As we’ve reported last week, Star Citizen’s 3.0 alpha is now available on the PTU. And while the game is still nowhere close to be completed, Cloud Imperium has added microtransactions to it. Yeap, while Star Citizen is the most successful crowdfunded game, Cloud Imperium has turned to the dark side and added microtransactions to this PC exclusive game.
According to the game’s FAQ, players can claim land licenses. These licenses entitle the holder to claim ownership of a small section of land on a planet, moon, or asteroid controlled by the UEE. Players can claim a 4kmX4km land for $50 or a 8kmX8km land for $100.
Needless to say that we are against this inclusion. We get it that Star Citizen will be a huge online game that will greatly benefit from microtransactions. However, and since this is a PC-only game, we were kind of expecting it to be friendlier to gamers. Not only that, but the game is not finished yet and it already has microtransactions.
Cloud Imperium claimed that the funds are going back into the project to aid ongoing development. However, one should ask himself whether this is justified as the game has already raised more than $168 million.
Star Citizen and its single-player portion, Squadron 42 promise to be truly great and there is a lot of potential here. However, the game has been under development since 2011. It’s been six year since then and Star Citizen may not even release next year.
We are really curious about what you think about this, especially after what happened with Shadow of War and Battlefront 2. Also a slight note: players will also be able to purchase the licenses with UE; the in-game currency!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
Contact: Email
What a bad time to be a gamer
Nah. It is a good time to be a gamer. Only,there are bad game implementations and decisions from some devs. Ok,a lot of devs and publishers. 🙂
But,even then. Other great games can be found,imho.
LOL WHY ???? I THOUGHT YOU ALL LIKE THIS GAME LOL
well they f’ed it up, with that, is not even out yet and they are already thinking how to squish the money out of us.
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh buying 3d real estate like you would in real life
what a fking stupid idea
in the same time EA being backlashed by the loot boxes and mtx , this mudhafkers who already took what is more than 100millions of crowdfunded charity money decied to implement this shhiiit
what a scam! not even mentioning the cult like fanboys that pay over 5k for imaginary ships.
Hating cult is more bigger in star citizen
I personally don’t have anything against microtransactions (unless it makes the game pay to win, in which case a big F*** you to the publisher), as long as it’s only in a multiplayer game and it features only cosmetic items or anything that doesn’t effect the balance of the game.
If you someone wants to buy that cool new costume for their character, cool, but if the store offers like legendary weapons and items, that is when I get angry.
So, is this a game or what?
All i see in the last 4 years is some boring videos of a character doing nothing on space.
NOPE IT’S SCAM CALLED IT YEARS AGO FANBOY ATTACKED LOL
Whatever happened to earning in-game credits and buying land with it?.
They made millions upon millions and apparently that doesn’t seem like it’s enough.
Adding MT’s will just mark a death knell for the game. It’s not even a MT, it’s more than a micro payment, especially at $50-100.
Okay THIS IS F UP!
Chris Roberts started out so well but he’s just lost his way over the years.
It was supposed to be a mid sized game finished by 2015, it became a scam to funnel in money with vapid promises and no way to prove the final concept will be well executed aside from those vapid promises quickly as the funding reached Guiness level proportions.
Buying ships was already seen as a P2W model, this is the cherry on top of that.
He started out with a lot of money, he ran out of money, so he decided that instead of finishing Squadron 42, he’d be a f*cking d*ck and ask for even more money.
What if he already did? O.O
HE IS A BUSTA CALLED IT YEARS AGO LOL
I have been thinking for several years that Roberts needs a boss to tell him what to stop doing but that won’t happen unless he has to go to one of the big Publishers at some point for funding.
Roberts really needs to ask himself what does he want his legacy to be? Does he want to be the person responsible for one of the greatest PC games ever or the person that is responsible for one of the greatest PC games that never was.
