Greetings fellow Citizens! The diminutive Drake Dragonfly had a novel concept sale, mating it with the Caterpillar. It went very well. Check here for the details!

The Drake Dragonfly’s concept sale took place from June 17th to June 27th. It was an innovative sale and that’s means two things need to be considered before we continue on:

It was the most successful sale for CIG since the MISC Hull series over a year ago.

It should not be viewed as a DIRECT comparable to previous concept sales mentioned here.

Why was the Dragonfly sale innovative?

The Dragonfly was sold in three ways:

Single for $35

Double for $65

Double plus a Drake Caterpillar for $300

What is the Dragonfly?

The Dragonfly is Drake’s 30th century space motorcycle. It is small, quick, and meant to travel in packs.

I expect that the Dragonfly will be useful in all sorts of space operations including search and rescue, exploring hulks and derelicts, in packs as a harrying fighter, a method for delivering a small boarding party, scouting, and much more.

The Dragonfly is meant not only as a space vehicle, it also acts as a hovercraft on a planet’s surface. This adds another ground vehicle to Star Citizen’s repertoire, joining the Greycat PTV, Ursa Rover, and Lynx Rover. The Dragonfly is likely to be much, much faster than these other three ground vehicles which allow much more rapid exploration of a planet’s surface. In addition it will act as a hovercraft on water, while the others are likely to be… very wet.

The Dragonfly forms a strong bond with the Drake Caterpillar. The Caterpillar is Drake’s cargo ship which is often used for nefarious purposes due to Drake’s association with pirates and other outlaws. Through a mixture of sheer size and design, the Caterpillar can hold several Dragonfly spacecraft (probably 3 per cargo module). These can be deployed as a sort of space biker gang through the large cargo bay doors in each module.

Now, you’ve probably read enough intro to the Dragonfly! We’re all here to see exactly how the Dragonfly concept sale stacked up.

Aegis Dynamics Reclaimer Aegis Dynamics Reclaimer Funds raised from Reclaimer concept sale after: 2 hours: $206,815

4 hours: $308,545

8 hours: $436,956

12 hours: $524,973

24 hours: $734,014

48 hours: $937,421

72 hours: $1,074,118

96 hours: $1,211,152

120 hours: $1,348,664

144 hours: $1,483,283

168 hours: $1,610,823

192 hours: $1,758,553

216 hours: $1,887,216

Total raised in concept sale: $1,988,585 (227 hours @ $8,760/hr) The Aegis Dynamics Reclaimer had a fantastic concept sale. The community loved the ship and it drove all our imaginations wild with thoughts of wading into fields of debris left over from intense battles and picking clean the bones of the dead… before grinding the bare hulls into scrap. Despite its civilian purpose, the Reclaimer is a hulking brute and an imposing sight. All of this led to nearly $2 million in sales for Star Citizen’s first dedicated salvage ship.

RSI Orion Mining Platform RSI Orion Mining Platform http://i.imgur.com/tluvCAR.webm Funds raised from Orion concept sale after: 2 hours: $150,809

4 hours: $222,487

8 hours: $317,615

12 hours: $400,212

24 hours: $581,792

48 hours: $743,211

72 hours: $857,592

96 hours: $954,136

120 hours: $1,066,744

144 hours: $1,167,254

168 hours: $1,326,253

192 hours: $1,510,793

216 hours: $1,696,170

Total raised in concept sale: $1,731,299 (220 hours @ $7,869/hr) The RSI Orion Mining Platform also had a successful concept sale. The innovative design by George Hull, the same artist who designed the Reclaimer, brought life to what has been a fairly mundane game mechanic in other games over the years. This was highlighted and reinforced by the Star Citizen Careers: Mining design post by Tony Zurovec. The Orion sale has some interesting wrinkles, because there was a Cutlass free fly week that happened partway through the sale. This may have slightly elevated the numbers due to the availability of the Cutlass Blue, but it looks as though the effect was minimal. About a week into the sale, the Orion’s cockpit/bridge was altered (with the pilot’s seat moved to the top of the ship) and this drove a significant increase in sales in the last few days which brought the final total to within $260k of the Reclaimer’s total.

