It's not really about buying digital items, for me is about supporting the production of a game that I have always dreamed of playing. I have full confidence that Chris Roberts and his team will deliver as promised. Some of the updates were delayed to the Hangar module and Arena Commander but that's part of development. The game will be sold just as Elite Dangerous was when it finally released, everything that is purchased with donations will be obtainable in game.
SC stopped doing stretch goals after they reached 65 million on the project, they also just topped over 70 million. So they gained another 5 million for the project with no extras involved.
I honestly don't feel I am getting taken advantage of. The only difference between Star Citizen and a major game developer is where the money for the project is coming from. The return of investment for me will be the satisfaction of playing a game that isn't driven by a big game developer like EA, it’s driven by the community of likeminded gamers. Will I get a monetary gain from my investment, no but that's not why I put up money to support the development process.
If you look back to Elite Dangerous kick starter campaign they had the same structure as Star Citizen, so what is the difference between supporting ED over SC? Even Chris Roberts donated money to ED's success.
Here is a link to ED's and SC's original campaign, if you look on the side you will see the packages they offered.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461411552/elite-dangerous https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen?ref=nav_searchEven the movie industry is moving to Kickstarter, look at Veronica Mars movie project that pulled in over 5 million from 90k backers. I wonder how many people that supported ED in its infancy stages were told they were being taken advantage of for supporting a game that wasn’t out yet. There is no difference here.
Is Star Citizen extremely ambitious, of course it is but so was the very first airplane. This project continues to add backers because they believe in the project and the people behind it, I am not asking anyone in FA to jump on a funding campaign with me, I am just sharing information on the game and ongoing processes because I know we all enjoy playing games. I guess my passion for Star Citizen is fueled by all the successful games that Chris Roberts produced, I played them all and I know he has a great vision for video games.
If you don't want me to post about SC anymore, I have no problems with remaining silent on the subject.
I forgot to add something. The amount of money that I have put up is no different then having a monthly subscription to an MMO for 6 years.
The Matrix Online - 4 years, $180 a year for service, $900 for 4 years.
Ultima Online - I paid for two accounts for almost 10 years, that is close to $3k of entertainment spread over 10 years. I sold the accounts and made close to $1k back.
World of Warcraft - I played WoW for almost 6 years, looking at an est of $1,079 total.
This doesn't include the other MMO's I played over the years.
If I can get a couple of years of entertainment out of SC, to me it would be worth it.