima?

    List of Star Citizen Machinima videos found to date.

     

    Final Disclaimer

    As always, this article does not represent the official views of Star Citizen. This information is provided to readers openly and freely and each reader is free to form their own opinion.

  • Star Citizen Myths – Biggest Myths About Star Citizen

    Star Citizen Myths – Biggest Myths About Star Citizen

    Star Citizen Lied About Release Dates – Myth

    One of the oldest and most spread myths about Star Citizen is that the company lied about release dates. The claim is that since dates were mentioned or teased for the release of Squadron 42 and were missed that the creators of Star Citizen purposely lied about about release dates.

    Reality – Star Citizen & Squadron 42 Will Release When Ready, Not Before

    The reality is that the biggest stated objective of the project is to release a good game that will not compromise quality over release dates.

    The industry standard is to release unfinished games. Projects since Star Citizen’s announcement have continued to launch in poor states throughout the industry.

    Star Citizen backers have chosen to back Star Citizen (and Squadron 42) specifically for this very reason. Quality first, release dates second. Failing to meet arbitrary dates is not just an outcome, it is a stated objective.

    Refusing to cave in to release date pressure syndrome is one of the keys to success of the project. Trolls and detractors frequently bring up this myth to attempt to spread dissent and cause chaos. The project has a quality-first approach and it should be an easy way to recognize trolls and Star Citizen haters whenever this myth is resurfaced periodically.

    Update: 12th June 2025

    Squadron 42 has a soft release date for Squadron 42 – 2026. Soft release dates means that:

    • No public and official press releases with a date have been issued
    • The game is not announced as gold standard and in distribution phase
    • The date could be pushed back again

    A hard release date would become available when the game is ready for commercial distribution.

    Squadron 42 And Star Citizen Are Developed In Parallel – Myth

    An older myth, the assumption that Squadron 42 and Star Citizen are developed in Parallel.

    Reality – Star Citizen & Squadron 42 Share Resources

    Squadron 42 and Star Citizen are essentially the same game. Assets, code, animations, flight model, the vast sum of features are shared between both games. Star Citizen and Squadron 42 share technology and assets but are separate games with different teams working on each. Hence it is possible for both projects to suffer from the same delays.

    Gamescom And Community Events Do Not Cause Development Delays – Myth

    This myth asserts that preparing for community events does not cause delays to development.

    Reality – Community Events Cause Development Delays

    Community events are set to showcase upcoming features and the potential of the games. This means that developers working on features for either game must take time away to prepare for these events for thew new features to be included.

    Even preparing a short commercial of upcoming features must include the approval for new content which in itself takes time to prepare and plan.

    Any programming for a demo must also come out of the available resource pool and therefore has an impact on future delays.

    Star Citizen Is A Scam – Myth

    Online comments calling Star Citizen a scam are perhaps the most frequent comments relating to Star Citizen that one can find online. The figures that cause the reaction include these to name a few:

    • Huge crowd funding
    • Long development time
    • Missed release dates
    • Expensive ships and in game items
    • Huge Scale of the game

    Star Citizen’s big claims and numbers combined with the long development time have sparked tremendous outrage in both fans and haters of the project.

    Reality – Star Citizen Is Not A Scam

    People started to fund Star Citizen for the goals of the project and vision. People continue to fund Star Citizen because the company is delivering on the game.

    With what is already testable in the Star Citizen Alpha it is clear to see how progress is going with the game. Additionally, for the amount of game currently “playable”, Star Citizen – for the price – offers more than many released games. This, given its still early development phase.

    Progress is being made on the following features which will lead the game to its later development stage and eventual Beta:

    • Item and vehicle persistence
    • Living economy
    • Good flight model and first person shooter combat
    • Many star systems to explore

    Additionally many of the scam claims stem from myths or misinformation. There are communities online that dedicate themselves to spreading chaos and launching malicious campaigns against the Star Citizen community.

    Further reading: Is Star Citizen a Scam?

    CIG Will Stop Selling Concept Ships After Launch – Myth

    Overeager defenders of the project sometimes claim that Concept Ship Sales will cease after commercial release. Some people find it unsavory that the primary funding source is from Concept Ship Sales (often referred to by detractors of the project as purely JPEGs – more on that myth below).

    Reality – Concept Ship Sales May Continue

    A very common misconception spread throughout the community and without is that CIG will stop selling Concept Ships after launch. Concept Ship Sales is the largest source of funding for the development of Star Citizen and there is some confusion as to what might happen at launch.

    Important data to consider:

    • Star Citizen MMO costs roughly $45 which includes Alpha, Beta and Release access to the Persistent Universe
    • Concept Ships are priced generally significantly higher than the basic Starter Packages
    • Concept Ship Sales support funding of future gameplay and ships

    Given that CIG have announced plans to continue to create new gameplay and ships even after all the initial systems are in, it has never been directly stated that Concept Ship Sales would stop at release.

    Therefore it is possible that Concept Ships could continue to be sold after Star Citizen Beta. This would support continued development of the game as well as new gameplay features.

    LTI Gives Players An Advantage – Myth

    A common myth is that Lifetime Insurance would give a player an advantage over another player with 6 months insurance.

    Reality – Lifetime Insurance Does Not Provide An Advantage

    Players destroying their ship more than another player in Star Citizen does not provide an advantage. More claims made to a ship’s insurance will not grant an advantage. After 3 months of play, for example, a better player will have far exceeded any advantage that any amount of Lifetime Insurance Claiming could possibly account for.

    Read more in this article about LTI

    Star Citizen Is Pay 2 Win – Myth – Updated

    This myth states that Star Citizen is Pay To Win. Buying more expensive ships than your opponents will lead you to victory.

    Reality – Star Citizen Is Pay To Win

    Update June 2025: During early Alpha 4.0 it became possible to earn more ships in game in various ways. For example, the F7A MK II can now be acquired via the PVP contested zones in Pyro or through Wikelo. While we had marked Pay to Win as confirmed this is being reevaluated to NOT PAY TO WIN in light of recent features.

    Update April 2023: This myth has been marked as confirmed. As Star Citizen continues to get closer to completion, the features of the game are becoming more final. Events in Star Citizen both in-game and community driven have shown that skill (and often luck) is what determines who wins. Events in Star Citizen include:

    • Jumptown
    • Siege of Orison
    • Racing
    • PVP Events
    • Dogfighting Tournaments
    • and much more…

    There are several reasons why Star Citizen does not fit with the traditional label of Pay 2 Win. Paying for a better ship does not automatically make one player beat another player. There is a variety of jobs and professions planned and simply paying more does not equal winning in this MMO.

    Player skill matters. Star Citizen is a skill based game. Players consistently outfly, outplay and outgun other players independent of spend. Also being able to group with other players can quickly turn a scenario.

    In Star Citizen, paying grants you an advantage in that players can accelerate progress by owning certain ships or items first.

    Result: Star Citizen is becoming increasingly more Pay to Win.

    Star Citizen Will Release With 5 to 10 Systems – Myth – Confirmed

    Often touted based on a mistranslated rumor is that Star Citizen will launch with 5 to 10 Star Systems.

    Reality – Multiple Systems Are Already In Development

    As of Alpha 3.16 (January 2022) there is still only Stanton System playtestable.

    Stanton system was chosen as the first system because it is one of the more complex systems in the galaxy. Additionally, footage has been shown from the following systems:

    • The Coil (Odin system)
    • Leir III (Leir)
    • Pyro (Shown at Citizencon 2049)

    There are also other systems that have been previewed in the early days (such as Terra) or even found in folder names shipped with Alpha builds.

