Star Citizen: Nicht alle Stretch-Goals werden zum offiziellen Start 1.0 im Spiel sein

In the latest edition of the “10 for the chairman” Q&A with Cloud Imperium founder Chris Roberts, it was revealed that not all stretch goals from the crowdfunding campaign for the launch of Star Citizen will be implemented.

Crowdfunding is a tricky thing. What do you actually get in the end for a game? Is it really what was announced during the crowdfunding campaign? Or are the differences so significant that you feel cheated for having funded the original vision? Star Citizen is a game that is going through a balancing act. What was announced during the Kickstarter campaign still stands, but it has since been expanded with things that make the game different – on the other hand, the question remains, what about the stretch goals?

Star Citizen 1.0 will implement “minimal viable feature list“

During the latest Q&A, Chris Roberts stated that they want to implement the “minimal viable feature list” at release. Essentially with the features defined as minimum requirements for a reasonable product.

However, this does not exclude the stretch goals. This wouldn’t mean that they would completely disregard them. Star Citizen is an online game that is continuously being developed, and thus many of the stretch goals will gradually make their way into the game after release. None of the stretch goals have been cut.

Star Citizen is not a simple product, it is an ongoing process

If Star Citizen plays well, has good content, allows exploration of many locations, and offers a good gameplay environment, then it will be referred to as Star Citizen 1.0 and no longer as an alpha or beta. However, not all features will be included yet. Chris Roberts sees the development of the MMO as an ongoing process that he has allocated over 10 years.

This statement, however, is currently causing the community to argue among themselves. Some find this perfectly fine, while others do not. They note that they contributed money for the vision of the game presented during the Kickstarter campaign, which would also include the stretch goals.

Andreas says:

It is a difficult situation that Chris Roberts is in. Star Citizen has evolved from the Kickstarter campaign into something much larger than initially planned. You are lucky, as

the majority of the fans view this development positively. In other games, such as Shroud of the Avatar, it does not look quite as rosy if one strays too far from the original vision. If you ask for money upfront, then the final product should closely resemble that announcement. This also causes frustration when there is suddenly a distancing from the stretch goals.

Furthermore, I find the statement that Star Citizen is in a constant development process as an MMO rather questionable. Of course, a game continually evolves, which is especially true for online games. However, ideally, you want a polished and fun product at release that corresponds to what you paid for. At that point, ratings for an online game are completely legitimate, even if it is still being developed.

It is important, however, that they at least do not cut the stretch goals and bring them into the game eventually.