Star Citizen alpha backers are among the most dedicated, enthusiastic, and generous gamers in the world. We are dedicated stakeholders and genuine pioneers who are excited about our opportunity to participate in the ongoing funding and development of Chris Robert’s vision. Because of our endless enthusiasm and deeply informed understanding, for the most part, we are uniquely adaptable to the occasional inconveniences, delays, and disappointments that are inherent to crowdfunding and open development.

As of today, there are approximately 1.67 Million RSI Accounts. This is an impressive number, but it is important to remember that there are about 750 Million gamers in the PC Master Race. SoonTM, as Star Marine, Star Citizen 3.0 and Squadron 42 are released, excitement will build and the buzz around the BDSS will spread. If just 5% of the total population of PC Gamers become interested in Star Citizen, millions of additional gamers, many of whom have little or no experience with CIG’s innovative approach to funding and development will soon be joining us.

How much trouble lies beyond Peak Enthusiast?

I’ve been thinking about the possibility of reaching a state of ‘Peak Enthusiast’ for some time and what that might mean for the community. What I’ve been wondering is, when more casual participants arrive, how will they react to a triple-A title in ongoing, alpha development? Many of us who follow Star Citizen closely have come across every kind of ‘concern’ regarding the game, ranging from genuinely enthusiastic backers whose expectations have been missed to willful detractors with an ax to grind (and seemingly endless time to disparage the very existence of Cloud Imperium Games). Regardless of how someone gets ‘concerned’ every instance of a dissatisfied member of our community takes time and resources to remediate.

From CIG’s perspective, these are known risks, inherent to giving us all access to an unfinished product while simultaneously seeking our support. And, to be perfectly clear, the team at CIG are presently managing this risk and the needs of concerned citizens, genuine or otherwise, masterfully.

But the questions I have is this: Is it possible that a lack of understanding, willful or otherwise, could spread, with an influx of 2 or 3 million new participants in under a year and overwhelm CIG, causing otherwise unnecessary delays? As a community, what can we do to prepare for this possibility? Besides everything we already do to share our love and enthusiasm for Star Citizen, is there something more we can do?

I think the answer is yes.

We’re the Trailblazers and we’re here to help

As part of INN’s ongoing mission to inform and connect members of the Star Citizen Community, we are pleased to introduce the Star Citizen Volunteer Trailblazers Program or Trailblazers for short.

The Trailblazer program will match new Star Citizen settlers with veterans who have volunteered to share their experience and knowledge to assist in whatever capacity they feel is appropriate. There is no prescribed approach. After being connected, Trailblazing for a new Star Citizen settler could be as simple as a quick chat on Discord to answer a few questions or as in-depth as walking through the process of backing, teaching them to fly, or bringing them to a local BarCitizen event.

Trailblazing also provides Star Citizen veterans with another opportunity to share their love and enthusiasm for the game on a more personal level, while welcoming new members to the Star Citizen community.

The purpose of the Trailblazers program is to provide a friendly, personal welcome for new settlers in the ‘Verse, while simultaneously reducing the probability they might be confused, share misinformation, or drop-out as a result of a poor experience with:

Backing: Difficulty understanding what’s needed to get started.

Playing: Overcoming the learning curves on the early gameplay experience and technology issues.

Expectations: Misunderstanding the nature of backing and playing a game in alpha release.

Isolation: Difficulty integrating with the community.

Whether you’re interested in helping new Star Citizens integrate with the ‘Verse or you are an incoming settler with questions, please visit the permanent INN Trailblazer Program page for more information.