    Some systems in Star Citizen are going to be quite empty according to the Ark Starmap so making these is considerably easier than Stanton – the current System.

    Based on what is known so far it is highly probable that all the systems mentioned in the Starmap could be available at launch. There should also be potentially discoverable planets and systems on release which are not mentioned in the Starmap but that have been hinted at.

    Jump to new star systems could potentially be possible in 2021 so it is quite achievable to produce many more systems by potential release.

    Result: There could be many systems in development of far less complexity than Stanton. Star Citizen will probably launch with hundreds (100+ systems) of systems to explore.

    Update 7th June 2020:

    This myth was debunked officially by RSI back in July 2017.

    “There are no changes with regards to the planned amount of systems which are well documented on the current Star Map.” – Source

    No doubt people will continue to tout the 5 to 10 systems myth as with other myths but savvy players will know better. RIP myth.

    Star Citizen Uses A Paywall For Mining – Myth

    This misconception that can be found online is that Star Citizen hides gameplay behind a paywall.

    Reality – Gameplay Is Available In Game At No Extra Cost

    When ships with dedicated roles for gameplay were announced for sale immediately some people jumped to screaming “paywall”. Fire was fueled further when the MISC Prospector was released as the only mining vessel and a high price tag to match.

    Then ship buying in game was introduced and the MISC Prospector was one of the first ships available for sale. While pricey this still showed that no “paywall” was blocking the ship from access by players. It was also discovered that a mission in Star Citizen gives players a Cutlass Black during the mission thus meaning that any gameplay or ship could potentially be found playing the game.

    Rentals released after ship purchasing made ships even more available for usage by the larger player base.

    Further still First Person Mining (FPS Mining) was introduced that allows anyone with the right equipment to be able to mine even without a ship.

    Result: Gameplay in Star Citizen is not hidden behind paywalls.

    All Ships Can Be Purchased In Game – Misconception

    Star Citizens and outsiders often state that all ships in Star Citizen can be purchased in Game.

    Reality – Any Ship Can Be Earned In Game But Not Necessarily Purchased

    Star Citizen aims for scarcity. This cannot be achieved if anyone can buy any ship at any time. This myth is more of a misconception than a true myth but since the error is subtle this misconception deserves mythical status.

    Any of the Star Citizen ships will be able to be achieved once the game goes to commercial release. But many will require merit or perhaps extreme luck to be able to own. In the case of Rare and Limited Ships there might be an in game market for ship resales.

    In no case would all ships be available for purchase. At best it can be said nearly all ships will be available for purchase with in game money. It is worth noting that already some ships have never been available for sale such as the Intel Sabre Raven and the AMD Mustang Omega.

    Result: All ships will not be available for purchase in-game.

     

    Update: 12th June 2025

    During early Alpha 4 patches CIG has introduced ships for earning in game that cannot be purchased with aUEC such as the ships available from Wikelo and Pyro Contested Zones (ships like the F7A MK II and the F8C). Going forward expect more ships to be exclusively play to win.

    Update: 5th December 2021

    The MISC Odyssey concept sale disclaimer shows that this myth can now be marked as confirmed.

    “These ships will be available for in-game credits and/or will be otherwise earnable through play in the final universe.”

    Update: 9th December 2019

    Since the time of writing the Pisces Q & A has been released and references this question:

     

    “Will there be an in-game upgrade path from the Carrack’s C8 Pisces to add the two additional weapon hardpoints?

    Aside from a few limited-edition ships and variants, all vehicles can be earned standalone in-game.”

     

    While it might be to soon to mark this myth as confirmed, it can be seen here that all vehicles can be earned standalone in game, with the exception of a few limited-edition ships and variants. So not only does it sound like earning ships will be more possible than buying them (in game) it also appears that some ships may not be earnable or buyable in game.

    Chris Roberts Should Be Replaced As CEO / Star Citizen is Badly Managed – Myth

    This myth is that CIG is badly managed and / or would be better off if Chris Roberts was replaced.

    Reality – The Achievements And Continued Support Show Good Management And Vision

    People backed Star Citizen in the early days because of the dream of Chris Roberts. People have continued funding development and showing support for years because the project has been shaping up to backer’s liking. Many backers even going as far as supporting the community content separately to the development.

    Star Citizen is achieving features only dreamed of before and the game is shaping up. The universe is being created and growing.

    By definition, bad management would be incapable of achieving what has already been reached by the project.

    Result: Star Citizen continues to be one of the most successful crowd funded projects of all time and is still growing. Additionally, people continue to fund development because results are tangible. Is the game coming as quickly as people want? No. But then again what project of this scale does move fast?

    Star Citizen Has Bad Marketing – Myth

    A popular myth is that Star Citizen has bad marketing. This can be seen pop up in streams, forums and articles on the game.

    Reality – Star Citizen Is Marketed Without A Marketing Budget

    Imagine trying to generate sales without spending money on advertising. Sounds difficult? Well, Star Citizen has been able to raise over $430,000,000 using organic marketing strategies. Star Citizen uses a large arsenal of marketing techniques to reach the levels of growth so far attained. Additionally, the author of this article has noticed that advanced marketing techniques are being used since almost the very start of the project.

    Perhaps one of the reasons people continue to claim that the marketing is bad (besides the trolls) might be that these people actually don’t realize that Star Citizen is doing things differently to what has come before. By using all backer funds for development while at the same time allowing for a strong community and reinforcing word of mouth (referral) programs the game has grown to levels only previously dreamed of for self-funded gaming projects.

    Bad Marketing, by definition, would be unable to achieve what has been reached so far.

     

    Marketing of Squadron 42

    Squadron 42, unlike Star Citizen, does have a marketing budget. Once the game is closer to release it will be interesting to see what the results of paid marketing campaigns will be when they start. Until then, Star Citizen stands alone as a game with virtually no marketing spend and undisputed results.

     

    Result: Star Citizen is an ambitious project that uses some of the very latest marketing techniques to grow organically. The record levels of funding achieved cannot have been reached without a powerful marketing engine behind. Due to the scale of things it can be easy for those not versed in marketing to miss exactly what is happening by looking at one piece and missing the whole.

    Update Jauary 2022

    2021 was another record year in Star Citizen funding. As what is playable is more complete and clear progress is made, new and old backers continue to fund development.

    Star Citizen Ships Are Only JPEGS – Myth

    This myth claims that Star Citizen Ships are just JPEGs. In other words, Star Citizen ships are just graphical images. This is often referred to in relation to concept sales. There is always online resistance against people paying large sums on not even digital assets, but in this case the promise of a digital video game ship (or other vehicle).

    Reality – Star Citizen Ships Are Digital Space Ships

    Ships in Star Citizen are not made of one individual image. Even concept ship sales generally have some artwork as well as design ideas and basic ship specs.

    Generally calling Star Citizen ships JPEGs is a good sign of a troll attempt. Given the large scale of the project and the potential of each ship, calling the ships JPEGs tries to use the smallest possible descriptor in an attempt to shrink the essence of the concept as a form of ridicule.

    Star Citizen ships offer tremendous gameplay potential and perhaps a new term needs to be proposed to describe a fully functioning virtual fictional asset in a virtual universe. Perhaps the word “DIGET”?

    In-Game Ship Sales and Rentals Will Negatively Affect Funding – Myth

    This myth states that if ships become available for sale (and rental) in game then real funding sales for the development of the game would dry up. Ship rentals have been released in Alpha 3.7 from which both sales and rentals are in game.

