Star Citizen: Fear, Uncertainty, and Debt

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Star Citizen: Fear, Uncertainty, and Debt

madcow: Mar 20, 2006

Trapezium Dave posted:

If the funding dries up it's because the market demand has dried up. Those million Star Citizens have already paid and want their $90 million game finished. It's a terrible investment.

Edit: Like I could understand if it's a stand-alone game like Duke Nukem Forever which you can flip. But an MMO that you have to keep running in perpetuity is a bad deal.

So... the total number of copies a game sells is more or less limited to the number a publisher sells prior to a game's release via pre-orders?

In any event, there are people with money that would disagree with you.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 08:53

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 28, 2024 23:31

Finster Dexter: Oct 20, 2014; Beyond is Finster's mad vision of Earth transformed.

So, has reddit realized that CIG taking Escapist to court is going to rack up legal costs and turn whatever cash they might have left into the Star Citizen Memorial Legal Fund?

# ? Oct 5, 2015 08:54

Owl Inspector: Sep 14, 2011

Finster Dexter posted:

So, has reddit realized that CIG taking Escapist to court is going to rack up legal costs and turn whatever cash they might have left into the Star Citizen Memorial Legal Fund?

But, the escapist and derek smart said bad things about star citizen! We have to avenge chris roberts-chan!!!

# ? Oct 5, 2015 08:56

Pirate Jet: May 2, 2010

Finster Dexter posted:

But hey, at least it was a finished game.

Hey now, let's not say things we can't take back.

Bioshock Infinite felt like a game that released not because it was done but because everyone who was working on it was sick of doing so.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 08:56

Tippis: Mar 21, 2008; It's yet another day in the wasteland.

Pirate Jet posted:

Hey now, let's not say things we can't take back.

Bioshock Infinite felt like a game that released not because it was done but because everyone who was working on it was sick of doing so.

creative_process_101.txt to be honest�

# ? Oct 5, 2015 08:57

Smoothrich: Nov 8, 2009; Can't post for 2 years!

Pirate Jet posted:

Bioshock Infinite felt like a game that released

# ? Oct 5, 2015 08:59

KakerMix: Apr 8, 2004; 8.2 M.P.G.

Humphrey Vasel posted:

Why don't cig just hire a mobile developer to make a star citizen match 3 game or something. Wouldn't that just make them infinite money

Hey Humphrey, sup.

Listen, don't tell the others but I want to let you in on a lil' secret. Chris Roberts, you know him? The Wing Commander guy? Yeah that awful movie, yeah with the bulldozer in space yeah. So anyway that guy, right? He's really fukkin dumb, like holy poo poo dumb. That's why they don't do a thing that makes sense. Because he's dumb as piss.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:00

lauresh: Jun 1, 2013; What are we having for dinner?

It came up in discussion earlier but the "Shut up and take my money" skin is real

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pledge/Add-Ons/Shut-Up-And-Take-My-Money

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:00

Breetai: Nov 6, 2005; 🥄Mah spoon is too big!🍌

Can someone who backed this game and bought a $200+ ship and has later reneged please explain, with the understanding that I'm not asking this to be judgmental but rather to get insight into a thought process, why you would spend more than $60 on a video game?

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:02

cl_gibcount 9999: Aug 15, 2002

madcow posted:

I bet you would make more money if you deliver an entertaining game with a multi-year lifespan.

yeah but cocaine and incompetence

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:04

Typo: Aug 19, 2009; Chernigov Military Aviation Lyceum
The Fighting Slowpokes

KakerMix posted:

Hey Humphrey, sup.

Listen, don't tell the others but I want to let you in on a lil' secret. Chris Roberts, you know him? The Wing Commander guy? Yeah that awful movie, yeah with the bulldozer in space yeah. So anyway that guy, right? He's really fukkin dumb, like holy poo poo dumb. That's why they don't do a thing that makes sense. Because he's dumb as piss.