Aegis Dynamics Vanguard Aegis Dynamics Vanguard https://media.robertsspaceindustries.com/p44wsxb2pn2rz/source.mp4 Funds raised from Vanguard concept sale after: 2 hours: $187,724

4 hours: $285,256

8 hours: $376,024

12 hours: $442,484

24 hours: $657,735

48 hours: $876,897

72 hours: $1,053,928

96 hours: $1,221,595

120 hours: $1,359,487

144 hours: $1,492,437

168 hours: $1,643,897

192 hours: $1,798,183

216 hours: $1,997,690

240 hours: $2,202,675

Total raised in concept sale: $2,250,189 (245 hours @ $9,184/hr) The Aegis Dynamics Vanguard is the “one to beat”. The most successful concept sale to date. This deep space fighter, designed by Gurmukh Bhasin, has set a high bar with a total of $2.25 million raised over the 245 hours it was on sale. The Vanguard had some detractors at the time of its concept sale due to its $250 USD pricetag, but it certainly had a bevy of features to support this asking price. The INN staff, as a whole, felt it to be a good value and several of the twin engine fighters now grace our fleet.

MISC Hull Series MISC Hull Series Funds raised from Hull Series concept sale after: 2 hours: $93,265

4 hours: $159,997

8 hours: $261,106

12 hours: $363,245

24 hours: $589,370

48 hours: $812,894

72 hours: $964,540

96 hours: $1,079,724

120 hours: $1,203,750

144 hours: $1,359,517

168 hours: $1,538,711

192 hours: $1,724,437

216 hours: $1,968,998

240 hours: $2,156,463

Total raised in concept sale: $2,156,463 (240 hours @ $8,895/hr) The Hull Series sale started slow. I believe this is largely due to the fact that it began in the middle of the night in North America. However, after its slow start it picked up steam and surpassed first the Orion and then, near the end, the Reclaimer. While it looked like this sale would even catch up to the incredibly successful Vanguard, it faltered slightly right near the end and did not quite reach those lofty heights. Still, the sale earned a whopping $2.15 million for Star Citizen’s development. More importantly, the MISC Hull Series brought with it a greater understanding of the cargo mechanics in Star Citizen. You can find those articles below: MISC Hull Series Q&A Hull A Q&A

Hull B Q&A

Hull C Q&A

Hull D Q&A

Hull E Q&A Cargo Interaction Design Post It was great to finally get a better grasp on how cargo will be handled in Star Citizen, since it is such an integral part of how the universe will function.

Starfarer Gemini Starfarer Gemini Funds raised from Starfarer Gemini concept sale after: 2 hours: $51,094

4 hours: $91,511

8 hours: $119,367

12 hours: $136,673

24 hours: $251,634

48 hours: $356,292

72 hours: $429,923

96 hours: $494,872

120 hours: $549,268

144 hours: $612,922

168 hours: $683,504

192 hours: $762,904

216 hours: $834,996

240 hours: $899,358

Total raised in concept sale: $910,523 (245 hours @ $3,716/hr) The Starfarer Gemini is a neat ship that highlights the great part of the community’s feedback and interaction with the CIG development team. The Gemini was originally just flavour text in lore and wasn’t really being considered as a ship you could pledge for; however, the community seemed intrigued by the idea of an armed and armoured fuel tanker and that led to CIG’s decision to go ahead and create this variant for us to add to our collections. During the Starfarer Gemini concept sale, CIG released a three part Q&A about the base Starfarer and the Star-G. You can find those here: Starfarer Q&A Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 Frankly, for a variant of a fuel tanker, I think the Star-G’s concept sale went quite well. That said, it doesn’t come close to reaching the heights of the Orion, Reclaimer, Vanguard, or Hull series.

