Star Citizen Online - The search for more money

Considering it isnt an MMO, doing that is probably not a big priority. Elite: Dangerous has multiplayer and character/market persistance right now, this will be similar just with 70mill more monies pumped in.

Oh, so it ISN'T an MMO? Darn...

They plan to shuffle players between various instances on the fly based on population, friend lists and player behaviour/history (dont like that part). If they do it well you probably wont notice or mind and have a good small-to-medium multiplayer experience while flying around. It's not going to be like EVE when it comes to large encounters, and that isnt their goal really.

Tbh while it isnt an MMO in my eyes, this system is going to become the default mode for what the gaming community considers an MMO. Megaservers as in most recent games that place you instances based simply on map population are simpler but similar if you think about it, just with a bigger pop limit per instance (and we dont even know what limit SC will have). Afaik EQ2 already did that in '04 even. It's just easier to gloss over the instancing while you are in space I guess. Gonna be funny when all the wanna-be gankers only meet their own kind after the game figures out their intentions and places them in the appropriate instances. At least I surely doubt the designers will put the wolves into the sheep pen on purpose, this isnt that kinda game.

Mist_sl said:

This game is going to have great graphics and a great flight model from what I've seen so far. The only thing I'm not sold on is how they'll actually make an MMO-ish experience out of it.

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They've been pretty straight forward about those plans and it will have a persistent element. Anyways, what MMO actually is one in the traditional sense?

Since everyone probably has their own definition in mind that's a fruitless discussion. I'd say EVE is one even if you look at it in black&white (maybe AA? didnt play that), most other games probably a shade of grey depending on how much they segregate and instance the players away from the open world (if they actually have that).

I wouldn't say dramatically change the world in the least unless you mean world bosses, camping or flipping zone control is considered dramatic.

If you say so.

Blackwulf_sl said:

Can someone please give me a brief recap on where this game stands? Is it going to a real live MMO in space with like Privateer gameplay? I'm confused about the various different games being released - like FPS and story.. eh.. is it all coming out together as an MMO ever? What about ships? I guess some people have spent shit loads on ships already? Can you not get ships normally through gameplay, or should I go and drop some money right now?

Are there any vids? Like I'd be interested in seeing those sweet vids mentioned a couple posts above.

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Everything will be obtainable in game with in game currency you earn by playing. You only really need a game package that happens to come with a basic ship. They are trying to make their site a little better to explain this. It still sucks. You don't necessarily even need that. You can wait till the game launches and just pay for it then. Pretty sure you won't be getting a ship out of it and it will cost the price of a full priced game ($60+) but you will be able to earn enough in game credits during your single player career in Squadron 42 (the single player intro to the game) to start with a ship and some gear once you muster out of the UEE military.

As far as the breakdown of Star Citizen it's confusing to most at first but it's fairly simple. There will be two elements to the game that will be the most obvious in your face. First is Squadron 42 which you don't really hear too much about because that's the single player campaign and they don't want to ruin it for people. You will be able to exit it at anytime and go into the second major part of the game which is the PU (Persistent Universe) but if you do their current stance is that you will essentially have flunked out and however far you got with it won't stay persistent unless you actually complete the campaign. We don't know if you have to complete a milestone like Episode 1 before you can muster out and come back later to complete Episode 2 or if you will be forced to complete all 5 Episodes before your "story" becomes persistent and actually has an effect in the Persistent Universe. They do plan to add more Episodes post launch. By then all of the assets will exist and they can just craft story instead of having to spend six months building assets and another six building a story. You may think this isn't too bad but what you don't realize is each Episode is longer than most AAA titles released today. Episode 1 of Squadron 42 is apparently 15 hours of gameplay. The rest are supposed to be closer to 10 hours each.

Originally the Episodes were supposed to be 5 hours each but the story they crafted was so good Chris didn't want to cut out the good parts. This does have negative impact on some people. Some will get super pissed off that they want to play with their friends and don't want to have to play through 70+ hours of gameplay just to get the persistence (mostly faction benefits and some money and a ship) for the "MMO" part of the game. I say tough shit. This game isn't being built for whiny self important assholes who think the world's rotation needs to change for their benefit. Some of them got a taste of that from Chris with the latest Forum Meltdown over the "REC" system they plan to implement.

So beware this game is not for the faint of heart. It was never meant to be marketed for the unwashed masses. It's a niche game that happened to hit its stride.

What most people are playing right now which is Arena Commander will come to include the FPS module in all of its iterations in the next few months and already includes the ship Racing feature. Right now you just hit Esc and can access the menu for it. Sometime this year it's moving to a simulation cockpit type device that will sit in your Hangar that you will have to get into. From there you will be able to play games where you won't have to risk your ship or life. Out in the PU however anything will go including perma death. But that's another story.

I doubt any of that is set in stone. In any case, it's a B2P game so just buy a package that includes a ship if you dont care about the campaign and skip those 15-70 hours of prologue (I for one will do that, might play through it at some later time I guess).

Test Drive the Origin Jumpworks 300 Series! - Roberts Space Industries


Test drive the 300 series this weekend

I tried to install this game a month ago and it ran slow as shit and nearly crashed my PC.

Variise_sl said:

<detailed answer to my questions>

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Thanks! I appreciate you taking the time to type that out, it cleared a lot up for me and actually made me anticipate this game even more.

Tuco_sl said:

Wait you have to get through Squadron42 to get to the MMO game? Or just if you want the money for a ship?

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Yes and No. They don't want to force you to go through it if you just want to log in and go do stuff with your org. The game starts with character creation. Chris has stuck to his original idea to this day so I assume that's what he is going to do. Basically you start in a shower and you wipe the moisture off the mirror to reveal your face. That's when it goes into character creation mode and you can start fucking around with different faces and adjusting your body within some limits (has to fit into the cockpit and reach the controls so likely no 4' short women and no 7' tall men and no Jabba the Hutt types).

Once you exit character creation you can defect from the UEE Navy or get out before that even starts and basically go MIA/AWOL. You can go back and play Squadron 42 at anytime. So lets say you jump in and play with your org for a couple of months and you hit a quiet patch where everyone is busy doing their own shit and you are bored. You can play through Squadron 42 and it will then impact your reputation in the PU. If you are already playing a pirate you can totally play that up in SQ42 and burn your bridges with the UEE and exit much sooner from the game (leaving many of the branching missions undone). Or if you are firmly on the side of the UEE you can take your time and carefully navigate your career in SQ42 to ensure you get a very positive Rep hit at the end. This might open doors to you when you exit offering missions or gear that may be much more difficult for others to obtain. Same is true of Pirates.

So really it's up to you. The downside and the flip/flop that Chris is running into is how do you deal with people who exit part way through? Initially they said you could exit mid way and come back to where you left off but they haven't worked out the details. Since then they have discussed it and it looks like you can still exit but it will reset the campaign. It's very much up in the air IMO. We will know more by end of this year or more likely next year once there are at least two SQ42 Episodes out.

First time I've backed a game in development, but I went ahead and ordered that $45 dollar package that gives you access to the dogfight module. I used that "stripe" thing to pay with a CC, and don't have access to my package yet. Any idea how long it takes? Eh, no big rush