    Reality – In game ship sales and rentals have not significantly impacted sales – Confirmed

    With the release of in game ship buying and renting real world sales of Star Citizen ships have not been affected. This myth is somewhat related to the bad marketing myth. With the sales still being great even after the addition of in game ship buying and renting it can only be fathomed in the most subjective of minds that the marketing can be considered bad.

    If the marketing is bad how could sales have increased with the introduction of sales and rentals in game? The fudsters really know no limits.

    This post on Reddit shows sales data for the month of October 2019 when in game ship renting and buying were in game.

    Result: In-game ship sales and rentals have not slowed down funding significantly or even at all. Why? Because most people are smart enough to realise the difference between a ship they own permanently and a ship they earned in game. Eventually the two will merge but in either case the selling of ships out of game always had a sell-by date.

    Update: 1st December 2019

    It turns out that in game ship rentals and sales have not negatively affected funding. In fact, the year ship sales and rentals were introduced (2019) also saw with it the biggest funding year for Star Citizen reaching over $250 million pledged (source reddit). This has been a devastating blow for the misinformation campaigners who increased their efforts to scream “scam” instead of admitting they were wrong about their predictions of decreased funding this year.

    This myth is being marked as “RIP” and the rest of the myths will also continue to be confirmed (or proved wrong) going forward. Rest in peace myth.

    Star Citizen Is Not A Game Yet – Myth

    Vast numbers of supporters of the game claim that Star Citizen is not a game yet.

    Reality – Star Citizen Is Already Playable

    While Star Citizen is still in the funding phase and the product has not commercially released the game itself has been playable on some functional degree since Alpha 3.0 from where the universe started to grow and expand. The framerates also improved dramatically. Player counts per server still pending increase from 50.

    Players are spending many hours play testing the game and coming up with unique content scenarios. Racing leagues organize periodic events.

    Update – 18 March 2023

    Jumptown event at the end of 2022 solidified that not only is Star Citizen a game, but it is turning out to be one of the greatest games ever made. Combined arms accross a Star System with persistent battles over a facility involving dozens of players. Star Citizen is definitely a game. Is it finished yet? No. But it is still a game. Consider each balance reset cycle a season during Alpha. Another Star Citizen myth is being confirmed. Additionally, Star Citizen in 2022 was in the top 100 games on Twitch.

    Daymar Rally

    The Daymar Ralley is just such an event. Organized yearly by the Star Citizen community, this event features teams of players competing on the moon of Daymar in a 360km race. Featuring various vehicle categories, this grueling race takes place every year. This trailer is from the 2949 (2019) Daymar Rally.

    This video is filmed 100% in game by the community.

    View the official website here: https://www.daymarrally.com/

    Daymar Rally Trailer

    In Game Combat Events

    Star Citizens arrange combat events with their orgs. Watch UEE Pathfinders :: Operation Dust Storm (022-K)

    Example Battle

    Stability is an issue in games of all sizes and many fully released games still have bugs and issues. Further still, nothing prevents future patches of other games from getting new bugs. So how “playable” is Star Citizen? Enough so that it is a fun game in and of itself right now. Being playable now while also in an early alpha state are not mutually exclusive things.

    In sandbox form there are people organizing events in Star Citizen with regular frequency.

    Star Citizen is not only play testable but it is possible to have short amounts of fun in the game – no different to many fully released games.

    Is Star Citizen a fully released and complete game? No. Not even close to what is planned. Is it a playable game? Yes.

    This does not mean you should rush out and buy the game as the best results for “players” (not testers) will be had when the game is fully released. Whether the game is complete or fully released is not mutually exclusive with the game being playable or not.

    Star Citizen Is Not Doing Anything New – Myth

    Long term detractors of the project often mention that Star Citizen is not doing anything new in video gaming.

    Reality – Star Citizen is Trailblazing

    Star Citizen is the most advanced simulation of the Milky Way Galaxy that currently exists. The company is attempting to build a simulated part of our galaxy that takes place nearly one thousand years in the future. From simulated physics to farming to space travel, Star Citizen is something ground breaking and new.

    In the words of David Braben, CEO of Frontier the makers of Elite Dangerous, the most similar released game to Star Citizen to date:

    “What both Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous are trying to do is very hard indeed. Both games are incredibly ambitious. I am proud and excited about what we are doing, but what they are doing is ambitious too, and I am looking forward to playing Star Citizen when it is finished. What we are both doing is new; we are trailblazing. The scope of both is vast and quite different, and neither have been done before, so there is no right answer for either of the approaches. It is frustrating to see some of the criticism of Star Citizen online. We should applaud when someone tries something that is hard, that hasn’t been done, not discourage them.”

    Source: Reddit

    Star Citizen brings together many advanced features, some of which were not solved when the game was announced but since have been. Development continues on this highly technical and complex project.

     

    Result: Star Citizen is the largest video gaming project and galactic simulation humanity has ever embarked on.

    Star Citizen Is Never Going To Release – Myth

    Read more about development progress and release dates:
    Star Citizen Feature Completion
    Star Citizen Release Dates.

    Questions & Answers

    What makes these myths popular?

    These myths have been collected based on popular lines of discussion in the Star Citizen community for the past several years.

    Why did you create a myths article?

    Detractors (trolls) have been seen purposely spreading some of these myths into the Star Citizen community as a way to derail the project. Of particular note are the “Bad Marketing” and “Bad Management” myths that aim to attack some of the pillars of the project. This article is an attempt at a balancing act where light can be shone on some of the claims.

    Also, due to how complex the game can be, this article is a look at some of the finer points about “why” these myths exist and what makes them myths.

    What is the difference between myths and misconceptions?

    Myths are vague ideas that are inaccurate and subjective but are loosely based on reality. Misrepresentation or misunderstanding on a large scale causes the myth effect.

    Misconceptions are for when short phrases of words do not fully transmit the reality of the situation and cause errors. For example, the misconception that all ships will be sold in game comes from people being unaware of the small details of hundreds of planned ships (and ship sales).

  • Scam Citizen – Is Star Citizen A Scam?

    Scam Citizen – Is Star Citizen A Scam?

    Update October 2023: No. It was not a scam

    The technology that was only a concept at the time of Squadron 42’s original announcement is now almost complete. As Squadron 42 enters a phase of polish the technology it was made with is moving over to Star Citizen. What is already playable in 2023 and what has been shown at CitizenCon 2953 shows that what was once only a dream is now a reality.

    In summary they did it and it was not a scam. Vaporware no more.

     

    Squadron 42: Held The Line

    Why were people tricked into thinking it was a scam?

    The world is full of failed projects. Star Citizen is constantly under attack from people wishing for the project to fail (see Star Citizen Haters Exposed). Perhaps hate and negativity rule the world due to the vast amount of money-drains in society that seem to be designed to keep some people poor in a way that seems enforced, controlled and censored. Chris Roberts wanted to build a universe without the pressure of control. It would be a crowd-funded project. Over 10 years later and over $600M and…

    where are we now?

    The games are still not released. However, what is currently playable combined with what is shown and known about Squadron 42 means that the debate of whether the game 1) Could be made, 2) The project would fail with nothing to show for it, 3) Would be as advertised – is dead in 2023.

    We have noticed criminal-level derailment efforts towards the project and we expect those to continue. This is called sabotage and is far from good or legal.

    Trolls and haters will continue to tell the community that Star Citizen does not need defending. This is far from true, without support this dream would not be possible.

    Were you there during this project? Were you brave and held the line?

    Did you watch and mock your own funding?