MISC Reliant MISC Reliant http://i.imgur.com/VwHUTHg.webm Funds raised from Reliant concept sale after: 2 hours: $57,310

4 hours: $101,282

8 hours: $176,262

12 hours: $217,474

24 hours: $287,835

48 hours: $370,253

72 hours: $437,094

96 hours: $495,189

120 hours: $559,735

144 hours: $619,893

168 hours: $682,659

192 hours: $761,962

216 hours: $823,006

240 hours: $904,123

Total raised in concept sale: $963,498 (254 hours @ $3,793/hr) The MISC Reliant is a versatile starter ship featuring an array of xenotechnology courtesy of MISC’s business relationship with the Xi’An. This is the first of a new classification of Tier II starter ships and is currently the only two seat starter. The base Reliant – the Kore – is described as a mini-hauler but it can be outfitted for any number of roles. In addition, CIG have outlined what the Reliant variants will be: Reliant Sen – A science-oriented model that carries internal signal dampeners and an advanced scanner suite for discovery missions.

– A science-oriented model that carries internal signal dampeners and an advanced scanner suite for discovery missions. Reliant Mako – Designed for deep space broadcasting, the ‘News Van’ Reliant adds an Image Enhancement Suite that helps capture every moment of life in the stars.

– Designed for deep space broadcasting, the ‘News Van’ Reliant adds an Image Enhancement Suite that helps capture every moment of life in the stars. Reliant Tana – The frontier combat version of the Reliant trades cargo for a high-yield powerplant, stronger shields and additional weapons mounts. Obviously the folks here at INN have a particular fascination with the Sen or “News Van” variant of the Reliant and several of these ships have been added to our fleet. During the Reliant concept sale, CIG released a two part Q&A about the ship. You can find those here: Reliant Q&A Part 1

Part 2 The Reliant’s sale went well. It did not bring in the same kind of funding as the Vanguard or Reclaimer but that was mostly due to its much cheaper price. As you will see noted below, in terms of actual ships sold the Reliant is the winner of all of these concept sales by a landslide.

Crusader Industries Genesis Starliner Crusader Industries Genesis Starliner Funds raised from Starliner concept sale after: 2 hours: $28,602

4 hours: $43,597

8 hours: $63,071

12 hours: $84,005

24 hours: $142,828

48 hours: $203,191

72 hours: $242,293

96 hours: $280,805

120 hours: $326,548

144 hours: $369,685

168 hours: $415,782

192 hours: $467,355

216 hours: $522,270

240 hours: $570,765

Total raised in concept sale: $570,765 (240 hours @ $2,378/hr) The Crusader Industries Genesis Starliner is the first Civilian Passenger Transport spacecraft concepted for Star Citizen. It is designed to carry 40 passengers and 8 crew. The LH307 Starliner is highly modular and will allow for any number of possible internal configurations, including a nearly empty design for cargo hauling, an interior filled with luxurious suites, or even a military troop transport. During the Starliner concept sale, CIG released a two part Q&A about the ship. You can find those here: Starliner Q&A Part 1

Part 2 The concept sale for the Genesis Starliner did not approach the lofty heights of the other concept sales compared here. As I figure it, this is due to several factors. Firstly, the Star Citizen community as a whole seemed rather disengaged at the time of this sale due to Star Marine delays and the long period of time between full live releases. Secondly, the gameplay offered by the Starliner is exotic for the genre and although I am intrigued by it, I’m sure there are many Citizens out there who either aren’t interested or want to wait to acquire the ship in-game. Thirdly, the Starliner was $400. While the stats arguably supported the price, it didn’t help sell this already low-demand concept ship. Interestingly, we found out on RTV that 1842 Starliners were sold during the concept sale, including ships purchased with store credit (often by “melting” other ships). Based on the data we have, the funds taken in by CIG during the concept sale only equal around 1400 Starliners. If you subtract the normal daily funding (about $18k/day at the time of the sale), then it looks like CIG took in additional funds equal to roughly 1000 Starliners during the sale. The upshot of this is that almost half of the Starliners that were acquired during the sale were purchased with store credit. While not the resounding success of the Vanguard sale, the Starliner did sell more than the 300-400 ships that CIG expected; therefore, it can be considered a limited success.

