Star Citizen: $48,000 is only $334/month for 12 years

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Star Citizen: $48,000 is only $334/month for 12 years

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Zzr: Oct 6, 2016

Lladre posted:

I still think the only guy walking away with money is Ortwin, the other three are poo poo with money.

Ben ate it, Sandy will use it to buy her cut movies' appearances, Chris will pay himself to the end.

Zzr fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Oct 28, 2019

# ? Oct 28, 2019 18:57

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 20:44

trucutru: Jul 9, 2003; by Fluffdaddy

TheAgent posted:

reminder that Chris Roberts pays roughly 60k a year in HOA fees and property taxes

but I'm sure he is pulling in 100k/yr like moma suggested lol

Your fudding fudster! Chris doesn't pay that. The Roberts' trust fund does.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 19:12

trucutru: Jul 9, 2003; by Fluffdaddy

So he does get paid like a hundo a year, and the trust gets like 900k and pays its manager (Chris) the usual 90% consulting fee.

Iron-cast managing skills! Business as usual.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 19:17

GyverMac: Aug 3, 2006; My posting is like I Love Lucy without the funny bits. Basically, WAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Kosumo posted:

No, they could not get the pile physics to work, so it's really just plain old poo poo.

In the new update the shits all t pose and clip through the floor so its more of a stain

# ? Oct 28, 2019 19:48

Virtual Captain: Feb 20, 2017; Archive Priest of the Stimperial Order

Star Citizen Good, in all things forevermore. Amen.

That's him in the fold out sofa.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 20:33

Viscous Soda: Apr 24, 2004

Zzr posted:

Ben ate it, Sandy will use it to buy her cut movies' appearances, Chris will pay himself to the end.

I've said this before, but I think Chris will start pouring "his" money back into the project once the funding dries up. He sees this as his magnum opus, as well as a stepping stone to get back into Hollywood. He's got all his dreams riding on Star Citizens success, so he cannot allow it to fail.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 20:33

Dementropy: Aug 23, 2010

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/17329-Playable-Now-The-Stats

# ? Oct 28, 2019 20:41

Mirificus: Oct 29, 2004; Kings need not raise their voices to be heard

# ? Oct 28, 2019 20:44

Colostomy Bag: Jan 11, 2016; C-Bangin' it

Face gen profession. Yeah, what I want, a Nick Cage movie.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 20:58

Zushio: May 8, 2008

Was trying to remember what the whole situation reminded me of and I have figured it out.

https://youtu.be/n3IzgYrOJ88

# ? Oct 28, 2019 20:59

Pixelate: Jan 6, 2018; "You win by having fun"

Dementropy posted:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/17329-Playable-Now-The-Stats

Even player stats can be turned into marketing. Amazing.

Love how the actual player totals / concurrent numbers are neatly side stepped.

Pixelate fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Oct 28, 2019

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:00

Mirificus: Oct 29, 2004; Kings need not raise their voices to be heard

Mirificus posted:

Jump Point: The Road to Object-Container-Streaming

NEXT STEPS posted:

The work won�t be over when the first iteration of Server-Object-Container-Streaming is delivered. While the first release should give us way better content scaling on the server, we will still have several areas to work in.

CROSS SESSION PERSISTENCE
Server-Object-Container-Streaming doesn�t affect how and what kind of data we serialize to persistence. We will store the entity in a frozen state in an in-process database. This implies that the state is lost when the server crashes or is restarted (besides the state we already persist). So, the next steps are to develop an efficient network access layer to allow the storing of the entity in a database on a different machine. When we implement that step, object state will persist over server restarts and crashes (until we delete the persistence database), moving the whole game towards a persistent experience.

SERVER-MESHING
With Server-Object-Container-Streaming, a single server is responsible for managing the database views of all clients. Thus, while the Server-Object-Container-Streaming should improve the server performance (as we load less entities), it ultimately won�t solve the problem of more players per server. This is where Server-Meshing comes in. In this concept, instead of having a single server manage all the views, we will distribute the individual views over multiple servers. Doing this will reduce the load on each participating server. When we then place those servers on different machines, we get a nice and practical way to scale with player count. To implement Server-Meshing, we will build on what we are building right now: entities will be moved between servers by using the serialization code provided by Serialized-Variables, depending on the code from Server-Object-Container-Streaming, to ensure that we can restore those moved entities correctly on a different server.

Mirificus fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Oct 28, 2019

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:02

Scruffpuff: Dec 23, 2015; Fidelity. Wait, was I'm working on again?

