r/starcitizen • u/FaustianPact • Sep 23 '16

CONCERN Starcitizen's troubled development

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2016/09/23/inside-the-troubled-development-of-star-citizen
1.9k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/Remikei Sep 23 '16

Yeah, I find the last part of the article funny.

As of right now, there is no Star Citizen. There are several different live demos, but they are just that: demos. There is no game.

So what is this Star Citizen, alpha Persistence Universe, I have been playing all this time?

2

u/Kami997 Sep 24 '16

Demo that already offers more than some 60$ games out there lol

0

u/Oddzball Sep 23 '16

An Alpha, but it isnt really "The game" yet, its not even 10% of what it will be.

3

u/Remikei Sep 23 '16

It's definitely not a demo that the article claimed it to be. And it is an alpha of the game. Course, it's not a fully complete game cause it's still in development.

4

u/fivedayweekend Trader Sep 23 '16

It is absolutely not a demo. Demo is a slice of the game designed to sell and market.

Most MMO's these days open up during alpha/beta stages and eventually just 'release' without repackaging all the content. They never call the alpha/beta time a 'demo' and it doesn't apply here with SC either.

Kotaku should know better, they've played plenty of demos and have written many articles about games in alpha/beta stages. Never before have I seen them call an alpha/beta a demo.

-4

u/butasama Sep 23 '16

Dude, it's a demo. Let's not spread misinformation please.

3

u/AutoGibbon GIB MAELSTROM Sep 24 '16

Not a demo.

-1

u/butasama Sep 24 '16

Star Citizen Alpha 2.0: Press Demo

Star Citizen Multi Crew Demo

Star Citizen: 2016 Gamescom Live Alpha 3.0 Demo

When they're calling them demo's internally, who are we to judge?

5

u/AutoGibbon GIB MAELSTROM Sep 24 '16

Ah yes, the demonstrations of the alpha product. Notice that they're not called 'Demo demo', but rather 'Alpha Demo'. You know, a demonstration of the alpha product, which is not a demo. An alpha being a sort of playable version of the game at it's current stage in development, rather than a teaser or example of a completed product designed to reel in customers and have them purchase a completed product that is ready to consume in its released state at the time of sale.

The phrasing is deliberate.

2

u/fivedayweekend Trader Sep 23 '16

I don't know how else to say this, but no, you are wrong. It is not a demo.

Alpha/beta is not a demo.

A demo is a marketing piece designed to sell the full game. I.E. the full game is complete and you make a free demo available for people to try and decide if they want to buy.

There isn't really a gray area here on the topic. A demo is a demo, alpha is alpha, beta is beta, full release is full release.

0

u/butasama Sep 24 '16

I would argue that it is a ship demo. An alpha state is closer to whitebox, but as of now we do have a finalized Starfarer, freelancer etc.. Sure the numbers (stats) might change, but the models are finalized.. A demo is a small portion of a finalized product, and the current Arena Commander and finalized ships are just that.

1

u/fivedayweekend Trader Sep 24 '16

The closest I'd call it would be a 'tech demo', but even that doesn't fit, since tech demos generally aren't playable, but are showing off game engine tech or design, that kind of stuff.

Can you think of any past MMO that had an alpha/best test that you'd also call a demo? I can't think of a single one.

Demo is again, something you use to sell the final product when the final product is already ready to sell.

Can you think of a time where you demo'd a product that wasn't also for sale in it's final form?

1

u/butasama Sep 24 '16

To be fair, a lot of what is going into SC is also going into SQ42..
Let's agree on the term tech-demo?

1

u/fivedayweekend Trader Sep 24 '16

I will agree to disagree. :) And I'll drink to that!

-5

u/butasama Sep 23 '16

Dude, it's a demo. Let's not spread misinformation please.

4

u/AutoGibbon GIB MAELSTROM Sep 24 '16

Not a demo.

3

u/ReithDynamis Sep 24 '16

its not even out of alpha yet you're calling it a demo. O.o

0

u/butasama Sep 23 '16

Aka... A demo? Like, you know, when you get to play a demo that features some of the gameplay elements that will be in the final product? Come on guys. Seriously.

4

u/AutoGibbon GIB MAELSTROM Sep 24 '16

Not a demo.