MISC Endeavor MISC Endeavor Funds raised from Endeavor concept sale after: 2 hours: $75,386

4 hours: $119,724

8 hours: $168,690

12 hours: $203,628

24 hours: $352,555

48 hours: $541,643

72 hours: $680,906

96 hours: $795,144

120 hours: $878,014

144 hours: $938,128

168 hours: $1,008,017

192 hours: $1,065,862

216 hours: $1,132,148

Total raised in concept sale: $1,168,065* (227 hours @ $5,145/hr) * = The 2015 CitizenCon sales started several hours before the MISC Endeavor sale ended. This makes it very difficult to define how much the Endeavor raised in the final hours. The Endeavor had been earning at a fairly slow rate at that point so the real total is likely roughly $1.21 million. During the Endeavor concept sale, CIG released a two part Q&A and a design document about the ship. You can find those here: MISC Endeavor Q&A Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 Design – The Endeavor The MISC Endeavor sale was an interesting one. The Endeavor is a research platform with a wide variety of possible uses, these include discovery and exploration, farming, mobile hospital, and beyond. As such, the Endeavor was offered with an array of modules in addition to the base ship. It was attractive to a wide variety of players, however, due to its relatively high cost and (I believe) its proximity to CitizenCon it did not reach the heights of the Vanguard or Hull Series.

MISC Prospector MISC Prospector Funds raised from Prospector concept sale after: 2 hours: $91,580

4 hours: $146,432

8 hours: $219,781

12 hours: $262,370

24 hours: $336,508

48 hours: $438,493

72 hours: $514,093

96 hours: $582,461

120 hours: $646,499

144 hours: $708,274

168 hours: $789,240

192 hours: $881,110

216 hours: $972,626

240 hours: $1,052,460

Total raised in concept sale: $1,110,221 (255 hours @ $4353/hr) The Prospector had a very promising start to its concept sale, almost matching the 2-hour income of the MISC Hull series; however, over time it tailed off and more closely matched the trajectory of the Vanguard Variants concept sale. During the Prospector concept sale, CIG released a two-part Q&A about the ship. You can find those here: MISC Prospector Q&A Part 1

Part 2

While not the most successful concept sale, the Prospector did fairly well – beating out the Starfarer Gemini, Vanguard Variants, Reliant, and Genesis in terms of funds. In addition, it sold a respectable number of ships. The final tally for ships sold eclipsed the Orion and Reclaimer and came somewhat close to the Vanguard. As a whole the Prospector was a good concept sale – it fleshes out the mining industry in Star Citizen and gives a great option for players who prefer to mine solo – while also adding another $1.1 million to the coffers.

Drake Interplanetary Buccaneer Drake Buccaneer 2 hours: $22,210

4 hours: $100,367

8 hours: $159,488

12 hours: $188,316

24 hours: $260,269

48 hours: $353,729

72 hours: $417,829

96 hours: $482,387

120 hours: $543,200

144 hours: $591,757

168 hours: $642,835

192 hours: $700,833

216 hours: $755,818

Total raised in concept sale: $794,889 (229 hours @ $3,471/hr) The Buccaneer sale, financially speaking, just didn’t go well. It started slow and stayed that way. The 2 hour total was actually the lowest of any of the concept sale thus far. Eventually the sale recovered slightly to finish ahead of the Genesis Starliner. That said, general perception of the ship was positive from those I spoke with. I personally like the ship. So why the woeful numbers? Well, the Buccaneer was essentially designed as a ship to address a complaint in the community. Originally some felt that the Drake Cutlass would be a maneuverable and powerful combat ship, but were disappointed when it was released as a flyable ship. The Cutlass is not as nimble as those people expected. CIG maintained that it fit its role correctly as a multipurpose pirate ship capable of combat, cargo, and boarding. To address this, CIG created the Buccaneer which is a true and nimble fighter craft and gave Cutlass owners the ability to effectively swap ships via a coupon. This means that many people would acquire a Buccaneer without ever spending a single dollar. In addition, most other true fighters are fairly close in price as well – so if a person was swapping their existing fighter for a Buccaneer it also wouldn’t add much or anything to the coffers. The final point to add in here is that there are a lot of ships in the Fighter category now in Star Citizen. This isn’t an inherently negative thing, but it means that there was also likely some saturation in that segment of the Star Citizen market. During the Buccaneer concept sale, CIG released a two-part Q&A about the ship as well as a press release. You can find those here: Drake Buccaneer Q&A Part 1

