I'll assume that was a genuine question, but I'd say the only stat needed and one that nips this in the bud would be
857.9 million and according to CIG that is over 5.8m players which gives an average of $146 (which is still
mental for what this is), but we know there are some who backed the lowest and others who have ruined their lives using credit cards to buy pictures of ships. So no we can't have exact stats but the only one normal people seem to care about is 857 million, 13+years, alpha.
What we also can't tell is at what point those funds arrived, and therefore can't trace back to the state of the game, nor would that be a use of time I'd be willing to spend. Don't get me wrong though, I'd like to see it come good but I think I'll have grown out of gaming by the time that happens at this rate. I also firmly believe it will be a complete **** show because games like this (any online one really that has some pvp element) attract the absolute dregs of the population and they'll ultimately spoil it for themselves.
It was a genuine question and your answer that you somehow believe 'nips it in the bud' is evasive and a little disingenuous at best.
You've simply avoided answering the actual question because you can't honestly answer it and instead have made it about the overall number, which proves nothing other than your choice of interpretation.
As for that $858m, this is the part where someone reminds you that there are multiple studios, 1100+ employees, TWO games in simultaneous development etc, etc (both of which have had to be basically restarted, due to feature creep, scope expansion and all the blah blah you've seen mentioned many times) over the course of the 13+ years. But let's ignore all that and focus on the big headline number without worrying about inconvenient details because, y'know that's all BS and Chris is spunking it up the wall on yachts and hookers, right?
I do agree that 'PvP' tossers could very well make it a bit of a **** show, and already are tbh.
Yes, spoke to my mate not long ago and he said i was actually playing for nearly a month!! lol must have felt like a week because of the hell i went through towards the end, it was always buggy as hell though, right from my first play, its just as ive said, i could see there is a amazing game somewhere in there
and was kinda enjoying myself to begin with as never played anything like it bugs aside.
My mate had it for over a year, spent £500 on it, and even he came to the point where enough was enough and quit not long ago, its not a game in the state its in, it will never come out of alpha i dont think and i honestly think its a big con.
There's an amazing game in there that's like nothing you've ever played, but it's also a big scammy con because it's taking a while, it still has bugs and a bunch of people on Reddit say so + something something Chris Roberts yachts and mansions. Does that about cover it?
As for how much people spend on the game, you only have to go on one of the facebook pages etc and see some of the ridiculous amounts some people have spent on it, some people have spent way above £5000 and ive even heard of people spending £10.000 on this buggy mess!
Once again, we're back to "But look at what
some people have spent"... This does not address the question I asked, which was what makes you so confident about knowing how much
most players have spent?.
The fact that there are a fair number of big spenders doesn't mean the majority (as you claim) have spent stupid amounts of money.
Do you really believe that the majority of the 5.8m players are represented by the bunch showing off their fleets on reddit/FB? These people are just visible exceptions and exceptions do not prove whatever rule that you choose to believe.
I know a few people that have spent silly money. Most of these guys admit it's dumb, but they're cool with it because they can afford to and they want the game to succeed.
I also know plenty that are still rocking a starter ship after years or simply made one or two small pledge upgrades.
Either way, so what? It's not your money or mine. Get over it.
You may not understand why people do it, but they do.
Has it gotten a lot better now? i dont think so, someone i know is in a org and he himself has stupidly spent over £1000 on the game, he said thats it for the spending and things have improved since i played it, i asked by how much and if it was still buggy, he laughed and said "well yeah, but its better" lol
Yeah, it still has bugs. It's an in development game. You know this. Anyone coming into the game should be well aware of this.
However, compared to your brief time with it over two years ago, a
lot has changed and been added, including a whole star system and server meshing. I do wonder what makes you so confident in your opinion, considering you've barely scratched the surface a good while ago.
If, and its a massive dream of a IF...it ever actually gets to release and a full proper game , it could be amazing, but it just wont, i know it, you know it, the people that have spent **** loads on it know it, but people still defend it.
I could state that I
know God is real. But the reality is I don't
know, it would simply be an opinion I choose to believe.
You're making absolute statements of fact that are actually just opinions - including thinking you can speak for me. You're old enough to know the difference and to know better.
I don't know if it'll ever be a full, proper release and neither do you, but we can both agree that it would and could be amazing if they can pull it off.
As for defending it... What exactly is it that you think people are defending?
I'm not defending the development time, although the fact is that it does require tech development unlike pretty much any other game and they haven't always succeeded. You also know that it isn't the Starfield-like game originally proposed 13-odd years ago. Things change.
I'm not defending the general buggy nature of SC, although it's in development - not an excuse, simply a fact.
I'm not defending Chris or whatever salary he's awarded himself and his relations. I can't find any evidence of yacht ownership, though. There's a pic of him on the back of a boat, but... Have you guys seen actual evidence of him buying one, or are you just repeating things you've seen written? Link please if there's something of actual substance.
What else is there?
I simply have a problem with people that have a very limited depth of experience and think they know better than everyone based on that small amount and the problems they may have faced in that time.
They then look at posts on reddit and go with whatever fits what they want to believe. Usually, people gravitate to whatever makes them feel like they're smarter than the rest of the mugs who've clearly fallen for the obvious scam.
If anyone's actually been paying attention to this thread for a while, it's pretty common and ridiculously predictable even down to the terminology used and 'examples' thrown around.
Basically, my main point from earlier is that you can have some amazing times in SC if it's a patch that isn't
too screwed
Ideally, it's not for the lone wolf or social cripple. Find yourself some mates and your glass will go from half empty to half full at the very least.
I'm sorry that some of you haven't had the time, inclination or perhaps opportunity to have those kind of experiences.
If you had, you'd understand why people continue to play and why some put more money into it. No, I'm not defending or justifying the prices either
**Bonus deja vu points**
This same basic conversation comes up again and again. Look familiar?
just dont understand why myself but there you go, takes all sorts of people i guess and we all like different things and have different standards of where our money and time should go 