Mirificus posted:

Remember when this was going to be a space combat game, and Chris Roberts implied he already knew how to make it, instead of giving names to bog-standard engine features while claiming to have invented them?

I don't either, any more.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:09

SoftNum: Mar 31, 2011

Dementropy posted:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/17329-Playable-Now-The-Stats

This means, among other things, that players only kill something _an average_ of once every 28 minutes. (5 hours between PvP death-based interactions)

It says nothing about missions, km flown, boxes handled, etc.

(also this means if we take like 2.5million people or w/e at face value that each has played like 4 hours this year total.)

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:10

OB_Juan: Nov 24, 2004; Not every day is a good day.; Dinosaur Gum

At this point, it seems like publically ditching crobearts would give the investors room to hire someone who can take what's there and turn it into as much of a game as could come out.

No matter what, sc-as-promised can't happen because there are too many promises in too many directions. But something is better than nothing, and might be enough to stave off lawsuits.

It would also let the whales continue to dream of what could have been if Chris was only allowed to continue with his lost cause.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:29

Zazz Razzamatazz: Apr 19, 2016; by sebmojo

Mirificus posted:

Wait... is that real? That has to be a fan mock-up because those glasses look ghastly... even for SC...

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:30

BumbleOne: Jul 1, 2018; by Fluffdaddy

i cant wait for citcon fellow trainwreckspotters
will it be...

- a massive presentation (a.k.a. attack is the best defense a.k.a. yes we can make the bdsse, get hype!)

- or a cringeworthy nothingburger (a.k.a. tumbleweed rolling across the stage a.k.a. gently caress what drug were we on to have a convention without any product)

both is possible, both would be fun to watch
thats why i look forward to it

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:31

XK: Jul 9, 2001; Star Citizen is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it's fidelity when you look out your window or when you watch youtube

Zazz Razzamatazz posted:

Wait... is that real? That has to be a fan mock-up because those glasses look ghastly... even for SC...

I had one of those "Wait, is that real?" moments with that as well. It's the last page of the quoted Jump Point magazine.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:33

XK: Jul 9, 2001; Star Citizen is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it's fidelity when you look out your window or when you watch youtube

The whole magazine basically reads like a memory you're not sure if you dreamt.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:35

colonelwest: Jun 30, 2018

Peter.Quint posted:

I agree with everything except the release part. I don't think either CIG or the citizens actually ever want an official release - that blows the whole "IT'S ALPHA" excuse apart and the purchase of ships then becomes a hot issue.

Nah, keep it in eternal development, let the citizens dream while also paying $1000's for those dreams, keep those nasty reviewers away, respond to every criticism with the tier 0 implementation that will, of course, be fixed by release, all the time the management can enrich themselves nicely and without any complaints. Star Citizen will be like this until it fades away is my guess.

Yeah its hard to say what is going to happen exactly. But If we go with the SOTA model, they'll declare a "release" at some point when the money really starts to dry up, but string along remaining whales with promises of major future content updates. Then CIG will just slowly fade away into nothing. The problem with this theory is that CIG is operating on such a huge scale (5 studios and 500 employees) that its harder for them to quietly scale things back, in both a structural sense and without raising huge red flags in their community.

But I kind of think that Chris still needs a "release" as a smoke screen, so he can salvage some shreds of his reputation and try to move onto the high perch in the movie industry he thinks he deserves.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:44

Dynastocles: May 29, 2009; "If you'll excuse me, my dinner time is six o'clock. Only gangsters eat at 9 o'clock, after some bootlegging and a hot game of craps."

SoftNum posted:

This means, among other things, that players only kill something _an average_ of once every 28 minutes. (5 hours between PvP death-based interactions)

It says nothing about missions, km flown, boxes handled, etc.

(also this means if we take like 2.5million people or w/e at face value that each has played like 4 hours this year total.)

That's why these statistics don't make SC look good. We can guess that either it's 2.5 million people playing for a few hours and getting bored, or it's a handful of obsessive nerds logging thousands of hours. Either way, lol.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:47

colonelwest: Jun 30, 2018

Dynastocles posted:

That's why these statistics don't make SC look good. We can guess that either it's 2.5 million people playing for a few hours and getting bored, or it's a handful of obsessive nerds logging thousands of hours. Either way, lol.