    Did you test and provide feedback?

    Did you troll and sow hate and dissent?

    Who are you? Citizen

    The below article is still here for reference. People calling Star Citizen a scam beyond 2024 either: Believed the sabotage efforts by haters or were misled or disenchanted. Fear not citizens you can still enjoy the games for years to come now that it is clear it was not a scam.

     

    The original article continues.

    There are many online debates on whether or not Star Citizen is a scam. This article uses data from Similarweb.com and Google Trends to show that Star Citizen is a legitimate contender to some of the world’s most popular MMO games. Additionally, it goes further in providing a more accurate picture of where the game fits in with other games in terms of popularity and engagement.

    Update: Star Citizen being a scam is perhaps the most popular myth about the game. Read the article on Star Citizen Myths.

    Which Games Will Be Used For Comparison?

    Star Citizen will be compared to Elite Dangerous, World of Warcraft and Runescape for the speculation in this article. SimilarWeb data from the main websites is used for each.

    Elite Dangerous was chosen because it is one of the closest existing games for what Star Citizen aims to achieve at launch.

    World of Warcraft brought MMORPG gaming to the masses. Star Citizen is planned to be an MMO Universe so while the games share very little in common they both appeal to the general MMO market.

    Runescape, originally released in 2001, is the most popular MMORPG on the planet and has been for years. If MMO games were rated on popularity, this would be the #1 MMO game.

    Website Engagement

    A scam website would have very poor engagement.

    Some great metrics for how engaging a website is are Time on Site, Bounce Rate and Pages per Visit and it is no surprise that Similarweb displays them.

    Total Visits: The total number of visits detected by Similarweb to the website.

    Avg. Visit Duration: How long each visit stays on the website.

    Pages per Visit: How many pages did each visitor look at during the average session. Generally higher is better. A low Pages per Visit number shows lack of interest in the content.

    Bounce Rate: The percentage of people who leave without seeing any other pages other than the one they landed on. The lower the Bounce Rate the better.

    Disclaimer: This data does not indicate which game is more popular or bigger / better. It only shows website engagement – how much interest do users have with interacting with the site. It also does not include many users who may use privacy blockers or opt out of data collection and therefore is a subset of real figures. It is provided for comparison speculative purposes only.

    As can be seen by the data here, robertsspaceindustries.com has the highest engagement values. The Average Visit Duration is 7 minutes while the other 3 websites are within 2 and a half and 4 minutes. The bounce rate is the lowest and the pages per visit is 7. This means that, on average, a visitor to the RSI website clicks through 7 pages of content.

    Total Traffic shows that SimilarWeb is tracking over 9 million visits per month to the RSI website. This shows that many people are very interested or taking part of a large community.

    Google Trends

    Google Trends is another handy tool at looking at how relatively busy a search term is online. Another reason Runescape was included in this analysis is because the name is very unique meaning the keyword volumes on Google Trends would be more accurate than more generic words. This gives the data a stronger measuring stick for relative accuracy.

    As can be seen by the Google Trends data, the search interest for Star Citizen continues to grow but still remains small compared to Elite Dangerous, World of Warcraft and Runescape.

    Fortnite

    At the time of writing Fornite is perhaps the most popular game. While not an MMO, it is a multiplayer online game and since the name is also unique we can use it to see where the MMOs listed in this article fall in terms of the bigger picture.

    As can be seen (or not seen) by this data, Fornite players dwarf all the MMOs mentioned in this article combined in terms of search interest and website visit volumes. The engagement levels are similar to WoW, Elite Dangerous and Runescape.

    Marketing & Engagement

    It is important to also note that since RSI is currently using organic marketing the engagement figures will be higher than the competitors who could be using paid marketing strategies. Once CIG start spending money on marketing for Squadron 42 (and eventually Star Citizen) the website engagement figures will drop as untargeted (less targeted) visits begin to grow as a percentage of total visits. Eventually (after release) the engagement figures will drop and get closer to the other sites referenced.

    Conclusion

    Star Citizen, while still very niche in the online gaming world, has many users heavily engaged with the RSI website. Star Citizen also shows healthy levels of interest in terms of online searches.

    MMOs are long term online universes and Star Citizen seems to be at the start of the growth phase based on the data (not opinion).

    It appears clear based on the data from Google Trends and SimilarWeb that Star Citizen:

    • Continues to grow along with the game’s progress
    • Is still at the start of its growth phase (early period according to the long term charts)
    • Is still a tiny share of the online games market – even in the MMO category
    • Has an engaging website and / or users consume a lot of content on it

    There are many detractors of games for many different reasons. In terms of forming your own opinion, this article looks at website engagement and brand popularity to measure where the game currently sits. Additionally, the data used in this article is from objective sources (Google Trends and SimilarWeb) that cover all the related websites without bias.

    Is Star Citizen A Scam?

    Clearly not according to data and the engagement of the community. Additionally, the data suggests that the project is still in an early stage of popularity and hype. This is not surprising given the game has not launched yet.

  • Limit Theory – A Lesson For Star Citizen?

    Limit Theory – A Lesson For Star Citizen?

    Limit Theory has the following description on Kickstarter:

    [pullquote align=center]

    An RPG, RTS, and sandbox space exploration game all-in-one. Explore, trade, build, and fight in a beautiful, procedural universe.

    [/pullquote]

    This game started as a Kickstarter project and seems to have come to an end as the Developer admitted an impossibility for finishing it alone. Any space sim Kickstarter game project can be seen as related to Star Citizen (yes this includes No Mans Sky). As fans of space sims and Kickstarter campaigns it is sad to see Star Citizen’s cousin projects have problems or fail.

    It is the writer’s hope that Limit Theory can continue on via the community or some other agreement as the community sounds amazing based on the forum activity.

    Although the writer of this post had never heard of Limit Theory until today, it is outstanding how well the community has received terrible news and really highlights how important it is to “support” a project as well as the people (or person) behind it. Gamers and developers are people who are not immune from suffering.

    Limit Theory – The Best Community

    When the developer announced it was impossible to finish the project alone the forum replies were of strong support instead of hate or anger. Here are some quotes:

    It sucks that it had to end this way, but it was a great ride while it lasted. And you managed to build up a great community of people, as well. I hope we all can keep in touch.

    Another forum user says:

    Of all the kickstarter-projects I’ve backed that have failed, this is the one I would probably still have backed if I knew how it would end up.

    Several others were reflected with this sentiment:

    I never had a financial investment in LT, but as many said before, the community and experience would have been worth every penny.

    Star Citizen – What Does Supporting A Game Really Mean?

    At the end of the day, CIG is doing their best to deliver on an almost-impossible vision. The author of this article thinks that what has happened to Limit Theory could offer a valuable lesson for the Star Citizen community. To get the best possible game we should aim to work together to help CIG deliver what we as the community want. Support shouldn’t only be seen as how much money we pledge to the project, rather the author proposes we also measure support by how well we treat members of the team and especially the community (i.e. each other).

     

    Can Star Citizen claim to be the best game (MMO) without being the best community?

    Hopefully Limit Theory can continue and the community can pick up the development slack. From the Star Citizen community this Organization salutes you and your efforts and especially Limit Theory’s outstanding community that has been able to band together through the hardest of hardships – the worst case – from a development standpoint.

    We in the Star Citizen community take so much for granted.

  • Pros & Cons of Star Citizen Alpha Stage Backing

    Pros & Cons of Star Citizen Alpha Stage Backing

    Page last updated 12 June 2025

    This article lists many of the popular pros and cons about Star Citizen – the massively multiplayer game. This information comes from many sources and contains speculation. Interested readers should always compare and cross reference.

    Not only is Star Citizen the biggest video game crowd funded project ever launched (List of video game crowdfunding projects – Wikipedia) it is also the most controversial. This article provides some of the pros and cons about Star Citizen.

    Star Citizen Winning Recipe (Pros) in detail

    Star Citizen – A Living and Breathing Universe

    The main objective for the Star Citizen project is to build a living universe with insane levels of detail. From multiple complete alien languages to a plethora of ship components to seamless exploration of star systems with planets, moons, asteroid fields and much much more.

    Filling a universe takes time and perhaps this is the main factor delaying the project. This is a pro for Star Citizen because one of the goals for success is to release a complete game. Something that seems beyond the reach of ambitious MMOs, often taking many years after release to achieve in the best of cases.

    Many backers use this as the main reason for patiently waiting since since 2012 when Star Citizen was announced. Even since 2012 the sheer lack of competition from other games has allowed Star Citizen to continue growing.

    Here is a quote from the company about us page:

    “I don’t want to build a game.
    I want to build a universe.”

    “From the mind of Chris Roberts, acclaimed creator of Wing Commander and Freelancer, comes STAR CITIZEN. 100% crowdfunded, Star Citizen aims to create a living, breathing science fiction universe with unparalleled immersion… and you’re invited to follow every step of development.

    More than a space combat sim, more than a first person shooter and more than an MMO: Star Citizen is the First Person Universe that will allow for unlimited gameplay.”

    First person realtime Massively Multiplayer Universe

    Massively Multiplayer Online worlds have always avoided first person combat, opting instead for modes of combat where the enemy is selected and then a server tick system is used to score hits. Of the MMO games that have tried to implement first person shooter combat, games like Planetside 2, which are MMO battle arenas or MOBA for short, do not offer an integrated experience of a living world as well as combat. This is not what Star Citizen is aiming for.

    Star Citizen plans to create a realtime seamless large-scale universe in first person. To MMO fans who have been around for a long time this represents the most advanced universe attempted by a video game.

    This feature remains highly controversial with many people saying it is not possible to build such an MMO due to technical reasons. The lag will ruin the experience and without instances the project could fail. Since the same thing was said about seamless transition from space to planets as well as nested physics grids (both of which have been solved) we consider this technical hurdle one that will be leaped eventually.

    This official post from November 2012 about Multiplayer, Single Player and instancing shows what was planned. Since then much of the project has expanded in scope therefore the information from the 2012 article should be taken as a primitive guideline compared with what the plan is today.

    State of Multiplayer

    As of Masrch 2025 Alpha 4.0 the servers have around 600 concurrent players. Organization support is still incomplete. The game is very much in mid Alpha testing and has been very unstable. Player earned in game currency aUEC can be reset (Check the balance patch reset history). Framerates can be very bad and the game can be unplayable at times. Server disconnects are not rare. There are also many bugs that can and do reappear as the core fundamental mechanics of the game are still being created. This leads to every patch cycle being a very different game to the previous version as iteration is significant.

    Players looking for a fun game to have solid play sessions with should look elsewhere. The “Alpha” word in Star Citizen Alpha is important.

    This video explains some of the major development pillars still to come.

    For a complete progress reports check out the Star Citizen Progress Reports category.

     

    Casual & Hardcore Players Welcome

    One of the biggest drawbacks historically for MMO universes has generally been the long player sessions required to progress through the game. Historically, it can take a long time to organize a party and quest and players with short play sessions have been left out.

    While the pace of Star Citizen gameplay can be even slower than most MMOs, the goal is to offer game modes that also cater to players with short play session times.

    To cater to short play sessions Star Citizen is aiming to provide options to allow players to achieve this such as:

    • Moving spawn locations. For example ships with beds allow players to log in and out of the game without sacrificing progress
    • Spectrum community software will help players coordinate meeting up in the universe.
    • The simulator inside the universe allows for competitive and co-op fast action
    • Players will be able to “Agent Smith” NPC characters that are player controlled. Read more about Agent Smithing in Star Citizen.

    Star Citizen is better catered towards hardcore players similar to other universe multiplayer games. The game is being built for players to sink years into and the hybrid procedural and custom design looks to provide untold amounts of content.

    While Star Citizen will be able to be played by casual and hardcore gamers alike, expect hardcore gamers to find the most appeal with this game.

    No Fast Travel

    While many gamers will want fast travel, the lack of fast travel appears to be essential for making a believable universe. Star Citizen will be a universe where actions have consequences. Being based far from your friends and allies will matter. Planning and coordination will reward players the most. Luckily it will still be easy to group with others. The Spectrum application will help players in the game community with players outside of the game. Also, players who want instant action (co op or versus) can hop into the simulator and play together from any location in the universe.

    In order to meet up with friends in Star Citizen you will need to travel in the game. There are no teleport or fast travel options. While ships have Quantum Drives that reach up to 0.2c (20% the speed of light) as well as Jump Points that allow jumps from one system to another, given the massive scale of solar systems it is estimated that players in the same system could take several minutes to reach each other while players located in different systems could take hours to meet up.

    Fast travel has been ruled out officially. The episode Calling All Devs – Escape Pods & Agent Smithing talks about this here. Taking control of NPCs controlled by friendly players is still something that has not been ruled out in order to help players be able to play with friends quickly. Read more on the page about Agent Smithing in Star Citizen.

    Giant Spaceships

    Star Citizen is primarily aiming to be the best damn space sim ever (BDSSE). This means this game is focused around ships. Below are two short videos to illustrate.

    Ship components, weapons, and equipment can be upgraded well beyond what the base version comes with. Large ships will require coordination between players and NPCs.

    Some of the biggest UEE ships

    The scale of things to come

    Character Death Is Important

    Death of a spaceman (from 2013) is mandatory reading for any future Star Citizen player.

    This edited summary of the relevant important bits follows:

    • Gameplay choices have a massive impact on character reputation
    • Venturing out into space will have long term risk
    • Futuristic healing options mean players can “die” multiple times before permadeath
    • Ejection seats and escape pods increase survivability
    • Death creates wear and tear on player characters
    • Because Star Citizen is skill based, the loss of your character is more a cosmetic and textural outcome
    • Reputation is slightly diminished with permadeath
    • Major NPCs can be killed only once
    • Players can be captured instead of killed
    • Captured criminals go to prison where they can work their way out or escape

    9:1 NPC to human ratio

    Chris Roberts aims to build a living & breathing universe and in order to achieve a sense of believably the universe needs to feel inhabited. This will be achieved via NPCs with AI subsumption. Games like Elder Scrolls Oblivion featured NPCs with names and simulated lives and Star Citizen is planning on having a universe filled with NPCs.

    Since space is very large players can end up being very far away from each other. NPCs will not only create more interactions for players but can also give missions or be hired as crew. They will also be able to shop at player controlled facilities and shopping locations such as the Kraken Privateer.

    NPCs can level and improve their skills as well as be permanently killed.

    Since the economy relies on resource extraction -> factory production -> transport to demand locations, NPCs will also affect the economy of a system. Since there are many more NPCs than players the economy will be controlled by the NPCs throughout the universe.

    The goal for CIG is to create the NPCs in a way that makes them almost indistinguishable from players so that when players meet other characters they will not be sure at first if they are AI or human.

    No Publisher

    Star Citizen is a crowd funded game which received a initial funding from private investors and then steadily rose to the current funding levels at over $660 million (See the live funding stats).