Part 2 Drake Interplanetary Press Release (Announced free Behring C-788 Ballistic Cannon for Buccaneer concept sales) During ATV 2.35 it is revealed that the Buccaneer is now one of the most popular ships in terms of ownership, nearing the civilian Hornet. This provides a final piece to this puzzle. If you take all of this information together you come to the logical conclusion that many people acquired Buccaneers but few people actually paid much or anything for them.

2 hours: $114,789

4 hours: $177,709

8 hours: $261,603

12 hours: $326,142

24 hours: $489,706

48 hours: $677,368

72 hours: $797,078

96 hours: $891,529

120 hours: $976,379

144 hours: $1,058,394

168 hours: $1,136,807

192 hours: $1,223,182

216 hours: $1,305,256

Total raised in concept sale: $1,349,735 (227 hours @ $5946/hr)

The start of the Dragonfly sale was very strong, 4th amongst the concept sales mentioned here. It didn’t have the staying power to keep up with the MISC Hull sale, but still finished a respectable 5th and the best concept sale since April 2015.

During the Dragonfly concept sale CIG released a two-part Q&A about the ship as well as a brochure. You can find those here:

Drake Dragonfly Q&A

Part 1

Part 2

Brochure

Below I have debuted a new way of quantifying ROUGHLY how many ships were sold during each concept sale. I did this because the Dragonfly flew off the charts in this metric. The UEE Fleet number is equal to how many ships are owned by Citizens. This number went up by 33,628 during the course of the Dragonfly sale, much more than any of the other sales examined here. Expensive ships do artificially poorly in this metric because people melt multiple ships to acquire one ship (a net negative for the UEE Fleet). Therefore, this chart (found below) is obviously only useful for rough comparisons of similarly-priced ships.

It is difficult for low cost ships to pull in large dollars as they must sell many more actual units. CIG was able to create an excellent concept sale this time around by having both low-cost and good-value/high-cost (Caterpillar package) options. Many ships were sold, and significant dollars brought in.

Comparison:

Illustrated above (click to enlarge): The Dragonfly starts well and sells consistently, finishing between the Endeavor and the Orion.

Illustrated above (click to enlarge): Income per hour of each concept sale.

Illustrated above (click to enlarge): A rough and often inaccurate portrayal of how many ships were sold in each concept sale. This is a very simplistic calculation: Income/Ship Price. Because of this, concept sales with multiple price points are not included (Hull, Vanguard Variants, Endeavor, Dragonfly).

Illustrated above (click to enlarge): The change in the UEE Fleet total over the period of the concept sale. The UEE Fleet total is the number of ships currently owned by backers. Obviously this graph is for COMPARISON PURPOSES ONLY as melting of ships and other factors can skew this number significantly.

Illustrated above (click to enlarge): The number of Citizens and members of the UEE Fleet versus the income from each sale.

Summary:

With over 30,000 Dragonflies now in the wild, I think that Drake was more than successful in deploying its space biker gangs all over the known galaxy.

The Dragonfly sale was excellently carried out, providing value via the Caterpillar package in addition to the options of buying a single or dual Dragonfly package. This resulted in the first concept sale breaching $1.3 million since April of 2015.

I look forward to the next concept sale and therefore the next analysis! What do you think the next ship up for sale will be and when?

Note from Nehkara: Thank you for reading! If you have any feedback please leave me a comment! :)

As an added bit of awesome, here is the whitebox Dragonfly (early version without animations, textures, etc) flying around Port Olisar: