Now I’d like to take a moment to discuss some subjects fans have brought up over the weekend:

Aurora Models

There have been some questions about the different Aurora models: what exactly they are, do we intend to sell them and so on. The answer is that they were designed to make the world more immersive. They will be available in the finished game and you will be able to upgrade your Aurora to any of those packages for in-game credits.

Since the idea was that the Aurora is your “first car,” David Ladyman picked up a stack of brochures at a Ford dealership for the team to look at. That’s where the idea came from that we could show how the Aurora would look with different dealership packages. It’s a great real-world example of how ship upgrades will function in the game, with the ship’s appearance changing depending on the guns, missiles, thrusters, power plants or more cosmetic / luxury items like leather seats. The basic hulls are all identical, they’re simply being shown with different weapons, engines and the like. Some future ships will have multiple models where appropriate… others will not. A pre-configured package doesn’t mean you can’t change your equipment around or completely customize it – it’s up to you! We just think (like in the real world) that there would likely be various packages available from the factory that would be tailored to different roles for buyer convenience.

Future brochures and ship promotions will have different flavors and styles depending on the company and the role of the ship.

Lifetime Insurance

LTI

LTI

LTI

Most surprising to us was the controversy over the decision to award lifetime insurance to all current-site backers as the nine million dollar stretch goal. I would like to take a moment to explain the thinking behind this decision. The first issue is that our support team has been spending an inordinate amount of time dealing with-related issues. Brittany and Sandi have been bombarded with dozens of “do I have?” and “can I get?” e-mails each day. We foresaw this increasing significantly with the incredibly complex database transition into the new site. Easing the customer support burden and allowing us to focus our energy on creating the game is a priority.

Equally important, however, is the fact that we were unhappy to learn about the ‘black market’ for LTI gifting. The idea behind the viral system was to give players a reason to introduce the game to their friends, not to give them a way to gouge others at online auction sites. This may upset some players (the vast majority of whom, we readily acknowledge, were doing the right thing) but it ultimately improves the experience for all. Lifetime insurance will still be a rare commodity in the finished game (less than 200,000 ships versus the millions that will inhabit the universe).

I know some people feel that they have lost that special status as an early backer, but as we’ve hit the $9M goal, remember that we’re giving you additional goodies like the space suit that later backers won’t have. Extending the LTI to the current backers and new backers through to the new site going live adds a strong incentive for “undecideds” to back now rather than wait, helping us achieve our goal of making Star Citizen the first AAA 100% community funded game. As always, we will continue to honor our early supporters whenever possible in the future, like granting them earlier access to test the new site.

24 Hour Livestream

Several have asked when we’re scheduling the 24 hour livestream. The answer is that we need to finish testing the new site first. In all likelihood, it will take place in late May or early June… and we will make absolutely sure you know it’s coming! We had a blast the first time around and we’re looking forward to another party… and we’ll have plenty of special guests and new reveals about the games during the show!

The Avenger

There have been some posts speculating about the Avenger, claiming that it is a superfighter or a powerful capital ship. I don’t want to reveal the surprise, but I want to assure you that this is not the case: the Avenger is another part of our “rock, paper, scissors” mechanic and it will balance in with the existing ships. It will have a different role that will further speak to the variety of gameplay styles we’re hoping you’ll take up… but it is absolutely not a superior pay-to-win mega-ship.

Aurora Images

Finally, many fans have requested separate “beauty shots” of the Aurora for websites and desktop backgrounds. We are happy to oblige.