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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 30 2018, @11:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the nearly-all? dept.

The space simulation game Star Citizen has found a new way to extract money from the crowd:

Crowdfunded space simulation game Star Citizen has launched its $27,000 (£20,000) Legatus Pack, which includes nearly all its spacecraft plus extras.

Only players who have already spent $1,000 in the game can access the pack.

Cloud Imperium, the creators of Star Citizen, has received more than $200m in crowdfunding since launching a Kickstarter campaign for it in 2012.

According to its website it has more than two million players, although the game itself is still in development.

Previously: Star Citizen Reaches $100 Million in Crowdfunding, Alpha 2.0 Released
Star Citizen Developers Sued by Crytek


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by zocalo on Wednesday May 30 2018, @01:52PM (4 children)

    by zocalo (302) on Wednesday May 30 2018, @01:52PM (#686255)
    I think there's a kind of Stockholm effect at work, although I'm sure someone will be able to provide the proper term for this kind of self-delusion in due course. While I'm sure there are still some true-believers out there, I think there are also a lot who have gotten in so far that they are simply no longer capable of considering that the project might fail because to do so would mean admitting to themselves that they have made a serious misjudgment - exactly the same scenario that leads people to send more and more money in the hope of receiving their millions from that Nigerian Prince. I bailed with a full refund a couple of years ago (CIG is bang to rights on this under EU consumer protection laws, FYI), and even though they finally managed to get v3.0 out (missing many expected features and about 18 months after a much more impressive release was expected) it's been a continual train wreck ever since. Kind of fun to watch, with the bitching and ruthless shouting down of anyone that doesn't toe the line, no matter how valid their point is, just the icing on the cake, but also kinda depressing at the thought of the much less impressive but still highly enjoyable game that might actually have been if Chris Robert's inability to say "good enough" hadn't got in the way.

    Personally, I think they're financially screwed and are going to have to either cut and run giving thanks to the Crowdfunding God of No-Refunds or try and sell a stake (and transfer at least some control) to a traditional publisher or bank real soon now. Can't wait to see how the true believers in "Chris don't need no stinking publishers" and "perfection takes time" spin that one. They've never come across as particularly skilled on financial shell games either - remember the advance they took on some UK government subsidies to pay the rent or some such a year or so back? - so it's also quite possible that this is a Hail Mary because some bills are due, they don't have enough cash onhand to pay them, and need a quick infusion. Oh, sure, they probably have some extra cash tied-up in the bank, but their revenue seems to have levelled off - and may even have peaked - at a level that seems quite likely to be below their expenditure (four offices, multiple sub-contractors totalling 300-400 staff, IIRC? Current revenue [google.com] is about $35m/yr, total employment cost is typically 150-175% of salary - do the math), which would mean they are now running on borrowed time with little hope of getting anywhere close to their so called "minimally viable product" initial release. Because a half-baked v1.0 product that's missing many of the features promised what will be getting on for ten years ago is somehow going to result in a massive cash infusion from both new and existing backers to drive the next development and deliver the remaining features. Yeah, right. I'd say keep drinking the Kool-Aid, but since this is CIG's Kool-Aid while it might look tasty you can bet it's going to be flat if it ever eventually arrives.
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @02:24PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @02:24PM (#686276)

    the proper term for this kind of self-delusion in due course

    sunk cost fallacy?

    • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Wednesday May 30 2018, @02:42PM

      by zocalo (302) on Wednesday May 30 2018, @02:42PM (#686283)
      Also close, but seems to miss the mark just enough in the same way that the Stockholm effect and Dunning-Kruger do that makes me suspect there might be a more specific and appropriate scientic term for "drinking the Kool-Aid". Perhaps it's just "Cultism", but psychologically that seems to be a generic catch-all that spans multiple potential reasons for joing a cult.
      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday May 30 2018, @04:31PM

    by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday May 30 2018, @04:31PM (#686334) Journal

    Grepolis seems to have done the same thing: create for the people spending big money and losing in the long run.

    https://en.grepolis.com/ [grepolis.com]

    feed to the big spenders and lose the players.
    Oh well, if you have the money, go for it but you better also learn: if not, you'll be spending big money just keeping from losing.

    It was a great game: one of the best i've played. Then just got lost in money. Spend or you can't do this. Spend or you can't do that.

    Too bad.

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @11:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @11:14PM (#686533)

    Are you describing Second Life Syndrome?