    The game uses an innovative model to fund itself where backers pledge funds to help the development of the game. Pledged funds go towards various things from ships that have been concepted to game packages to digital items.

    There are two main forms of support:

    • Digital Pledge Products
    • Monthly Subscriptions

    Digital Pledge Products include game packages for Star Citizen and Squadron 42, digital ships, in game items or vehicles and other digital abstracts such as Land Claims. Pledge money goes towards the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42 and comes with the risk that the final goods may not perfectly match the concept briefs.

    Monthly Subscriptions provide access to subscriber-only perks such as special insights into development, hangar flair items and access to a ship of the month.

    Given how long it has taken the development to get this far, it can easily be argued that with a publisher Star Citizen might have already been cancelled or shipped. So far the no publisher model, for Star Citizen, has allowed for continued development into a second decade.

    Benefits of not having a publisher

    One of the most important stated objectives of the project (and the entire reason for crowd funding in the first place) was to escape from the industry-wide problem of publishers rushing the development causing games to release prematurely and missing many of the features and polish that the game creators originally envisioned.

    Delays during game development are extremely commonplace and publishers generally seek return on investment within fixed time frames. This has led to what many (including the creators of Star Citizen) believe to be a drop in innovation and video game quality over the past decades. To avoid these pitfalls crowd funding aims to put the developer of the game in charge of time frames as well as release quality.

    This has proven to be an extremely attractive and “game changing” option for fans of space sims who have kept pouring money into this project. Given the mature age of the average Star Citizen backer, it can be seen that many people are excited about the potential that can be achieved with this business model.

    What if Star Citizen never releases?

    The biggest fear of the no-publisher crowd-funded model is the risk involved with ending up with a game that does not release. Anyone who is on the fence about Star Citizen or Squadron 42 has the obvious option to wait until release before purchasing. There is no reason for people who do not want to support the project in an unfinished state to spend any money on it. Additionally, the vast majority of the community is not only aware of the risks in backing this project but have specifically chosen to do so because of the promise of unparalleled quality and “however long it takes” objective.

    It is worth noting that what is currently testable / playable is a testament to the progress that has been made. Objectively it was a lot riskier backing the project in the past when little or nothing was playable compared to what players can experience today. The risk of backing the game now is lower but what backers get for their money currently is also less than before (You get less ships for more money when you back today). In terms of what you get in the game, there is a lot more to do in Star Citizen each and every few months.

    Large organization support

    Star Citizen is building support for large organizations. Already there are several orgs with over 10,000 members. Orgs will be able to communicate in game, have bases, capital sips, and a lot, lot more.

    Star Citizen is definitely a game that will cater to big / massive orgs. Solo players and small operations can either avoid or collaborate with larger organizations and the game provides the “Affiliate” org option where players can be affiliated with orgs they are not part of.

    No levelling

    Star Citizen does not offer leveling of player characters. (Update 8 Oct 2022) It was announced during CitizenCon that players will be able to level characteristics such as stamina, endurance and resistance to extreme climates.

    In general the leveling in Star Citizen seems to be limited to attributes rather than overall skill. NPC characters, might be able to be leveled up in attributes as well as skills based on their experience in game.

    This means that Star Citizen cannot be called an MMORPG as the RPG elements are strictly role-play and not in game systems. It has been announced that player characters do not level. However, the items, clothing, player skill and experience are what give each character a unique look as well as abilities.

    Star Citizen is a skill based MMORPG with real time first person combat. Skills at first person shooters or flight sims and even trading will infer the player vs player advantages. It will not be possible to buy “superior” characters that have been leveled up.As of 2022 it seems that a highly trained character might provide some advantage in certain competitive scenarios.

    This pro of Star Citizen is not as black and white as before. Characters will be able to level some attributes of their character that might provide an advantage in some scenarios. Overall skill is still the deciding factor but this cannot be counted as a pro. While Star Citizen is still a skill-based MMO the latest announcement means that a highly leveled character can provide a slight (or major) advantage.

    Skill based real time combat and racing

    MMORPG games have historically featured server tick based combat. A character selects a target then performs an action. At the next server tick the action is performed. Due to both network and computational limitations MMO universes have either opted for hundreds of concurrent players using the server tick (not real time) combat system or have offered FPS combat in separate instances.

    First Person universes with real time combat generally cannot offer large numbers of players performing combat actions simultaneously on the screen and generally limit player counts per server. Planetside 2 was a first person shooter which allowed persistent maps and up to 2000 players per server. However, besides experience and items there was no virtual world to explore or quests to complete.

    Star Citizen aims to have real time first person combat, racing and much more in a universe that meshes many servers to create one world.

    Player skill plays a vital role in performance with knowledge of the game, combat or racing skills and out of the box thinking providing the true player advantage.

    Sandbox make your own adventure

    Win! The word “win” in Star Citizen does not have the same meaning as in other games. Even in MMORPGs with leveling, players who reached the highest level would often engage in different end-game player activities.

    The primary method of progress in Star Citizen comes via being able to upgrade ships. Ships can be upgraded by better components or the ship itself can be traded. Hangars in Star Citizen serve as player housing and collectibles can be stored there.

    These are some activities that players will count towards any “win” conditions:

    • Combat kills to deaths
    • UEC earned
    • Races won
    • Important discoveries made (planets, wormholes, relics, science, etc…)
    • Unique ships owned
    • Locations visited
    • Faction reputation earned
    • Missions successfully completed

    From collecting exotic mascots to scoring kills against the Vanduul, the game will present players with a wide range of activities and possible goals. The possibilities seem endless and perhaps that is one of the biggest appeals of this game.

    No monthly fees

    MMOs have a long history of funding problems. Unlike single player games, MMO games require networks to keep running and players to keep the worlds inhabited. Star Citizen uses a new approach when it comes to funding.

    Many games use subscription models and monthly fees to keep the networks and servers operational. Star Citizen only requires the Game Package purchase once and players can play while the servers remain operational. CIG is aiming for 10 years after release or longer.

    Since the model does not have monthly fees, there must be another way for the game to receive funding and this is where the ship sale and insurance model has been great at providing funding. Ship sales help further fund Star Citizen’s development and can continue to introduce new types of gameplay and content even after release. This means that via game package sales and concept ship sales Star Citizen can continue to be funded  even beyond post beta release.

    PC only

    This is a controversial feature because Star Citizen aims to push computer hardware more than any games in recent times. The original crowd fund pitch references the PC gaming industry as having died and one of the objectives of the game is to take advantage of the latest PC hardware to push visual fidelity.

    The backer community of Star Citizen are heavily made up PC gamers seeking the latest and greatest.

    This game probably won’t be out on consoles for a long time so while it might not stay “PC Only” the certainty is that the game is promoting a PC first approach.

    Since Star Citizen is still years away from development and it could be that cloud streaming services could find their way to consoles and that some consoles will be able to run this game through such services at or around release.

    What is Star Citizen

    Cons of Star Citizen MMO

    Here is a detailed list of what we consider to be pitfalls and downsides of Star Citizen.

    No release date / long development time

    There is no release date announced for Star Citizen or Squadron 42. While the game was originally presented around 2012, 12 years later (2024) there is still no sign of a release date for Star Citizen or Squadron 42.

    Update April 2024: While Squadron 42 is nearing completion, Star Citizen development is also accelerating and more playable than ever before.

    Due to the long periods between significant Alpha updates many backers (and onlookers) turn to labeling the project a failure and even a scam.

    Even the most enthusiastic players, after years of testing get burned out and may turn sour on the project. Any player considering to back Star Citizen in 2024 should be fully aware that it might be 3 years, 5 years or even 10 years or more away. At SCFocus we provide comprehensive release date analyses and predictions to help our organization (as well as interested readers) decide when a realistic release date could be. Read more about Star Citizen Release Dates.

    Economy is not player controlled

    Economies in MMO universes can be player controlled or company controlled. Games like Eve Online or Albion Online have player driven economies.

    Events like Jumptown have shown that players will be able to hold and control small areas where they can exploit profits for short amounts of time if they have the skill to do so. Support for player blockades might also be in development and should also tamper with local pricing of goods.

    Even though the economy in Star Citizen is not player driven one benefit of this is that players should have less ability to abuse the economy at the detriment of other players.

    The Star Citizen Economy

    All players do not start with the same items

    Hardcore gamers like to “start” the game on launch day and push as quickly as possible through character levels and accumulate in game currency. Star Citizen will have a similar rush of players at launch looking to “win” (whatever they consider those conditions to be) as quickly as possible.

    One of the unfair things about Star Citizen is that at commercial launch (after Beta) all players will not start with the same items.

    Players are currently able to receive many different in game items, weapons, ships, collectibles, guns, fish tanks and more by purchasing packages or subscriptions for the items.

    Players can also start with different amounts of in game currency (UEC). For traders looking for a head start, how much UEC you start with is important. Starting with more UEC allows you to buy more cargo and better provision your ship for missions.

    We don’t think this is a big issue because even in previous MMOs where each player started with the same items, players joining months or years later would also start behind others. Additionally, a stated objective of Star Citizen is to launch with a “lived-in” universe so in-game-currency resets will cease before final release to help populate the universe before launch day. Even during Alpha stage of development it is possible to accrue items in-game that are permanent such as the Coramor and Red Festival coins.

    Expensive ships

    Star Citizen does not appear to a be a cheap game. Even though all a player needs to experience the full game is a Starter Pack (like the Aurora or Mustang Alpha), it is important to note that the price of additional ships and vehicles backed before the game is released is already very expensive for a video game. Creating a sense of value is a big part of the experience. Capital ships are going to be rare and that will contribute to the wow factor players will experience when they see them in the universe.

    The author of this article is not sure if the high price tag on items is a good or bad thing but certainly we want to mention this important and controversial aspect of the starting game.

    What’s testable is very unstable / poor player experience

    The biggest turn off about Star Citizen for many is the terrible player experience currently available throughout Alpha and Early Access testing. Potential players of the game now often ignore or are unaware of the current testing required to release this game. CIG are more concerned with testing the core elements of the game in “controlled” phases than in providing a polished new player experience.

    While core systems are still being worked on, this many years into development, many players get turned off, bored or move on with their lives. The hardest thing about Star Citizen currently is the waiting part. Add to this the frustration of the game constantly crashing, freezing and getting griefed by bored players and this can easily be the biggest reason for you to stay away from Star Citizen.

    Very steep system requirements (high end PCs only)

    If the unfair start, expensive ships and unstable play experience has not deterred you from backing this game yet, the steep system requirements to play the game surely will!

    Good luck running the Star Citizen Alpha on anything below the following:

    Operating SystemWindows 11 (or 10)
    CPULate generation fast cores
    GPU12GB+ VRAM
    RAM32GB+
    Storage2TB SSD or NVME / M.2
    InternetBroadband
    Screen Resolution4K

    *Please note these system requirements are based on the author’s interpretation of systems that might be able to handle Star Citizen at decent frame rates assuming the player can find a stable server. Generally even the above system specs will get below 40 frames per second with severe stutters and spikes in some areas of the Persistent Universe.

    Depending on the screen resolution the requirements could be even steeper. For those planning to run Star Citizen in resolutions of 4k or higher the requirements scale even higher.

    To further drive home this negative point about Star Citizen we want to warn any potential new backers that the system requirements could very well continue to increase as development progresses. A stated objective of this project is to push the limits of PC hardware in gaming.

    Players who upgrade their computers to play Star Citizen will need to upgrade the computer again nearer to completion, perhaps multiple times. It is never recommended for players to upgrade their computers specifically for Star Citizen.

     

    Check where your computer stands with the official telemetry – more info below:

    Star Citizen FPS Telemetry Data

    CIG provide official telemetry data on computer specifications. Guess no more where your computer should perform with Star Citizen. Official Roberts Space Industries telemetry data here.

    Lots of hate directed towards Star Citizen

    Star Citizen receives grief from many different groups. From angry backers screaming about the delays to players of other games who want to mock the project, Star Citizen suffers from massive amounts of industry backlash with maximum frequency.

    The community as a whole tends to be quite mature but given the massive opportunities for drama the outcry can be too much for many to bare.

    Star Citizen Reddit is constantly bombarded with trolling, insults and stiff downvoting. One need only look at the subreddit to see what we mention in this section about the negativity surrounding this game.

    Another great example is the drama when Eve players attacked Star Citizen because one of over 200+ ships in Eve resembled a ship announced in the 100+ ships announced by Star Citizen. Even though the Star Citizen ship is clearly a quickly pieced together hybrid of the Dragonfly and the Cutlass Black, this didn’t stop the Eve community from throwing a tantrum.

    Star Citizen comes with drama and this is not likely to change over the next 10 years. Anyone getting into Star Citizen needs to be aware of the negatives as well as the positives.

    Physics not fully realistic

    One of the biggest downsides of Star Citizen is that it’s not a fully realistic physics simulation. In the Alpha there are some things that highlight these differences:

    • Ship and vehicle handling is fine tuned for usage over realism
    • Sounds in space
    • Inertia in space is not preserved by ships or in eva
    • Atmospheric effects partly faked
    • WW2 fighter style ship combat as opposed to BVR (beyond visual range combat)

    While these things are still subject to change, they appear to be stated objectives of this game. In the same way that Strike Commander wasn’t as realistic as other flight sims like Falcon 3.0. For people expecting full realistic physics Star Citizen does not seem to offer this nor is it planned to.

    Steep Learning Curve

    Star Citizen pools together skills from many different areas. Due to the complexity of the universe they are building, it will be difficult to become an expert in any area. Star Citizen does not have character leveling. Your character does not get better by shooting a weapon more times. Star Citizen does have character leveling skills and luck factors. It is first person shooter skills and good usage of cover and tactics that will determine battles on foot. The same applies for flight. Having previous flight experience grants an advantage when flying ships. However, since this article was written, it has become clear that Star Citizen does have traits that characters can level up.

    We mentioned as a pro of this game that it was skill based combat and the steep learning curve to become an expert is what makes the difference. The deep learning tree also balances the game in terms of fairness as more experienced players will be better but individual skill and luck can succeed also.

    CIG has planned to make the game easy to play but hard to master. However, the current Star Citizen Alpha (and probably halfway through beta) will not be easy on newcomers until the game is more polished. In fact, Star Citizen may never be an easy game for new people to pick up.

    Pay to win

    Update June 2025: In recent patches CIG has been making more ships available in game that are not available for purchase for in-game currency. Ships like the F7A MK II, that we have mentioned before as pay to win, have been added as in-game craftable rewards via Wikelo and also via Pyro Contested PVP zones. So section could move from pay to win to not pay to win. Pay for advancement would remain in this section.

    This section was updated in June 2024. Star Citizen as of 2024 falls very much into the Pay to Win category. Ships like the F7A Mk II, F8C and Idris show that Star Citizen has landed itself into to the Pay to Win category. These ships generally cannot be bought in game and are seriously overpowered compared to other ships that are freely available.

