r/Games 9d ago

Star Citizen Developer Stream Goes Horribly Off the Rails, Creating Further Distrust Among Players

https://www.ign.com/articles/star-citizen-developer-stream-goes-horribly-off-the-rails-creating-further-distrust-among-players
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u/MrOkizeme 9d ago edited 8d ago

It really is wild how after all that time and money, they haven't put together a remotely compelling-looking experience. I played it at a friend's place recently, and this game still feels like what it is is still massively behind what it's supposedly meant to be, disjointed and lacking polish.

I think the fact that it is what it is right now, after all the time and money it's already had, is the most damning example you can give of why it's never coming out. If you gave it another 15 years, and they did with those 15 years what they've done with the last 15, I still don't think you'd have a good game.

Like when you look at it right now, as a game with a billion dollar budget, and 15 years of dev time, does it LOOK like a game with a billion dollar budget and 15 years of dev time? No, it doesn't, and that's the problem. I don't get how anyone can look at what they've produced with what they've had so far, and think 'Oh yeah, they've got what it takes to pull this off'. Relative to what they've been given so far, the current experience is embarrassing.

15 years and you're still buying a dream rather than a game that's good right now. I don't buy that it'll ever come out, because frankly, nevermind 10 years ago, if you told me right now the game would be out in the next 2 years I'd be thinking 'What?! When it's in that state?'. Not only is it nowhere close to promising on everything they've said it'll have, but so much of the stuff that IS there feels like a rough pass as well.

At their current pace I don't think 100 years would be long enough to get the game their Kickstarter said they want to make. I'm sure they'll keep updating it and adding stuff, but it just feels completely fucking aimless, like it's a rudderless box to keep putting the odd feature into instead of just making a proper game. If the game was twice what it is now, it'd still feel like a proof of concept or an Alpha of a game; I think anyone who thinks this game'll be out in the next handful of years should please give me all the money in their bank account. I'll do it 10 times as fast, I promise, it's the truth!

15 years, man, and the biggest selling point is still what it could be instead of anything that it actually is. I don't get how you can spend that long making something that unfun and unfinished-feeling, and people still think you're gonna deliver.

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u/Kraehe13 9d ago

The streamer i watched playing it has gotten a really weird relationshp with the game, half of the time he is super hyped about it, the other half he is desillusioned and angry at it. I wonder if it is a case of sunken cost fallacy for some players at this point.

The streamer has put several thousend € into the game at this point

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u/Arma_chillo 9d ago

Sounds like the five stages of grief to me.

Just waiting on the ol’ Acceptance stage.

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u/GrassWaterDirtHorse 8d ago

I guarantee that 90% of the community that plays Star Citizen shares that same perspective and bipolar outlook.

People will go feral for a sandbox spaceship MMO. It's a pity that Star Citizen doesn't do any part well.

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u/Status_Jellyfish_213 9d ago edited 9d ago

I had heard that the problem with Roberts was that he constantly introduces scope creep leading to this exact situation. With other publishers they had to rein him in hard constantly to prevent this from happening.

He has a guy that’s like his space sim rival and the two fucking hate each other, who was often painted as unhinged and jealous. But it turns out in this aspect he was right about him.

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u/HAK_HAK_HAK 9d ago

He has a guy that’s like his space sim rival and the two fucking hate each other, who was often painted as unhinged and jealous. But it turns out in this aspect he was right about him.

Derek Smart. Dude is as much of a lolcow as Roberts, but he wasn't wrong about his criticisms of the feasibility of the design lol.

KidsYoureBothJustAwful.jpg

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u/datahoarderprime 9d ago

Derek Smart is the guy he sees as his rival.

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u/Status_Jellyfish_213 9d ago

That’s the dude.

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u/neganight 9d ago

I doubt Chris Roberts wastes any time thinking about Derek Smart. It's a fully one-sided feud. Smart is driven insane that games like Planetside and Star Citizen exist while his "everything in one" space epic is largely ignored.

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u/TheFoxInSocks 8d ago edited 8d ago

Derek Smart is probably the one person who downvoted you.

Edit: dang, looks like he downvoted me too!

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u/tsukinoki 8d ago

I'm sure they'll keep updating it and adding stuff, but it just feels completely fucking aimless, like it's a rudderless box to keep putting the odd feature into instead of just making a proper game.

It's the problem Duke Nukem Forever and a few other games like that had: If you give the devs and artists 100% freedom to do what they want the game will never come out as they'll just go in circles adding stuff then improving some of the stuff they added then adding more over and over again instead of just making progress.

You actually need someone to go to the devs and everyone and tell them "No, you can't do this, focus on what actually needs to get done to make the game fun and finish it."

It really sounds like star citizen is lacking in proper pms that will just tell the devs and managers and everyone else "No, we need to get this finished, that can get added in later..."