Oh i didn't see this thread before i posted :/ must try harder to search.
What are peoples thoughts on this? I've been looking at the webpage and I'm intrigued to try it but you have to donate or subscribe is that right?
What phase of development is the game currently in? Is it playable solo, multi?
Its been around awhile and they are updating it to release again is that right?
From the youtube videos I've watched it looks amazing and I'm eager to give it a try but want to hear peoples thoughts as I'm more a casual gamer but i'll probably sink hours into this.
Theres no subscription to the game, theres just a completely optional sub some people do to allow CIG to justify spending time on community stuff like weekly videos (theres a 30min update vid every Thurs, 30min livestream every Fri, and 15-20min either lore or 'bugsmashers' every Wed, as well as a few other things).
Pledging gets you what is essentially early access.
Its still very much alpha, i say its more relateable to an extremely impressive tech demo than a game, purely on the basis that while you can do a lot of gameplay theres no pure-game there, no tutorial, no proper missions and progression type stuff. Theres plenty to do, but its a sandbox really, it asks you to find your own means of entertainment for a lot of it, and theres plenty of fun to be had without too much effort (just ask if you can join someone else on their multi-crew ship, have a look around and get a feel for it, its impressive) but if youre going to play on your own in a starter ship (single seater) i can imagine people finding it lacks stuff to keep you playing beyond a few hours.
Its undergoing bi-monthly/quarterly updates, alpha 2.5 currently, but 2.6 adds a first-person shooter game mode thats purely FPS in and FPS arena (you can do FPS in the universe too, but this is for ppl wanting FPS combat, we already have one for dogfighting). 3.0 was targetted for xmas but that feels like Feb-March being realistic. Its quite a big step up though, that adds a much bigger universe area, a couple of the basic career mechanics (hauling, trading, piracy & bounty hunting), as well as the ability to fly from space straight down to a planets landing zone and then walk around that location, all without a loading screen (no loading screens from the moment you join the server!).
Then it seems like they're moving to quarterly updates, adding new career orientated elements (mining, salvage, science, exploration etc) along with the huge ships meant for those roles (many 100+ meters long, fully modelled interiors).
Theres also 2 games, theres 'Star Citizen' which is the first-person MMO, and a single-player campaign called Squadron 42. You can buy either individually, or both for about $15 more. Sq42 should be released next year, hopefully with a demonstration of the first chapter before the end of the year, but its meant to be a full-sized SP campaign. SC is likely to be in alpha till 2018, and given the fact that they're not half-arsing things like careers and everything is being built on a huge scale at high first-person detail, its a huge task so it could easily be 2020 before its considered released.
The reasonable question is whether its worth buying now or just waiting. They regularly do free-fly weeks so as long as you create a login account you can try the game with a few ships for 10 days, and they do that around 6 times a year, and you can do that every time if you want. So they're not concerned about letting people try before they buy, which is what 99% of early access titles do, they use the 'you can play it now' factor to get you to buy an unfinished product today, not whatever it is they release in 12-18mo etc. I think most people who try it will either buy it or they'll know they want to but they're going to wait a while, which is fair.
Sadly you just missed a free-fly, but i'd imagine theres another before the end of the year. If you create an account im pretty sure your on the mailing list (i dont recall opting into one, could be wrong) and it'll be announced in there etc.
The only question i have is whether they can pull everything together and make what should be an amazing game. What it wont be is a disappointment because we were given the bait & switch, everything they're doing is to a crazy degree, and its all fairly public with the community playing it and free-flight weeks too. Its just whether or not it all ties together nicely IMO. Best thing to do is hold off and wait for a free-fly IMO, though i doubt you'd regret buying it anyway, it just makes sense if you can try before you buy, and you dont need to trust peoples judgement etc.
.
