I'm on mobile, and at work, please forgive my formatting and ranting.

OG backer here. It's hard to get into, sure, but theres a guide system that rewards players on both sides (the guide, and the persons wanting a guide). That being said:

There's tons to do and still tons to be added to the game as various systems come online, such as server meshing, economy changes, multi-crewing, engineering, fauna\flora, basebuilding, etc. The game will recieve another full-wipe when 4.0 lands (eta end of this year) so if you choose to get back in now then keep in mind it's largely all for naught. However, I find great satisfaction in these wipes as I collect so much junk/armor/weapons/ships I dont even need. I super enjoy playing it knowing I'm just going to lose my progress soon. That gives me all the time and space I need to learn the game and its loops. Even to make an absolute mess of my hangar. The wipe will clean up my poorly placed couches, tables, boxes, and other flair.

I also need to state clearly, you absolutely do NOT need to put any real world money into game game beyond the Game package that typically includes your starter ship and game client. Every ship can be purchased in-game with AlphaUEC (game currency) with some (or a lot!) grinding. The only ships that will be unavailable are ships not yet released, recently released, or special deals like military only ships or that AMD partnered Mustang or Intel partnered Sabre Raven. Recently released ships do become availble in game after a few months.

There's many game loops currently ready whether your into PvP, PvE, or just being a merchant/hauler. My favories include mining (hand mining or ship mining) and salvage/hull scraping. I find peace in not being a bounty hunter, or really anything PvP. PvE is janky but until server meshing comes out and is polished, enemies and players will remain rubber-bandy and desync'y.

The game gets a lot of hate online but frankly considering the scale they are working with, the systemic'ness of all mechanics, physicalized everythings, and zero loading screens, it makes sense to take a long time to make. I've lost count of the times they rebuilt the engine or even game design. Everyone deserves their opinion but for better or worse take it all with a grain of salt. As with any game, your milage may vary, your preferences and expectations your own.

Asking what you ask is a big question. Many will say its a scam, an awful waste of money, a glorified tech demo, blah blah, but its the kind if sandbox game that can really be made into whatever you want. The real pain in the dick part is leaning all the stuff there is. And there's a lot. And a lot more coming. For now you may be entirely overwhelmed with the keybinds. There are a LOT of keybinds.

If you are wondering what PvP can be like check out Citizen Kate (and Will), or if you prefer some grind and peace check out Farrister. Both on youtube. There's many content creators but those two come to mine first.

You could check out the official Star Citizen channel CitizenCon 2024 and even 2023 to see what's going on as well. They also release weekly docuseries shows (Thusday Inside Star Citizen, pre recorded tech and dev details, or a friday hour long live show on twitch with a VOD uploaded to youtube shortly after with various devs) and have done so since it's inception. Litterally 1000s of hours of dev content that aint nobody got time for. But to see the game's evolution from a Freelancer/Privateer-like game to the monster of a game it is now.

Christ I could go on and on. I think its a great game due to its potential and actual available mechanics, but not everyone will feel the same. Many nay sayers don't seem to understand its a game in development, technically a succesful live service, and belive that what they see right now is the state of things and will be as such forever. But simply put the game just not done yet.

The only constant is change, and like all games being made under early access remember that these people are still making it. Theres no clear blueprint to it's completion. It's game development, not game construction.

Sorry about the long read. See you in the 'verse.

o7