I've played it often, but on and off depending on the patch. I've also invested a modest amount of money over the years by upgrading my package here and there, it's a pretty affordable way to do it rather than all at once.
But here's my problem, many people ignorantly write this game off as a 'scam' without understanding (or even trying to) the enormity of what CIG is trying to do. People just see "10 years, lol". And?
CIG has had to create entirely new technology to be able to do what Star Citizen can do now, especially with the level of detail and fidelity. Server meshing for instance, is a crucial piece of technology to allow for efficient management of physicalized items, the streaming in and out of those objects as needed on the fly whilst also making room for new content we wouldn't have been able to get without it.
Then we have all the physical components of the ships that can be taken out, moved around and put on other compatible ships.
Along with the modular and generative tech used to create all the planets and buildings and tech used to control the ai, where it goes and how it responds to any given player activity.
If the game was a scam, why would CIG reinvest hundreds of millions back into the game and years of painstaking work? It simply makes no sense to me. So what if it's taken 10 years? Plenty of AAA games have had similar development time-frames, GTAV, 2077 and look how 2077 ended up launching? That's with existing tech.
It's also important to consider CIG is working on two projects, Star Citizen and Squadron 42 which is in the polish phase. Most of the resources have gone into getting that finished, and when that is finished StarCitizen development will undoubtedly speed up.
So tldr calling the game a scam is ignorant, childish and very silly. Has there been mismanagement and snowballing scope? Absolutely, do I want to know where the several hundreds of millions have gone? Absolutely. But I have faith that we will see the game realized along with Squadron 42 (which has some BIG celebrity names attached to it by the way), sooner or later. It's everything I ever wanted from a space game and then some.
Fear the crabcat!
