1 Nov 2019

Star Citizen Myths – Biggest Myths About Star Citizen

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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: 6th January 2020

Due to the continued records being set by the Star Citizen project (2019 being the biggest funding year to date), the haters and fudsters have stepped up their efforts to derail the project with the "lied" myth.

The most important feature of Star Citizen and Squardon 42 development is the ultimate promise to not compromise over release dates. The transparent development process has yielded that Roberts Space Industries frequently comment on the goals of progress. Goals which include optimistic release dates for features such as the recently released Serverside Object Container Streaming.

Detractors continuously troll the project by screaming LIE! every time a release date for a feature is missed, completely ignoring the superseding objective of quality and ignoring the massive scale and scope of the project.

Star Citizen is a project that will take the time necessary to build a universe and backers and nonbackers who do not have the patience for this massive endeavor should look elsewhere for a complete game if they want something to play now without issues.

Once again it is worth mentioning that the primary objective is to build a massive and high fidelity universe - a new feat in video gaming. The simple thing to understand is that the biggest project in video gaming history will also (and should also) take the longest time.

Estimated dates are just that - estimates. Until the features are ready, tested and polished funding will continue. Luckily for the project most backers are mature enough to realize that missed dates are fine as long as the end goal is being worked towards and progress is real.

On another note, it is a bit sad that gamers are dedicating so much time to hate the game, often spending years in the same forums commenting with their hater friends about how much they hate this project. All the while obsessing over more details than the average Star Citizen backer cares to know about.

People tend to fear change and Star Citizen aims to create perhaps the biggest change in video games the world has ever seen. After all, it aims to be the first 21st century video game - combining massively multiplayer, real-time FPS, 64bit precision, server meshing, high fidelity, FOIP and the list goes on and on.

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 - Confirmed - 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 2024: With the sale of ships like the F8C and the F7A MII Star Citizen has veered heavily into Pay To Win territory. For much of 2024 it seems the most overpowered ships are the ones players must pay a premium for. This "myth" could prove to be correct and might be inevitable as ships need to be sold for money. This "myth" might be changing status to actual. As the game gest closer to complete the game is taking form and some of the ideals might not be achievable. As of 2024 Star Citizen does seem to be more Pay to Win than ever before and the direction seems to be headed to even more Pay to Win instead of pay for Advancement.

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: 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).