    I can no longer be said that buying items, skins and ships does not determine victory in Star Citizen. Sometime in 2023 and 2024 Star Citizen solidified itself as a Pay to Win game by selling high priced ships (costing multiple times the cost of the game) that are able to defeat many other ships easily and cannot be purchased in game by the general player base. As of 2024 Star Citizen is clearly in the Pay to Win category.

    Pay to advantage

    Update June 2025: Star Citizen has included more ships and items in game in recent patches and the pay to win is become play to win. Pay for advancement for some equipment, ships and vehicles is planned and a thing in Star Citizen.

    This section was changed in April 2023 to reflect a newer reality as Star Citizen becomes more complete, what was once speculation is starting to solidify as reality. Therefore the Pay to win argument has also been updated accordingly.

    Winning in Star Citizen is skill based. Whether it be racing, combat or other tournaments and prize awarded events.

    However, it is still possible to get a faster start with bigger ships and more money. Some players have even accumulated more than 1 million starting in game currency:

     

    So while Star Citizen is pay to win, it can be considered pay for advantage or convenience  as well.

    PC only

    The best thing about Star Citizen is that it’s PC only but this is also shoots itself in the foot. PC only is still a very hungry market and Star Citizen is looking to challenge the PC gaming market.

    Eventually, as cloud based gaming services become more powerful the author expects Star Citizen to be available on consoles years after release. Console players need to look elsewhere or buy a PC if they want to play this game.

    If you’re a console-only player then perhaps you will have to wait for Star Citizen even longer, or get a PC capable of gaming.

    Bonus Content

    If you have read this far congratulations. As a bonus we offer you this bit of advice if you are considering backing Star Citizen or joining our organization:

    By joining this incredible project you can say you were there from before it became mainstream. You can say you helped the game succeed. You can learn game systems and mechanics before the release.

    You can say you held the line!

  • Lifetime Insurance – Please Stop The Drama

    Lifetime Insurance – Please Stop The Drama

    April 2018 Insuance Drama – Wish It Was An April’s Fools Joke

    The Star Citizen community can often be very confused by the complexity of this game and ship insurance is another area of confusion that causes the community to panic. The latest drama comes from TheNOOBIFIER1337‘s video titled “Enough is Enough – Fixing the Pledge System and the New Player Experience – #nobullshit Star Citizen”.

    At SCFocus.org we love TheNOOBIFIER1337’s Star Citizen content and while the TheNOOBIFIER1337’s video addressed many perceived potential issues, this post will focus on the the Lifetime Insurance debate which has, once again, reared its head.

    Enough is Enough – Fixing the Pledge System and the New Player Experience – #nobullshit Star Citizen

    BoredGamer Counters

    Glorious Star Citizen Youtuber Extraordinaire BoredGamer is another respected Star Citizen youtuber and followed up TheNOOBIFIER1337’s with a video that gives his own opinion. Please watch the video below as our opinion matches BoredGamer’s more closely than TheNOOBIFIER1337’s.

    Star Citizen | Fixing the Pledge System – My Thoughts

    Lifetime Insurance – What’s the real issue

    The real issue is the confusion many backers still have over what Lifetime Insurance is. Though we have written an article about insurance in Star Citizen before, it’s always a good idea to clarify the difference between insurance claim costs and insurance premium renewal costs.

    With the release of 3.1 the insurance claim system has evolved and “testers” have been complaining about long ship respawn timers and steep insurance claim costs. This has caused an unnecessary panic as backers have assumed that Lifetime Insurance (LTI) is some kind of significant advantage, with some vociferous part of the community (like TheNOOBIFIER1337) calling for LTI for all ships and arguing that it serves no good purpose.

    Insurance Claim VS Insurance Cost and How It Applies to LTI

    Ships in Star Citizen come with insurance periods such as 3 month, 6 month, 1 year, 5 year and even Lifetime Insurance to name some of the options available. This allows the player to recover the ship if destroyed, lost or stolen by filing an insurance claim.

    The insurance claim recovers the player’s ship at varying cost, depending on the circumstances of the accident. “Lifetime insurance does not exist for modifications or cargo.” – From the Insurance Q & A.

    Additionally, Lifetime Insurance does not cover upgrades and cargo. There will be additional insurance policies on offer with different rates and coverage for ship upgrades and cargo / equipment. Since Star Citizen is a game where the upgrades and equipment on ships can easily be worth more than the ship itself, it quickly becomes apparent that insurance renewal costs are a small cost among many in Star Citizen.

    Also, since insurance works on periods of months (not days or hours) the insurance policy renewal costs are a small cost when compared to some of these active in game costs:

    • Hangar fees
    • Fuel costs
    • Trade tariffs
    • Landing fees
    • Hiring costs

    Lifetime Insurance – Beating a dead horse

    Even though it’s clear that Lifetime Insurance will be of near-negligible benefit, there is still another argument that further shows how pointless it is to complain about LTI. Insurance timers are announced to increase based on number of claims filed. This means that players with LTI are discouraged by the cooldowns to use their LTI ships more recklessly than non-LTI ships.

    LTI is simply a small perk which makes no difference to players short term and only slightly provides an advantage to players with very large fleets. Unfortunately, having large fleets in itself will be crippling expensive to all but the largest player operations. In other words, a player with an LTI Cutlass Black has no advantage over a player with a 6 month insurance Cutlass Black. We’ll say it again bigger below for those who think we made a typo…

    LTI Does Not Offer An Advantage

    Ships in Star Citizen, much like the game Privateer, will need upgrades, weapons and equipment to make them competitive. After a few weeks or months of playing, the upgrades, weapons and equipment the player will have acquired on the ship will be more valuable than the ship itself. By the time the insurance renewal is due for the non-lti player, both players will already have spent significant amounts of UEC on ship related costs that will dwarf the insurance premium renewal cost. What this means is that the better of the two players will have a better economy by the time insurance is due.

    LTI is not a gameplay advantage. LTI also doesn’t mean that players can afford to have more ships in their hangars. For the same reasons above, having more ships than you can afford to operate will dictate whether you can afford them or not, not whether they have LTI.

    LTI – The End Of Confusion?

    Lifetime Insurance is essentially a cosmetic perk, providing minimal reward for backers who 1) backed early and 2) backed ships at the concept stage.

    While we are convinced that the community will continue to struggle with the LTI concept until more of the game has been built, we hope this information has helped shed some of the fear associated with LTI. Star Citizen needs LTI as an in game fun concept, as well as to further the artificial rarity required to create a strong feeling of value in items, ships, and everything else in game.

    LTI – Why It’s A Good Thing

    The LTI concept has not only helped the creation of this entire project but also has helped fund cool and interesting ships that perhaps would otherwise not have been made. LTI is to show appreciation to early backers of the game as well as to gain funding for concept ships. Since ship hulls in Star Citizen will be unique, and rarity is a set thing in the verse, LTI ships are a way to distinguish some ships from others. The game already intends to create distinctions between items and special ship hulls is no different to the rest of the game.

    Star Citizen is catering to collectors. The game can be seen as mostly about hoarding stuff in hangars, therefore, much like other quality MMOs, Star Citizen aims to capitalize on the collection gameplay, the gameplay that keeps players in games for many years.

    Players should cease to cause a headache about LTI. Advocating LTI for all ships ruins the game and provides no tangible benefits. Complaining about LTI without understanding its value and how it affects gameplay is disruptive to the community and fuels the chaos that we need to avoid.