What Happened to Star Citizen in Summer 2024? | What Does It Mean For The Future?

Is Star Citizen experiencing a growing number of disinterested players? While it's hard to know, we can look at how the summer of 2024 compares to other difficult times for the game, and what CIG might take from the findings.

Start a Star Citizen account with 5000 extra credits in your pocket and a possible additional vehicle or item with the link below. This is our supporter referral system, which grants you and one person from our community an extra bonus at sign up!

Relevant Links:

ToC:
00:00 What Happened to 3.24?
00:54 Are Players Losing Interest?
07:01 What Comes Next?
10:10 What If You Still Want To Play?

Support me:

Connect With Space Tomato:

Affiliate links (my/suggested purchases for the best gaming experience):

#starcitizen #thecycle #2024

[AnymMusic]

I mean it just seems like the same old stuff. say you'll release xyz in [time], [time] rolls around and woops, we've missed it AGAIN. Like surely after 10 years CIG would've learned that their sense of time is off by a good few months, and yet they keep setting their deadlines (be it hard or soft) short. Not to mention the absolute shitshow that is CIG's marketing department that seems to play a different game than us

[emcmanamna]

When I began playing in 3.11, CIG was (attempting, at least) monthly patches. Then it became quarterly patches (kind of), and lately, like 2 major patches a year? Things appear to be progressing slower and Pyro is still being held hostage by {something} half a decade later. Even watching ISC lately, the devs are still saying "we could do this" or "in the future we might..." Honestly feels like they don't really have a plan, sad to say.

[StaticPoo]

Everyone is looking forward to 4.0.... What in the history of CIG makes you think that 4.0 will be any better?

[betoarsuffi]

I for one am certainly *NOT* coming back just when 3.24 lands. Ill keep consuming youtube and reviews until i can feel that i can get some real progression in the game.

[fnunez]

The problem with 3.24 is that CIG has gotten into the habit of releasing features that are sortof working and relying on players to figure out workarounds for the jank. However, the new inventory and hangar instancing across shards probably rely heavily on distributed databases, which are notoriously unforgiving - your code either works or it doesn't. And so CIG made their time estimates based on "sortof working" and discovered that sometimes you can't.

[danb]

I would like to know how they released to public a version where the Inventory close button (X) doesn't work.
There seems to be too much attention to changing things and not enough attention to finishing things.
In the meantime existing players are being alienated because we liked playing the game that was there, but CIG are trying to make us play the game they intended to build but never have.

[refisherdesktop]

Ships should rarely ever explode. There should be several progressive layers of disablement, with components taking increasing damage with then affects their capabilities, but the ship itself should never blow apart unless a rare concurrence of damage occurs that breaches the fuel tanks, etc.
We've all seen Star Trek, yeah?
Hell even the propane and other volatile-gasses trailers that semis pull around rarely explode when breached, because current technology provides for controlled venting in the event of damage.
If non-catastrophic destruction was the norm then we could live more on the ships themselves rather than in hangars, stations, outposts - whatever. It would make sense to have to tow a ship, to be able to return to it and salvage your personal stuff, repair it in space, etc.
But they absolutely need to turn the boom boom off.

Aside from that, my issue is that they're pointlessly making the game more convoluted, less intuitive, and less fun. Who thought hiding major flight functions under modifier keys was a good idea?
Tedium is the #1 sin in a video game, and they're embracing this unnecessary complexity instead of excising it.
We play in the little spare time we have available to us for fun, not to work an imaginary additional job that just increases our stress instead of releasing it.

[RoggenrollaWT]

I stopped playing after MM released, call me a sweaty nolifer but i really enjoyed pre MM pvp and pve, i just dont enjoy slow pvp and new controls limitations(

[singlespace]

I think you're way off on your guesses about Twitch viewership. The only reason there was a big bump in May this year was because Summit1G and Shroud decided to stream the game. Together, they comprised an overwhelming majority of all views for that week. That bump on the 18th? Around 80% of all the views were just from their two streams.

[a.j.]

i said it right after 3.23 and I'm still holding myself to it- Ill wait for 4.0 before playing again

[CrispyMuffin]

personally, i just keep hearing about pyro and 4.0, but i just dont see any real news

like yeah, i know there's stuff there, but it just feels like the same thing you know?

[cebuch.]

I am at the point I am not exited anymore for new patch because I know it will run like shit as all of them with server 5fps. No patch is going to be playable untill server mesh which would need to work and that is very likely to not meet it's expectations.

[Kyle-srjm]

As a long time backer (2017) I have come to the conclusion that if CIG had a map to fun, they would still go the other way.

[fg]

I am not afraid to say it. Yogi messed that game up with MasterModes. Now they are adding more time synces with this cargo patch. The game is now buggy AF. Also those twitch stats are from that big streamer who was streaming Star citizen for one month then left because Mastermodes sucks

[poposterous]

Remember when this game used to have a fun and cool flight model? Anyways not to change the subject but master modes convinced me that I should get out of the house more

[LuckyB]

After trying out MM, I unplugged my sticks and pedals, threw them in a box, and now just consume content or check Spectrum here and there, waiting for improvements on the flight model.

I really don't like feeling that way, but MM really sapped the desire to play right out of me.

[GreySix]

Don't know why, but just don't feel a desire to fire up Star Citizen, as I once did.

[thorist]

getting hyped about anything SC related is like getting hyped when a snail moves 1cm while it has to go several meters.
i stopped being close to this project and tbh every time i do fire up the game a couple times a year i have actually a good enough time because i am not emotionally invested anymore.
i can recommend this approach to literally every SC fan.
it will serve you well in the long run and believe me it still is a long run.
otherwise you burn yourself out before the game even reaches beta ffs. :))

[_lepvs_]

They need people with experience in creating gameplay, not just talented 3d Artists and Programmers. A big chunk of the gameplay is more frustrating than the bugs even.

[NY-Vice]

I hope their money starts slowing down. That is truly the only thing that could make them change for the better. As long as the money keeps trending up 📈 they don't give a shit how mad their playerbase is.