MMOs have been a staple of video games since World of Warcraft revolutionised the gaming landscape. It offered dedicated players an entire world to explore, complete with thousands of other players to adventure with. Many other MMO games have attempted to recapture the same popularity, but have largely failed. Will anything finally dethrone World of Warcraft?
Star Citizen is a game that has been in development for a long time. A very long time. Production officially began in 2011. Since then, it has run one of the most notoriously successful crowdfunding campaigns, with an astonishing $240 million being raised. But a solid release date is still not being provided, leaving many to think that the massive undertaking is nothing short of the biggest hoax in history.
What Is Star Citizen?
As far as online experiences go, there is a wide spectrum of player engagement. Slots NZ are a quick, satisfying encounter. Players log on, spin the reels, and leave, having enjoyed their time online. Games like World of Warcraft expect players to make long term investments, carrying a customised character across multiple game environments, evolving that character, and potentially spending years in the virtual game world.
Star Citizen can be called World of Warcraft times ten. It is an entire universe of potential, offering multiple entire planets that can be visited, spaceships that can be bought and customised, complex trading, a fully simulated intergalactic ecosystems, and more. Yes, thousands upon thousands of players will inhabit this universe together.
To put it another way; Star Citizen is aiming to be the first interactive, virtually inhabitable online universe, with so much to do, and so much content, that players could get lost in it for a lifetime.
What Are The Problems?
But still; Star Citizen has been in development for so long that many have started to look elsewhere, or have lost interest entirely. $240 million is no small amount of money, and as far as many are concerned, the money is long gone. Rumours claim that the developers are simply committed to an elaborate façade, hoping to keep drawing in money from the gullible public as long as they can.
However some iterations of the game have already been made public, and there is much to see. If what is being shown is worth hundreds of millions of dollars is very much in debate. As it stands, the game still isn’t close to what could be called a finished product.
But even if it does finally get released to the public in finished form, debates rage as to whether it would live up to expectations, and outrageous hype.
What Is The Potential?
There is no question that the foundations of Star Citizen are impressive, should the game technically be worth $240 million or not. Either way, impressive technology has been developed to create the game world, allowing for an online MMO system that is nothing short of breath taking.
So no matter if Star Citizen turns out to be a large scale flop or not, what has been created could well mark the start of a new type of online experience. One that is a genuine mini-universe, as opposed to a simply a game.