If he wants the former then he needs to stop adding anything to the game and just finish the d*mn game. No more ships, no more weapons and armor, no more trinkets to buy for the player’s docking station and no more ideas like buying a plot of land. He has some of his development team working on plots of land when they need to be working on finishing the game.
FKKKKKK UUUUU. Lootboxes/land parcel/skins whatever. Not gonna buy that micro$$$$$$$
SO DON’T!!
Enjoy the rest of the game that costs what it normally would have anyways.
Why is “microtransaction” now a new buzz word for outrage?? The list of such terms is growing far beyond what I can keep track of…
lol these bandwagon comments. It’s like no one even read the article.
I don’t get why John called this a mcirotransation, it’s basically the same as buying a ship or item for the game with real money to fund the game, while when the game is finished you can earn these things with in-game credit. I mean did John get dropped on the head today or something?
Gotta get those clicks
this is sad news,disappointed
“Please Note: These claim licenses are being made available for
pledging to help fund Star Citizen’s development. The ability to obtain
these claim licenses will ultimately be available for in-game credits
and/or otherwise earnable through play in the game. Pledging for these
claim licenses now allows us to include deeper features in the Star
Citizen game, and is not required for starting the game.”
Basically, nothing has changed, it’s funding, don’t know why John makes the claim these are “microtransations” when they’re not. Why not mention the other things you can buy for money that fund the game John? I mean people do know that the ships will be earnable in game, it’s basically like Eve Online.
“Give us even more money than you already have, and in exchange we’ll give you a specific set of digital pixels, somewhere in the galaxy.”
It’s a nice concept, but it’s becoming more than obvious that they’ve run out of money and they’re now trying to shore up their funds by pulling this bullsh*t.
Finaly some one gets it . Thank you sir .
“”Give us even more money than you already have, and in exchange we’ll give you a specific set of digital pixels, somewhere in the galaxy.”
That’s not actually how it works, but it doesn’t matter. Your point is about money and funding, and it’s the truth.
They need continued funding.
Once again, without knowing how much time/grind will be necessary to get lands or ships ingame, it is very hard to guess if the whole system is fair.
I’m quite positive the amount of stuff available for real money will be even higher once the game’s complete…
The game is never gona be complete . Stop dreaming . You think games live up to they expectations ? This is 2017 . 80% of big buget games are trash.
Well, clearly you’ve made your mind up so we won’t waste our time on you.
Even if i would lie i wodl be still more honest then AAA publisers . . . . .
It will be probably like EVE Online at a guess, do missions, other things for credits, I mean they’re both MMO’s, just different types. You can do missions now and earn credits to buy things in-game, like clothes.
You could already pay for ships. im assuming you can lock down land early or once the game releases earn the land just like you can earn the ships.
you are right.
And just like that my interest in Star Citizen has died. Completely.
lol what jews.
You clearly are an octopus, a fat one at that.
Swimming in the salt.
Sad.
lol go ahead and defend this kikery. go pay you 50$ and 100$ dlc in a alpha moron
I have already spent 20x that, you simpleton.
I unlike you, like gaming. 😉
Add me on Steam anytime and we can talk it out.
Hmm.
They have several (quite well equipped) studios and a bucket load of people in each one working on this megalithic project. Plus, real actor$ and motion capture stuff. How do you think they pay their bills month after month, for so many years? They have to keep gathering money, and this just another way to keep it flowing. First it was ships people could buy, now apparently it’s land (what you can actually do with it or how advantageous that is I don’t know).
Y, sure, when the game comes out (who the hell knows when that will be), those dudes will have a significant head start, but anyway… anything they’ll have, you can have too, eventually.
It sounds crap, but I guess it’s better this way than end up like Project CARS… running out of “$team” and putting that thing out there with a lackluster content because the “juice” was running out and hoping the launch/sells would hold the line.