If he's so dumb then how come he got $90 million? :smuggo:

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:04

Maldoror: Oct 5, 2003; by R. Guyovich; Nap Ghost

Eonwe posted:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=029_1442903117

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:06

EminusSleepus: Sep 28, 2015

lauresh posted:

It came up in discussion earlier but the "Shut up and take my money" skin is real

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pledge/Add-Ons/Shut-Up-And-Take-My-Money

that was intended for kickstater back then if you just want to support the game but dont want to get the package. similar to those $1 - $5 you usually see in Kickstarter.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:10

Krogort: Oct 27, 2013

Breetai posted:

Can someone who backed this game and bought a $200+ ship and has later reneged please explain, with the understanding that I'm not asking this to be judgmental but rather to get insight into a thought process, why you would spend more than $60 on a video game?

To troll newbies and poors with my permanent awesome ship obviously.
(I sold everything)

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:10

The Taint Reaper: Sep 4, 2012; by Shine

Welp people actually went aroind IRL investigating and found out that RSI Space Industries or whatever Croberts calls his retarded company spent more than 8 thousand dollars at a single dunkin dounuts since the physical office building was started.

8 loving grand, what can you buy at DD that will set you back 8 grand on the reg for only like a year or so.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:11

Truga: May 4, 2014; Lipstick Apathy

EminusSleepus posted:

that was intended for kickstater back then if you just want to support the game but dont want to get the package. similar to those $1 - $5 you usually see in Kickstarter.

Allegedly, someone made that particular store item as a joke, someone else published it, and by the time it was figured out it wasn't meant to go live a ton of people already bought it. :v:

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:14

Smoothrich: Nov 8, 2009; Can't post for 2 years!

The Taint Reaper posted:

Welp people actually went aroind IRL investigating and found out that RSI Space Industries or whatever Croberts calls his retarded company spent more than 8 thousand dollars at a single dunkin dounuts since the physical office building was started.

8 loving grand, what can you buy at DD that will set you back 8 grand on the reg for only like a year or so.

Drugs.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:14

Romes128: Dec 28, 2008; Fun Shoe

no_recall posted:

Peter Molyneux - Failed. badly.

Lord British - Failing, quite badly.

Who else is on the chopping block?

Kojima. Say what you want about the direction Konami is going, but it's well known that they had to step in and tell him to stop loving around on at least 2 of the MGS games. It's rumored that he spent a ton of money on things like music that he immediately discarded in MGS5, and it started to irritate the higher ups at Konami.

MGS2 had a ton of cut content and 5 was released basically incomplete and the end was rushed.

But at least he's released games.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:15

Zsinjeh: Jun 11, 2007; :shoboobs:

Finster Dexter posted:

So, has reddit realized that CIG taking Escapist to court is going to rack up legal costs and turn whatever cash they might have left into the Star Citizen Memorial Legal Fund?

Someone mentioned this being a lose-lose for Escapist and CIG since no-one can back down, but this is probably a delusional win-win for CIG. They get to whip up their fans into even more crazed loyalty and they get a legitimate reason to postpone the game further.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:15

Tippis: Mar 21, 2008; It's yet another day in the wasteland.

The Taint Reaper posted:

Welp people actually went aroind IRL investigating and found out that RSI Space Industries or whatever Croberts calls his retarded company spent more than 8 thousand dollars at a single dunkin dounuts since the physical office building was started.

8 loving grand, what can you buy at DD that will set you back 8 grand on the reg for only like a year or so.

~$8 worth of doughnuts per (working) day for four years?

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:15

Raskolnikov: Nov 25, 2003

I finally got to the end of this thread. Refunds are looking like two weeks if we're lucky.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:15

Amun Khonsu: Sep 15, 2012; wtf did he just say?; Grimey Drawer

madcow posted:

I bet you would make more money if you deliver an entertaining game with a multi-year lifespan.

You mean 4 sentences? Sorry, I didn't mean to strain your mental capacity.

Also, I wasn't speaking to the initial release of WoW and CoD, if you didn't fail at reading comprehension, you might have caught on to that. I was speaking about the annual releases that have followed since release of CoD Modern Warfare like clockwork and all the MMORPGS that have come out since WoW debuted that are essentially a poor imitation of WoW with a different skin.

If the crowd funding were to dry up, they would just go seek out private investors and additional captial from other sources. With nearly a million "Star Citizens", if the number on their website is to be believed, they have already shown a market demand.

What private investor is going to put themselves into the middle of this shitstorm now that CR and Ortwin have had a very public meltdown over Sandis reputation?

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:16

cl_gibcount 9999: Aug 15, 2002

The Taint Reaper posted:

Welp people actually went aroind IRL investigating and found out that RSI Space Industries or whatever Croberts calls his retarded company spent more than 8 thousand dollars at a single dunkin dounuts since the physical office building was started.

8 loving grand, what can you buy at DD that will set you back 8 grand on the reg for only like a year or so.

a menu with pictures of all the donuts you could get

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:17

Trapezium Dave: Oct 22, 2012

madcow posted:

So... the total number of copies a game sells is more or less limited to the number a publisher sells prior to a game's release via pre-orders?

In any event, there are people with money that would disagree with you.

What I mean is, for the kinds of investors with serious money in this hypothetical scenario, what benefit does buying into Star Citizen give instead of starting a complete new game free of debt, drama and expectations.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:17

The Taint Reaper: Sep 4, 2012; by Shine

Trapezium Dave posted:

What I mean is, for the kinds of investors with serious money in this hypothetical scenario, what benefit does buying into Star Citizen give instead of starting a complete new game free of debt, drama and expectations.

You can't dream about one day replacing your life with your 100% fully simulated spaceship life with games like The Witcher.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:20

Klyith: Aug 3, 2007; GBS Pledge Week

madcow posted:

I bet you would make more money if you deliver an entertaining game with a multi-year lifespan.

Yes but what if you're totally crap at making games, plus you have a deep-seated aversion to going to jail?

quote:

If the crowd funding were to dry up, they would just go seek out private investors and additional captial from other sources. With nearly a million "Star Citizens", if the number on their website is to be believed, they have already shown a market demand.

There's a big market demand for amazing, huge in scale, AAA+ quality, well produced and fun video games.

There's not enough demand to pay the $150 to $300 million it costs to produce those games unless the product you are making has become a cultural force unto itself, ala GTA.

And there's little demand for the mediocre, huge in scale but small in content, "AAA quality", forced-out-the-door games that are what you get when the game you were trying to make to fit criteria #1 ended up in the weeds. Which happens to real AAA publishers as well as Chris Roberts. (remember Watch Dogs and AC:Unity?)

These are the reasons smart people with a billion dollars to invest aren't throwing it at random video game developers.

Pirate Jet posted:

Bioshock Infinite felt like a game that released not because it was done but because everyone who was working on it was sick of doing so.

Bioshock Infinite felt like a game that had a lot of great ideas, and was demoed at E3 before those ideas had really finished going through the sieve for what was possible and what wasn't going to happen. Because that's what it was, and people involved straight up admitted after the fact that the famous E3 demo was a special project, almost a game unto itself.

I thought it was still a great game, but you just can't be amazed by something you are expecting to be amazed by. Even still, there were a few moments I was amazed.

I think Levine maybe needs to be the creative director with a good producer partner, not the head honcho alone.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:22

The Saddest Robot: Apr 17, 2007

Trapezium Dave posted:

What I mean is, for the kinds of investors with serious money in this hypothetical scenario, what benefit does buying into Star Citizen give instead of starting a complete new game free of debt, drama and expectations.

It comes with an established base of customers who will literally throw buckets of money at you for nothing.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:23

no_recall: Aug 17, 2015; Lipstick Apathy

Romes128 posted:

Kojima. Say what you want about the direction Konami is going, but it's well known that they had to step in and tell him to stop loving around on at least 2 of the MGS games. It's rumored that he spent a ton of money on things like music that he immediately discarded in MGS5, and it started to irritate the higher ups at Konami.

MGS2 had a ton of cut content and 5 was released basically incomplete and the end was rushed.

But at least he's released games.

At least he had a producer to tell him off :argh:

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:24

Trapezium Dave: Oct 22, 2012

The Saddest Robot posted:

It comes with an established base of customers who will literally throw buckets of money at you for nothing.

Yeah but we're talking about when all the whales are bled dry and their money spent on jpeg commercials. All you're getting are angry liabilities.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:28

Tippis: Mar 21, 2008; It's yet another day in the wasteland.

Trapezium Dave posted:

What I mean is, for the kinds of investors with serious money in this hypothetical scenario, what benefit does buying into Star Citizen give instead of starting a complete new game free of debt, drama and expectations.

Maybe they're secretly Gordon Gecko-style raiders who also have an impossible dream?

Only, their dream is that the million people they screw over in their raid will cheer them on and claim that this is the best development imaginable, for some unknown reason, even though it makes no sense at all. This would be their chance to live that dream.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:28

no_recall: Aug 17, 2015; Lipstick Apathy

Klyith posted:

Bioshock Infinite felt like a game that had a lot of great ideas, and was demoed at E3 before those ideas had really finished going through the sieve for what was possible and what wasn't going to happen. Because that's what it was, and people involved straight up admitted after the fact that the famous E3 demo was a special project, almost a game unto itself.

I thought it was still a great game, but you just can't be amazed by something you are expecting to be amazed by. Even still, there were a few moments I was amazed.

Bioshock (the series alone) had a ton of great ideas, and a great first person SP experience. Levine definitely had too many good ideas and tried to cram them into the game, making it way too dense.

Infinite tried with the DLC approach but I don't think it fared well.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:29

Salt n Reba McEntire: Nov 14, 2000; Kuparp.

Oh Christ, it's this, isn't it. It's people who want to completely replace existence - everything, family, friends, life experiences, the lot - with being a virtual pilot in a virtual spaceship doing the same thing over and over again.

Put that way, it doesn't really matter how much money you spend on it. Not really. It's just silly numbers in a life that you're wholly uninterested in.

Well now I just want to find everyone who's pledged more than a couple of hundred and give them a hug

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:29

The Taint Reaper: Sep 4, 2012; by Shine

Moogle posted:

Oh Christ, it's this, isn't it. It's people who want to completely replace existence - everything, family, friends, life experiences, the lot - with being a virtual pilot in a virtual spaceship doing the same thing over and over again.

Yep this is it, Star Citizen is their ticket to a "better" life.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:29

VenusRedux: Oct 5, 2015

http://imgur.com/a/XomTs

They just lay their dicks right out there on the table.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:30

Chalks: Sep 30, 2009

Mein Eyes! posted:

Just got a reply to my request for a refund on my $35 pledge.

lol just lol

Cite CR's front page rant about the escapist :v:

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:31

The Taint Reaper: Sep 4, 2012; by Shine

VenusRedux posted:

http://imgur.com/a/XomTs

They just lay their dicks right out there on the table.

idg whats going on.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:36

VenusRedux: Oct 5, 2015

The Taint Reaper posted:

idg whats going on.

The guy that "took down" the escapist is making money selling ships. Which is just the tip of the iceberg.

The glassdoor reviews weren't used as sources and he knew that. Dude has an agenda. $$

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:42

cl_gibcount 9999: Aug 15, 2002

VenusRedux posted:

http://imgur.com/a/XomTs

They just lay their dicks right out there on the table.

they better make sure they shave down there first

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:44

Kakarot: Jul 20, 2013; by zen death robot; Buglord

lol
Everyone sells ships. Also could you guys not make this game fail, I got some ships to sell tia

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:44

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 28, 2024 23:31

Rudager: Apr 29, 2008

Trapezium Dave posted:

What I mean is, for the kinds of investors with serious money in this hypothetical scenario, what benefit does buying into Star Citizen give instead of starting a complete new game free of debt, drama and expectations.

Also, in the time that Star Citizen has been loving around since they got funded, direct competitors like Elite: Dangerous has released with a strong following and No Mans Sky is going strong with just internal/publisher funding and looking like it'll be out before Star Citizen (but also maybe a bit of a disappointment).

The game has changed a lot since that original kickstarter.

# ? Oct 5, 2015 09:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Star Citizen: Fear, Uncertainty, and Debt

«‹›746 »