Yeah they've obviously gone to great lengths to make the game look like its being played by hundreds of thousands of people, without actually stating any numbers for unique players which are probably abysmal. Even when they rank countries, they never give the raw numbers.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:51

BumbleOne: Jul 1, 2018; by Fluffdaddy

Scruffpuff posted:

Remember when this was going to be a space combat game, and Chris Roberts implied he already knew how to make it, instead of giving names to bog-standard engine features while claiming to have invented them?

I don't either, any more.

i remember the campaign and how i really liked it. i remember having the impression that really the only element missing is the money. that all the design work is done and now its just about producing the bdsse. boy was i wrong.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:53

Dwesa: Jul 19, 2016; Maybe I'll go where I can see stars

Mirificus posted:

I hope those struts in bottom left glasses are physicalized and immersively block your in-game vision.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 22:53

Bootcha: Nov 13, 2012; Truly, the pinnacle of goaltending; Grimey Drawer

Dementropy posted:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/17329-Playable-Now-The-Stats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo&t=112s

2,392,596 "citizens" and 9,325,386 hours means an average of 3 hours over the course of 10 months.

But let's go with the Turbulent metric of only half of the registered accounts are paying accounts, so now that's 1,196,298 citizens and 9,325,386 hours means an average of 7.8 hours of star citizen in 10 months.

But let's say that half of that citizen count actually play the game and are not waiting for a release, 598,149 playing customers and 9,325,386 hours means an average of 15 hours in 10 months.

But let's say half of that playing user base only logged in for 2 total hours in this 10 month period and got bored/frustrated. 299074 content locusts removed, 299075 true citizens remain. Minus the content locusts' 2 hours, leaving us with 8,727,237 to enjoy the game and have "fun". The remaining 2+ hour players have all played on average 29.2 hours over 10 months.

We're looking at player count reduction to about 12% of the "official" cited player count to approach healthy player-base average-engagement times.
I'd say 3 hours a month per player is just before the event horizon of the "we can't get people to play our game" problem.

I suppose there are other questions to ask about the data, like is it just PTU? Does Evocati testing count? Do Star Marine and Arena Commander count towards spaceships and gun numbers?
Numbers are numbers, yes, but in true CIG fashion they are vague and obfuscated.

So this all had me thinking, what's the dollar to hour ratio?
$239,556,346 ytd total, $213,363,737 on Janurary 1st, $26,192,609 raised so far.
For people who played over 2 hours a month, that's about 3 dollars an hour.

I honestly think CIG could drop selling spaceships, straight up charge a $12 a month subscription at this point, right now during alpha, and maintain it's funding. Everything else is just frosting on the money cake, by this rough metric alone.
And they can justify it: "You're not paying for access, you're helping with a monthly pledge service to make the BDSSE!"
And think about it, how willing would a backer be to pledge $12 a month for access to nearly everything (3rd party exclusives excluded of course, gotta buy that Optane SSD)?

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:07

Mirificus: Oct 29, 2004; Kings need not raise their voices to be heard

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:12

XK: Jul 9, 2001; Star Citizen is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it's fidelity when you look out your window or when you watch youtube

Mirificus posted:

Editing this is Ben's only credited role.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:26

Strangler 42: Jan 8, 2007; SHAVE IT ALL OFF
ALL OF IT

Bootcha posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo&t=112s

2,392,596 "citizens" and 9,325,386 hours means an average of 3 hours over the course of 10 months.

But let's go with the Turbulent metric of only half of the registered accounts are paying accounts, so now that's 1,196,298 citizens and 9,325,386 hours means an average of 7.8 hours of star citizen in 10 months.

But let's say that half of that citizen count actually play the game and are not waiting for a release, 598,149 playing customers and 9,325,386 hours means an average of 15 hours in 10 months.

But let's say half of that playing user base only logged in for 2 total hours in this 10 month period and got bored/frustrated. 299074 content locusts removed, 299075 true citizens remain. Minus the content locusts' 2 hours, leaving us with 8,727,237 to enjoy the game and have "fun". The remaining 2+ hour players have all played on average 29.2 hours over 10 months.

We're looking at player count reduction to about 12% of the "official" cited player count to approach healthy player-base average-engagement times.
I'd say 3 hours a month per player is just before the event horizon of the "we can't get people to play our game" problem.

I suppose there are other questions to ask about the data, like is it just PTU? Does Evocati testing count? Do Star Marine and Arena Commander count towards spaceships and gun numbers?
Numbers are numbers, yes, but in true CIG fashion they are vague and obfuscated.

So this all had me thinking, what's the dollar to hour ratio?
$239,556,346 ytd total, $213,363,737 on Janurary 1st, $26,192,609 raised so far.
For people who played over 2 hours a month, that's about 3 dollars an hour.

