Chris Roberts has talked in detail about his plans for Star Citizen, in this recent interview with PCGamer. Among the things he discussed are lifetime ship insurance for backers, how players will shape the world, and in-game life and death.
Chris brings up how backers and players will affect the game itself. Whoever finds one of those procedurally generated galaxies gets to name them. Whether those galaxies get populated and thrive rely entirely on the fans as well. Abandoned economies can turn to hives of scum and villainy if left unchecked.
Chris has explained permadeath as well. It’s not quite as harsh a system as, say, DayZ. When you get injured, there is a window where you can get rescued and healed. There is even an option for robotic body part modifications. When your character finally does die, your possessions will go to a new character. Chris also referred to having a family of characters, but did not directly state your characters would be of a single lineage.
Chris also explained how lifetime ship insurance for the backers came about. At the moment, they are still in the backer stage, and some of those backers paid a high premium for some grade A ships. When fans requested the option to buy ships separately, the issue of pricing came up.
Chris immediately recognized that they could not just offer, say, the Constellation for $ 30, when it comes with the $ 250 pledge. And so, backers get lifetime insurance, so that they can see the added value of being a backer vs future players.
Star Citizen’s first modules will be made available to backers this year, with a final retail release currently slated for 2016.