Except, they could have done just that, had they vested their remaining resources in completing Squadron 42 in order to get it out the door, thus proving themselves to be more than just a massive vapourware scam to most of their nay-sayers, and creating a massive influx of cash for themselves without having to resort to selling ridiculously overpriced microtransactions to their sycophantic cultists, rather than going down the total-f*cking-d*ck path of “f*ck Squadron 42, let’s push everything we have left onto finishing 3.0 so that we can finally achieve that umpteenth milestone…. y’know, after delaying it for another couple of years, of course.”
There would be always the ones saying they released the game half “baked” (or less) and the rest of it is still vapourware. Many wouldn’t even care to understand that this was only one (minor) part of the game (aka reviews mess). Specially if Squadron 42 ended up being not that long or impressive. And surely a lot of stuff still on the “to-do list” has to do with engine and interface optimizations (and IMO it needs a LOT or work in that area) that affects both modes, and that is plenty of work for times to come.
The only chance they have is to take their time but delivering something close to what was promised and people expect (which won’t happen anyway, that’s for sure), but at least something good. Anything less will be a total clusterfck bigger than any non-believer flak they’re getting year after year nowadays. Until then, bills and salaries need to be paid with income coming from anywhere…
If so, it wouldn’t be the first game that gets an interface facelift post-launch. The same applies to animations, textures, etc. Sorry, but these excuses are flimsy, at best;
If people are incapable of understanding that Squadron 42 is a separate thing from Star Citizen (for God’s sake, their names aren’t even remotely similar) then that’s on them, not on RSI, which has made that quite distinctly clear going on years, now.
If it’s “not that long” or “not that impressive” then that’s on RSI. They’ve had more time than any RPG and most definitely any FPS to get this done, but they’re still stalling and pushing resources towards Star Citizen instead, for whatever reason. Yes, it’s technically impressive and this, and that, and it’s also ridiculously mismanaged to the point that I’ve lost all f*cking patience with them after this latest scandal.
The engine and the technical front of this should have been done years ago, first and foremost. That was their first and biggest mistake. The second was feature creep, which they are still suffering from, all because of how ridiculously mismanaged the project has been from the beginning. The third is their ardent refusal to just dedicate themselves to one half of the project over the other, even if it comes at the cost of one half over the other.
That is to say, either stop asking for money and get Star Citizen to 3.0 or Squadron 42 to release, or just get Squadron 42 out so that they can generate the money they need to get Star Citizen to 3.0 without resorting to such bullsh*t, as it’s more than obvious that they can’t do both, so they should just sack up and be honest about it already instead of quietly pushing SC at the continued cost of SQ42 while acting like they’re progressing on something in regards to both fronts.
But yeah, “clusterf*ck” is definitely the word to use here, as SC 3.0 is still months away from being launched, even though it’s already months behind schedule.
Either way, I dare say they’re going to need far more money than they’ll be generating from this ridiculous joke of a plan of theirs even just to reach 3.0, so this model is beyond unsustainable, as you can only tap into the well so many times before it eventually inevitably dries up.
“Except, they could have done just that, had they vested their remaining resources in completing Squadron 42 in order to get it out the door”
You mean, don’t develop SC at all ? Very bad idea lol. As it is, half or more of their resources are being spent on SQ42.
I read something pertaining to SQ42 being all-but stalled, because they’re pumping everything into getting SC to 3.0 (as it’s already months late and it’s still months away from being released), because it’s basically going to be the “Early Access” launch for Star Citizen as a whole, from which they expect to gain more income, or some such.
I don’t know, but honestly it wouldn’t seem to be so far-fetched, considering the blatant mismanagement this project has suffered through.
Now yeah, sure, chances are SQ42 is still getting “passive” updates from continued work on the interface or the animations system or whatnot, but do we actually know they’re still working on the content itself? Because the last trailer dates back to, what, early last year? So that’s 18 months, give-or-take.
And on that note, Squadron 42 didn’t show up at CitizenCon this year, either. Sure, maybe they’re still “hard at work” on it and they’ve just nothing to show at this time, or maybe they’re not, because Star Citizen 3.0. I really don’t know, but either way, this is getting ridiculous.
I vote we boycott this game and all other games that pull this sh*t.
Go ahead and boycott your fast food restaurant of choice too for trying to upsize you or sell you desert. You children don’t understand the meaning of business.
Some one who gets it.
I said the same about cereal boxes with toys or happy meals.
But no one cares, they want to only hear their voice and be a part of something, even if wrong. 😀
If you are so smart about business, then you should know that you can only f*ck your customer so hard before they fight back.
I’m just glad Squadron 42 is completely separate from Star Citizen….. Assuming they ever intend to actually release it, that is.
Same, that is all I ever wanted from the KS that I backed.
Well well well … I bet none read the Q&A
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/engineering/16292-Q-A-Land-Claim-License/
All for the clicks :/
TL;DR is this:
These claims are essentially preordering the paperwork and beacon to claim a parcel of land, which you still have to hunt down and prospect (if you want to see if there’s anything worthwhile there, which will vary depending who’s looking to own it).
It’s only a legal document and a beacon. Unless you shoot the interlopers looking to walk around your plot, it does nothing other than being able to report them for trespassing.
This only applies to UEE space.
These will be 100% purchasable in-game for credits, and the mechanic isn’t close to being implemented.
There will be billions of square kilometers. Lots and Estates are 4×4 km (16 sq km) and 8×8 km (64 sq km). Do the math.
So, they’re selling an unimplemented feature in an unfinished game which is constantly being delayed, which will eventually not even be sold for money, but for in-game currency…..
Like I said, they’re broke and they’re looking for funding. They should have just asked. Minor scandal aside, they’d definitely have garnered something.
Or, they could have just been smarter with their resource allocation…. Finishing Squadron 42 instead of trying to force out 3.0, for example, would have given them a nice injection of disposable income…… But I guess that’s too much logic for these people.
How much have you invested in the game?
Bet your answer is nothing.
I own 8 ships and 3 accounts with multiple collectibles etc.
Was there day one from KS to their website going live.
I don’t see selling beacons as MT.
I see it like buying another ship, except now I have somewhere to park my ship beyond the hangers I already own multiple of.
But yeah, keep on reading and commenting, it’s all you have.
Congratulations.
And if you’re lucky, you’ll wind up with something that isn’t nothing. I honestly really do hope so, since I’ve been looking forward to Squadron 42 for years, but honestly, I have but the barest of faith left in them, any more.
I already have something, pride.
But seriously, I can play the game if I want to, granted not all my ships are in game yet, but I can still play it.
So there is something from nothing bud. 😉
For now, anyway.
Until that server gets switched off! 😉
Pride? In what? You’ve accomplished nothing as it relates to this game.
Nah you got a buggy tech demo for thousands of dollars. Its the opposite of something for nothing.
You see it wrong then.
I have defended this games monetization because it’s the most ambitious game ever made, but it’s reached the point where they haven’t even accomplished a marketable base product to get people interested, instead focusing on purchasable crap for that one day when the game finally goes live so they can make more money.
I like the fact we have to find the land and then claim it.
I will be buying 3 of them.
Need land for each account.
This is truly an insultingly overblown article over something so strangely small as land claims. As a backer i have no understanding of this blowback at all. Buying land in space doesnt really mean much as there is…. well, infinite of it.
Who are you really hurting? the people who specifically want to spend money on property in space but don’t want to spend the time in game actually earning the credits to do so? what an invasive microtransacion!
Also you have been able to buy currency in Star Citizen for years, so if you just found out there is “microtransacions” you are very late to the party.
Well, it all depends on how much grinding is necessary to get such things ingame…
I’m a backer and I find the amount of micro-transactions already puzzling. The game might be amazing in the end ( its scope sure is but will it deliver ) but I’m getting worried news ships might require much more grind than what you may find in Elite: Dangerous.