I honestly think CIG could drop selling spaceships, straight up charge a $12 a month subscription at this point, right now during alpha, and maintain it's funding. Everything else is just frosting on the money cake, by this rough metric alone.
And they can justify it: "You're not paying for access, you're helping with a monthly pledge service to make the BDSSE!"
And think about it, how willing would a backer be to pledge $12 a month for access to nearly everything (3rd party exclusives excluded of course, gotta buy that Optane SSD)?

Are they counting the times when you're in quantum travel and you alt+tab over to something more interesting while you wait for the 25 minute timer to expire and you make it to a location with some actual gameplay?

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:32

SoftNum: Mar 31, 2011

Mirificus posted:

[/url]

That drink would be gross.

Also the proportions are all wrong. You typically don't use 1/6th of the fill in a drink.

EDIT: Oh it's ginger sprite. Also you . wouldn't use simple syrup AND sprite. geez guys.

EDIT EDIT: Why do you garnish a lime drink with a lemon wedge

OMG this is terrible.

SoftNum fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Oct 28, 2019

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:41

Tokamak: Dec 22, 2004

SoftNum posted:

EDIT: Oh it's ginger sprite. Also you . wouldn't use simple syrup AND sprite. geez guys.

Have you seen the fan base? They'd appreciate doubling up on the sugar.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:51

TheDarkFlame: May 4, 2013; You tell me I didn't build that?

I'll have you know I worked my fingers to the bone to get where I am today.

Zazz Razzamatazz posted:

Wait... is that real? That has to be a fan mock-up because those glasses look ghastly... even for SC...

Ok so let's say you had to design some futuretech scifi glasses but you have no actual deign requirements or concepts to work from, just a vague mishmash of general scifi ideas. Your desk has a couple piles of reference art with the names half-filed off but still clearly read "Blade Runner" and "Deus Ex" and some other places you don't want to admit your company stole from.

So, space scifi bullshit shades. You need some glowy poo poo, translucent materials, extra edges and lines that clearly don't belong or serve any purpose. Put together something that looks like Iron Man's glasses if they were less fashionable. You've got some goggles to satisfy whoever wrote the note "WW2 pilots had cool goggles" which is handwritten on no less than four different scraps of paper. You've also slapped the entire screen from a 7" flagship smartphone onto someone's face in an attempt to portray the Google Glass of the future.

You're also heavily inebriated and give less than zero shits about what you produce because the more work you put into something, the more likely it is to come back for another redesign. I probably should have mentioned that in case it wasn't already assumed.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:51

Dementropy: Aug 23, 2010

SoftNum posted:

That drink would be gross.

Also the proportions are all wrong. You typically don't use 1/6th of the fill in a drink.

EDIT: Oh it's ginger sprite. Also you . wouldn't use simple syrup AND sprite. geez guys.

EDIT EDIT: Why do you garnish a lime drink with a lemon wedge

OMG this is terrible.

And to think they're hiring and promoting kids with no experience.

# ? Oct 28, 2019 23:52

SoftNum: Mar 31, 2011

I do appreciate that they didn't manage to put the only non-"mostly white" model in the "urban" section.

# ? Oct 29, 2019 00:11

Tokamak: Dec 22, 2004

Disco Elysium has a bit where you trick an old man into giving you his ham sandwich by hyping the best drat ham sandwich ever, and requesting his sandwich as a prototype. If you like CRPGs, you need to play this game.

# ? Oct 29, 2019 00:30

Dementropy: Aug 23, 2010

https://twitter.com/890Jump/status/1188955324482572288

# ? Oct 29, 2019 00:51

Colostomy Bag: Jan 11, 2016; C-Bangin' it

So in 2942 apparently LASIK hasn't been perfected.

# ? Oct 29, 2019 01:24

HexiDave: Mar 20, 2009

Mirificus posted:

Everything about this is insane, but it has a truly cruel hidden message in it:

The first image posted:

Bartender Brant Weiss has been slinging drinks and swapping stories with G-Loc customers for over eight years. He spends an average of twelve hours a day, six days a week at the bar...

The second image posted:

"... My family never had a ship, and I sure as hell can't afford one.

So, this NPC works 8 years at an average of 72 hours a week and can't afford a ship. What the hell are the players expected to do to get theirs? How cruel is this story going to be in retrospect after CIG opens the floodgates and players demand easier access? They're gonna find this guy hanging from the rafters a week after launch.

# ? Oct 29, 2019 01:24