Star Citizen: Is it Worth it?

[BogusMeatFactory]

I have recently come across some extra cash to spend on some games and I am starting to salivate over Star Citizen. Since it's announcement through Kickstarter, I was interested in the title, but that hype was diminished when No Man's Sky came about. I was disappointed with No Man's Sky and my gaze has turned back to Star Citizen. I want to play the slices available now but would love to have some friends to be able to play with. Anyone out there playing it or have it that can talk about if the game is worth investing in now and who would like to meet up and play some? I would love to get a nice transport ship and have a crew. That would be an absolute blast to play around with.

[Gunstar Green]

Right now? Not really. It's still just a series of unfinished modules that haven't been joined together yet and it's not really well optimized (you really want a monster rig for this). Granted a lot of those modules are really cool (totally still very obviously Alpha, but cool), you should still really wait and see what the finished product turns out to be.

For my money the best current space sim is Elite Dangerous. It has similar "this is all pointless" problems to No Man's Sky but there's loads more things to do in the game and the pretty accurate (and to scale) simulation of the Milky Way is really cool. This recommendation may change if Star Citizen ever truly gets off the ground but currently Elite Dangerous is the most complete and in-depth experience in my opinion. I put almost 400 hours into it before getting completely bored anyway.

[MrPopo]

Elite Dangerous also has people in it. If you get lost and run out of fuel you can get rescued by kind players.

[Gunstar Green]

Elite Dangerous also has people in it. If you get lost and run out of fuel you can get rescued by kind players.

The Fuel Rats are amazing. One of the coolest examples of emergent gameplay I've seen in an online game.

[BogusMeatFactory]

See, I am in no way interested in Elite. I want a hardcore space sim with heavy simulation elements. I have never been big on being a space trader, but nothing excites me more than the idea of being in a crew to a privateer, manning turrets, loading freight... there is just something immersive about the ideas presented.

[Tanooki]

Same here I'm on their mailer but never paid into it as of yet. I was and am still a huge Wing Commander fan which that guy created, but that said my love for that also did NOT extend to Privateer as I hated that entirely. WC1-3 (oddly never played 4) and Prophecy(5) and Special Ops(6) is it. This, at least the dogfighting/space battle package end of it looks like a natural extension of his classic 20th century goodies so I keep reading up on it and dismiss the assholes online who just attack the guy and the project. As far as I'm concerned if it gets finished well enough (if not completely) where those who bought in are happy good. People from the outside making up garbage and getting all huffy about it I have no interest in it unless they pop up some concrete damning evidence.

[Gunstar Green]

I know I've said this already but play Wing Commander 4 already dammit.

It's so well made. It's the pinnacle of FMV games. I'm probably overselling it but it deserves to be.

See, I am in no way interested in Elite. I want a hardcore space sim with heavy simulation elements. I have never been big on being a space trader, but nothing excites me more than the idea of being in a crew to a privateer, manning turrets, loading freight... there is just something immersive about the ideas presented.

I think you have the wrong impression about Elite Dangerous. You don't have to be a space trucker at all. I spent most of my time as a bounty hunter and explorer and pirating is also fun if you want some PVP.

ED also has a separate arena mode if you want to dogfight without risking your expensive ship (this mode might actually be free to play now, I don't remember). You do however have to invent your own fun because there's no real goals other than make money to spend money, so I understand people not being able to get into it. It's a very love it or hate it system.

More Star Citizen-esque multi-crew stuff is supposed to be coming in the future but I wouldn't hold my breath over that one.

Star Citizen itself just isn't quite what you want it to be yet... hopefully soon, but not in its current state. Unless you're really eager to check it out, and I say this as a huge Chris Roberts fanboy, pass on it for now.

[MrPopo]

I know I've said this already but play Wing Commander 4 already dammit.

It's so well made. It's the pinnacle of FMV games. I'm probably overselling it but it deserves to be.

"the pinnacle of FMV games" is a very low bar, so you probably aren't overselling it.

[Gunstar Green]

Good point.

[Tanooki]

He does at that. I have never loved FMV, but in context of that, the one I at least kind of liked was the bits in Wing Commander 3 back in the day with that Kilrathi Saga set I used to have. FMV to me was the biggest downward spiral turning point in console games that ushered in so many problems. It was the first in a line of dominoes that rolled through unskippable scenes, forced re-watching of crap if you die before a save point, escalation of budgets, larger teams required, eventually having to outdo that to HD, with even bigger budgets now increasing game prices, to idiotic studios hiring SAG actors for big paychecks making things even more costly. And then your blowback of all the 1 and done(bankruptcy) fails, mergers, genres going under the rug unless digital only(indie revolution), playing it safe with yearly rehash, gimmicks failed and not. It all seemed to go back to me to the abuse of the larger storage(CD) and FMV.

I will play it some day. But when that is another matter. Truth is I have dozens of physical games I need to address before I even think of goofing off seriously with digital which is why I still don't even have the very tempting No Man's Sky on PC(GoG) nor have I bothered with Star Citizen. I've only bought one new PS4 game in a year (Uncharted 4) and it's still sealed as I lost interest and haven't the time and almost the same can be said for 3DS buying too but I am playing DQ7 at night.