Home News Gaming Star Wars: Battlefront II costs $2100 to unlock everything or Over 4500 hours of playing
tweaktown . com/news/59856/star-wars-battlefront-ii-costs-2100-unlock-everything/index.html
So how many decades you will grind to unlock everything in Star Citizen with in-game credits? ?
The kickstarter ended 5 years ago … how its 6 years ? and the first year they were getting people and the studios online …
>Microtransactions
>$15,000 in game ships for sale https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/62122305fd04ad6fa70dc1b748e9fb452e9e68089af30835164992d7fe8f4e34.jpg
If that’s micro, bring on the macrotransactions!
LOL WHAT A F`1KING INSULT TO EA
I’m a supporter of Star Citizen but this is BS.
However, I don’t think it’s fair to put these land claims on the same level as microtransactions in SWBF2 because those were in the FINAL game with the sole purpose of increasing profits.
These land claims are being used to actively fund development which is a completely different context.
I have $35 dollars in SC when I backed the project on KS, so not much at all but I thought Squadron 42 sounded dope(I was a fan of Freelancer).
Having said that my problem is if every indie shop or even big company behaved like SC to fund their development/project you would with out doubt destroy the game industry.
In my opinion it is not fair and insane to continue to ask for so much money from your fans for such a long period of time to fund your project to this degree. There is a reason there are Publishers, if you need this much money that is what you should do.
I have no beef with KS I have backed close to 150 games but all of those I picked one amount and that was it. Can you imagine if every project continued to ask me and others for more funds over 5 years like SC, that would be insane no one could handle it.
To me SC behavior is worse than microtransactions and most importantly completely unfair to it’s fans and discredits crowd funding. Yes I know it’s optional to give them more money(it is your choice) but so is loot boxes and microtransactions in any game.
I just don’t like their funding model and thank god everyone did not follow their lead for it would ruin crowd funding all together which I think is an awesome tool/resource for indie developers and those that need the help.
This is my opinion as a indie dev and hard core gamer, I just don’t like it 🙁 . It just doesn’t sit well with me and it feels wrong.
I do hope Squadron 42 will release in the end and be cool though.
Sorry @JohnDio:disqus
Have to disagree.
If you are calling these MT, might as well call everything they sell MT.
Heck, you can buy posters for ships, or fish for your aquarium, seems those are also MT.
So are ships an MT too now?
I for one am glad they will force us to find land to claim versus letting any idiot build anywhere without having done any work earning credits or invested any money into it.
Perfect example, any FPS survival game that lets you build forts etc, people build them in the middle of the road or on top of other buildings and so on. It’s beyond annoying to say the least.
Anyways, I don’t see this as an MT.
And no, I am not a fanboy, since I don’t even follow/post on their website (haven’t even played the game yet), I just invested many years ago early on and have been sitting on my investment. Now I have to buy land and that’s fine with me.
We are speaking into the wind bud.
People are on a hate train right now.
Especially with EA and Bungie now catching up in the F players department.
Everyone is going to ride this one into the ground.
I for one, just keep playing games. 😉
sadly, this is going to be a standard inclusion in any AAA game nowadays.
HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA LOL WHAT ELSE DID I SAID??? LOL BUSTA STRAIGHT CHRIS BUSTA TOOK ALL THE MONEY AWAY SALTY FANBOYS TEARS LOL I PORTION OF FANBOYS STILL DEFENDING IT IT’S HILARIOUS HAHAHAHHHAHAHAAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHH
IT IS A D~!KRIDER AT THIS POINT LOL
$15000 OF SHIP ON $60 OF GAME LOL WHYTF IS IT CALLED MICRO IT’S MACRO
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db32ca7bfa7852dede944b5de5b0d6d5b08b5528e9371e0c7c5982ed8b873688.jpg
What a ridiculous, click-baity, sensationalist piece of garbage “journalism”. How is this any different from the ships you’ve been able to buy for the entirety of the game’s development? What a cheap, disgusting way to try to make sensationalist headlines by using the latest buzzword. Adblock On.
