...there's a new CULT in town- and it promises video game fun! (Someday?)
Concerns over the status of the long awaited video game Star Citizen are growing in the wake of publisher Cloud Imperium Games offering a $27,000 bundle of starships and unique in-game content to high-end investors. Both critics of the company and players are taking the developers to task over the "Legatus Pack," which is only available to investors who have already paid at least $1000 to support the development of Star Citizen.
First announced in 2011, Star Citizen was the brainchild of legendary game designer Chris Roberts, who is most famous for his work on the Wing Commander franchise for Origin Systems. Roberts hoped for Star Citizen to be the ultimate space-themed game, mixing elements of first-person shooters, massive multiplayer online role-playing games and exploration adventure games. Star Citizen has raised $185 million through various crowd-funding initiatives over the last six years, but skeptics note that the game seems to have shown surprisingly little developmental progress in that time. A project update in 2016 announced that the game had gone into Version 3.0 of its Alpha testing mode and would be released as four smaller releases rather than one single game, though no release dates have been announced.
Polygon reported on the release of the "Legatus Pack" and some of the comments from outraged investors. Reedit poster Strykerx88, a self-described "fence-sitter" regarding the controversy surrounding the game to date, described the Legatus Pack as "ridiculous" and wondered if "maybe the guys calling this game a scam are on to something."
Star Citizen still has its defenders, however, such as Reedit member Didatctic Tomato.
“I’m tired of people calling the entire player base a bunch of suckers, or a cult or whatever. Many of us are just hopeful and excited to be able to play a space sim, but it seems like whenever people see news about this game they are ready to condemn anybody who is interested. It’s sad to see.”
It should be noted that the development of the "Legatus Pack" is nothing new. The developers previously offered a "Completionist" pack for $15,000 that offered investors every ship in the game. The new "Legatus Pack" offers the same ships, plus 163 extras, including object skins, vessel add-ons and a virtual hoard of in-game credits. Cloud Imperium Games have defended the extravagant packs as having been created by fan-demand. According to Eric Kieron Davis, the head of Cloud Imperium’s studio in Los Angeles, the publisher is just "responding to what the community asked for."
While it seems unlikely there are that many gamers ready to pony up a hefty chunk of change purely for the sake of owning everything in a video game, Cloud Imperium Games' methods are preferable to the loot box mechanics built into other games as a means of boosting profits. Unfortunately, the controversy around Star Citizen seems unlikely to be settled until the game is finally released.
Man, $185 million and they aren't even out of the alpha stage yet, these people should run for congress.
You know, it would be amusing to see your news/youtube/facebook/etc feed, because you know these services all customize what content they show you based on what you have looked at before. I bet yours heavily features right wing propaganda, anti-immigrant/muslim/arab/etc content and conspiracy theories about liberals. You probably don't even realize this is the work of an algorithm, but you can see it in this very topic: the quoted article features faux outrage, a conspiracy theory, and even hints about a cult. They have you figured out and they feed you that ★■◆● like heroin to an addict, it is a nearly perfect self-reinforcing feedback loop. The really funny part is how often you imply we are the ones being manipulated by the mainstream press or something or other.
310 USD for one ship called the RSI Constellation Aquila without any upgrades. Sad truth is people will be crazy enough to purchase that crap. Games like Lords Mobile is one example.
Hey, TB finally found a legit thing to complain about! Set off the fireworks!
Naw but this thing's been a hilarious brewing clusterfuck for a few years now. I'm just happy the Internet will have front-row seats when it all crashes and burns.
It does seem that Star Citizen's players are forming a close knit cabal and turning everything surrounding the game into some sort of cult-like affair, so it's not some right wing conspiracy theory. The cult status of this game was even being commented on in the mainstream press clear back in 2015.
Of course, all us Descenters kept our personalities intact and resisted the lure of becoming yet another gaming cult, haven't we? But we do have our battle cry: Six degrees of freedom! YEAH! Plus our own forum board to boot.
Cat (n.) A bipolar creature which would as soon gouge your eyes out as it would cuddle.
Tunnelcat wrote: ↑Mon Sep 03, 2018 9:56 pm
Of course, all us Descenters kept our personalities intact and resisted the lure of becoming yet another gaming cult, haven't we? But we do have our battle cry: Six degrees of freedom! YEAH! Plus our own forum board to boot.
We're not paying some cult leader $300 for an imaginary ship or $170 for an "exclusive ticket" to a Descent-con.
. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"- Mao Zedong
Nightshade wrote: ↑Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:30 pm
Meh. Not me. Overload looks disappointing- especially the ship designs. If I want to fight in flying boxes, I'll play minecraft.
Nightshade wrote: ↑Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:30 pm
Meh. Not me. Overload looks disappointing- especially the ship designs. If I want to fight in flying boxes, I'll play minecraft.
The original Pyro was like a 50-poly square.
Sure, but they weren't flying boxy space volvos. (Execpt for the Magnum- but even then it was relatively sleek for a tank)
. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"- Mao Zedong
Don't cult members eventually get ticked off and stage a revolt whenever their "leader" falls short of expectations, especially if that leader takes all their money and never delivers on getting everyone to the promised land, in this case, space?
Cat (n.) A bipolar creature which would as soon gouge your eyes out as it would cuddle.