They didn’t ADD Micro-transactions they’ve always had micro-transactions. Ships, hangars, cosmetic clothes, even currency. You can just buy with real money.
Precisely, People act like this new when this game has had microtransactions for years to buy clothes, weapons, ships etc.
Microtransactions on crowd funded game should be illegal.
that still doesn’t make it right
the problem lies with fanboys spreading lies about “this is gonna be the best game ever!!1!” and weak minded individuals fall for this scam
and thus creating a vicious cycle of empty promises and broken ethics
kickstarter needs a f**king policy about unreleased games have MT
if someone doesn’t regulate these $hitty practices, they’re not gonna go away
this is the problem with the current generation
too many sheeple…
So they are literally selling land on the moon (and other planets). One of the oldest scams yet now in the virtual world it is actually possible to claim that land.
Watched a video of 3.0 version a few days ago and this game still looks like an impressive tech demo more than anything. I really hope the single player version ends up being seriously fun to play.
if this game have Microtransactions on launch day im boycotting it
BS, they made enough money just in kickstarter and now still gonna sell it at full price no extra charge should be included if any it should be DLC every once in a while
Chris Roberts looks more happy.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c727b7d302483b73d7a961690406dbdcc7f5b0ca9d73d5cfdc7070c168c9ff3a.gif
Why everyone fighting EA for the place
Just when you think EA or Ubisoft are bad – always bet on Cloud Imperium to take the lead!
What’s going on here? Oh it’s just another star citizen article and it’s just another day people’s are hating it.
Dark “Sensationising” of Gaming 😉
Bigot, racist, misogynist, and probably homophobic.
But then, I bet he is into anime, bad anime.
Chump has to keep chumping on. 😀
LOL? Star Citizen had microtransactions since the beggining as you can buy credits and basicaly all ingame items for real money.
… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bd2c518dc0a1c2116161acfa269dfe2b4692efe0765384b2b7a1479999dd0e86.jpg
Pretty much, unfortunately.
HAHAHAHA
A bit generous calling $100 a micro transaction.
Also SC has had microtransactions since day 1 like 6 years ago, people have spent thousands of dollars on ships for a game that isn’t even anywhere near released.
Microtransactions lol, read the FAQ
John, I bet that you used all of four memory paths in your brain to type this up. You come across as this love child of a valley girl and a hipster gamer.
Game’s not even out ffs
I don’t care about microtransactions as long as it doesn’t affect the gameplay experience. Something like Battlefront is obviously another matter entirely.
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah no.
Nothing “micro” about any of the transactions, however its completely voluntary to help put money towards development.
What is the difference to selling ships, ingame money or an aquarium for an ingame hangar? WTF is wrong with the author?
I hate people jumping on the bandwaggon, throwing words around they obviously do not understand and paint everything in the same colour or who know exactly what they are doing (making them a bit sick in the head IMHO).
Yeah let´s use a buzzword, paint a critical project with it but completely loose the perspective.
Instead you should dig into the topic MT and write something that is constructive and helps gaming.
John Papadopoulos, why are you so uninformed about a topic you write about? Clickbait? Agenda? Or just sensationalistic? Are there any publishing principles left?
Do you know that EA is mocked by CIG with an ingame company (Electronic Access)? Comparing CIG indirectly to EA is just stupid, biased and misses all principles of proper information gathering.
Nothing that can be obtained by ingame money can be available by microtransactions and nothing that is available by microtransactions can be obtained by ingame money – If it hapens is the end of pleasure on any game, just like what is happening at an ridiculous fast pace on GTA V online – It’s pure logic – You can’t sell by microtransactions if players are happy enough with the ingame effort income vs ingame products value ratio – The only way you get people to buy into microtransactions is to make their lifes miserable by grinding too much ingame to get too less – Simple market logic – LOOK – You just can’t bring a hungry cat and a fluffy hamster on one same transport box – No rocket science, any other specullation about this is pure illusion, check GTAO evolution on the last 6 months