STAR CITIZEN BY ATREIA CO. FOR PROSPECTIVE PLAYERS 3.11 EDITION BUYING GUIDE "The art of purchasing is delicate and informative. The official website is not" -Starfucius What does this mean? It means that there WILL be bugs, bugs, bugs, design issues, constant changes and most of all, your in-game progression will NOT be permanent through to launch! Purchase into this project / back the project ONLY if you understand and accept all that comes with an alpha product, or would like to support the project to its eventual release. This guide was written for 3.11.1 Alpha release. VERY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER STAR CITIZEN IS AN ALPHA! Almost 80-95% of the planned content are not available . Of the 20% that are, they are mostly buggy and oftentimes not well designed yet. There are countless bugs and issues that cycle patch to patch, sometimes persisting between them. Ships are a huge grind to obtain ingame due to wipes and resets. Of course, you might be able to make more money as you learn the ways, but do take note. SO SHOULD I BUY? OR WAIT? REASONS TO WAIT You want to play a game of this scale now , a first-person universe MMO with highly detailed models, graphics, sunsets and simulation physics. You're OK with all the bugs and frustrations. The price of the game will only increase over time. REASONS TO BUY Star Citizen has a referral program where players can create accounts using another player's referral code. This gives the new player 5000 UEC starting money extra, and gives the other player a referral point, which counts towards some cool rewards. PART 0. REFERRALS Head to https://gorefer.me/randomizer/STAR Copy down the code you are given. Apply it on the account creation page when you are creating an account. DO THIS WHEN CREATING YOUR ACCOUNT! The 'main' Star Citizen game. Massive MMO space sim. PART 0a. WHICH IS THE GAME? UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE STAR CITIZEN VS SQ42 Campaign title set in the same universe. Singleplayer-only. Since the package split in 2016, Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are sold seperately. You can either buy one of these, or both in a combo package or individually (More expensive). For the purposes of this guide we will be only discussing about buying into Star Citizen's MMO portion, although we will go through the pricing options if you want Squadron 42 as well. PART 0b. PVP OR PVE? PVP STAR CITIZEN IS BOTH. The Open Universe is open to combat from any player or NPC at almost all times outside of a major city. Even off major ports, the armistice in effect does not disable PVP. It just adds more consequence to firing your guns on someone in it. If you are seeking PVP, there are opportunities to either pirate, hunt, dogfight, among others, although as of now piracy is not implemented officially. It is an open universe. Although right now without server meshing ( A technology that will allow multiple servers to combine to increase player caps ) there are only 50 players per server instance spread across a star system. PVE There are a lot of PVE missions and content as well. Generated missions often involve fighting AI ships, combatants, or investigations that do not involve fighting at all. Trading, mining, are among some of the professions that you could ultimately do an entire day without getting into a fight as well. If you don't want to PVP, you can play the game in a way that mostly negates PVP and still do well. PVP is not 100% avoidable, but you can mostly minimize it. Contracts (Generated missions) Trading (Simple buy and sell of goods) Mining (Extracting rocks and selling) Law System (Criminal rating and prison) Early Medical (Respawn on medbeds only) Bounty Hunting (Hunting and killing criminal targets) Survival Mechanics (Food, Water, Temperature, Oxygen) Component upgrading on ships Shopping for armor / clothes / guns / ships / ship parts Arena Commander (Instanced PVP/PVE Dogfighting) Star Marine (Instanced PVP FPS) PART 1a. WHAT AM I GETTING? WHAT THE GAME CURRENTLY HAS (ALL IN UNPOLISHED ALPHA FORM) IN STAR CITIZEN ALPHA 3.11 Dynamic Economy System (Quanta) Salvaging (Breaking down wrecks) Exploration (Scanning and finding data) Tourism (Touring NPC and players around systems) Transit (Carrying NPC and players between systems) Repair (Fixing stuff) Medical (Fixing people) Construction (Outpost building) Player Market (Player-owned shops that sell goods) Data Courier (Passing and Running data on ship servers) Fleet Warfare (Large scale ship to ship combat) Cosmetic Ship Customization and Component Deterioration Way more contracts, missions, NPC storyline quests Racing Career Alien fauna and flora On-ship amenities and arcades +More...... PART 1b. WHAT WILL I GET? WHAT THE GAME IS PLANNING TO EVENTUALLY HAVE PLANNED FEATURES As the alpha progresses and optimization improves, the game's requirements drop slightly, and you might find that even mid range computers can still play the game quite smoothly. Of course, the important thing to note here is that you MUST have at least 16 GB of RAM and install Star Citizen alpha on an SSD . The game relies heavily on stream-loading content, which is hard on an HDD to keep up with. Ideally, head over to this link and compare user specs and how they perform: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/telemetry PART 2. CAN I RUN IT? FROM THE OFFICIAL SITE MINIMUM SPECS So you've accepted the project specs, have a PC that isn't a potato, and want to buy in. When is the best time to do it? If you're looking for a discounted price to enter Star Citizen, usually the starter packages go for around $5 off during the November Anniversary Sale, December Holidays Sale, and likely during / around free flight events. In fact, if you are reading this when its written (18 Nov 20), there is an upcoming free flight this month, which might entail some discounted starter packages. Ask around the community if you are unsure when the game will go on discount. As a side note, understand that when the SC community mentions a 'SALE', it is not the traditional discounted sale you might be thinking of. Rather the term sale in SC means that usually unavailable ships are purchaseable for a time. Otherwise, there is really not much reason to wait if you want to get in now. The game will only get more expensive as we cross thresholds towards release. PART 3a. WHEN SHOULD I BUY? GAME PRICE REDUCTIONS DISCOUNTS From time to time, they will announce free flight events or weeks. These events mean that any player with a Star Citizen account is able to download, log in, and play the alpha release completely FREE , no strings attached. It is recommended for you to use these events as a way to test the game on your machine, or just to check in the progress and see if it is time for oyu to jump in or wait. Always only buy into a project if you feel comfortable with it. PART 3b. CAN I TRY FOR FREE? TRIAL PERIODS FREE FLIGHT EVENTS Purchasing Star Citizen can be confusing. There are so many options, so many prices, and the fear of purchasing the wrong thing is always prevalent. First, you need to understand a few key aspects. PART 4. WHAT SHOULD I BUY? UNDERSTANDING THE PLEDGE STORE BASICS OF PURCHASING STANDALONE SHIPS are just spaceships. They do not come with a game package. Buying a standalone ship only gives you the ship and its insurance level. DO NOT BUY STANDALONE SHIPS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! GAME PACKAGES are ships/ a ship bundled together with the game, either only Star Citizen, or both Star Citizen + Squadron 42 (combo). THESE ARE WHAT YOU WANT CCU (SHIP UPGRADES) only change one ship to another, and do not include the game access! DO NOT BUY SHIP UPGRADES UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! 1 ) Hangar Access Level Determines which hangar you get. (Does not matter now, mostly aesthetic) When you view a package description under the store page (Not the Fly Now page), you might get this layout. This page will describe what you are getting in the package. PART 4. WHAT SHOULD I BUY? BASICS OF PURCHASING 2) Starting Money Your starting money. You don't lose this money now, and you will get it when the game launches. 3) Insurance Level How many months your ship is covered by insurance. (Can be extended Ingame on launch, in alpha right now insurance has not begun ticking.) A) SQ42 Download This means the SP campaign portion is included. (Not shown on the pic) UNDERSTANDING THE STORE READOUT 4) Star Citizen Download This means Star Citizen game access is included. YOU NEED THIS. 1 2 3 4 While at the minimum a ship is not technically needed to play the game, ALL game packages come with a ship included. The minimum buy-in package that you need starts at 45$ USD, listed below. PART 4. WHAT SHOULD I BUY? WHAT DO I NEED AT THE MINIMUM? BASICS OF PURCHASING Shown here are the two packages that are the BARE MINIMUM to buy into the game. Of course, if you can get any package with game access cheaper, go for it! Do note, that the two packages shown DO NOT include the singleplayer campaign Squadron 42. Shown here are the two packages that are the BARE MINIMUM to buy into the game WITH Squadron 42 access included. They have similar pictures to the previous packages so READ CAREFULLY! If you would like to buy the singleplayer campaign as well, look for either the Star Citizen + Squadron 42 Combo package deals, or purchase SQ 42 standalone (Not recommended!) PART 4. WHAT SHOULD I BUY? BUYING SQUADRON 42 AS WELL BASICS OF PURCHASING Between the Aurora and the Mustang Alpha, there are nuances to getting either package. PART 4. WHAT SHOULD I BUY? SO WHICH SHOULD I GET? BASICS OF PURCHASING You will NOT spend anymore on Star Citizen, and have no plans to upgrade the Aurora with real money to another ship. You want to be able to do delivery box missions without awkward stuffing and glitching (As much as the Mustang anyway, as the Mustang's rear cargo box can't be used to hold deliveries.) You want a faster ship. You don't like the Aurora. You want to upgrade to another ship with real cash. GO FOR THE AURORA IF GO FOR THE MUSTANG ALPHA IF The Aurora MR is worth $5 less on the store value than the Mustang. So while both packages cost the same, the Mustang arguably gets you $5 off if you do a cash upgrade. DO I NEED TO UPGRADE OR BUY SHIPS WITH REAL CASH? NO. YOU DO NOT. All ships are confirmed to be purchasable in-game at launch with in-game money. Even right now, several of the ships can be outright earned in-game. However, when a full wipe occurs, you only get back what you paid for. Generally comes with a discount. Might come with an exclusive skin or flair. Cannot bought with Store Credit. (New cash only) Can be bought with Store Credit or with new cash. You might come across an item or package on the store that was the word 'Warbond'. In such cases, they are Warbond pledges that can only be bought with new cash. This means that you can't use Store Credit. (Account credit gained from 'melting' explained below) Warbond Non-Warbond PART 4. WHAT SHOULD I BUY? WARBOND? WHAT'S THAT? BASICS OF PURCHASING Example attached shows the Prowler Warbond being sold cheaper. Asking around the SC community will often get you the same result. "Don't buy either of the starter packs. Buy an Avenger Titan instead!" PART 5. ADVANCED PURCHASES WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP TELLING ME TO BUY AN AVENGER? THE SPACE PENGUIN To put it simply, the Avenger Titan costs $20 more to upgrade from the Mustang Alpha, or $25 from the Aurora MR. However, this ship is what I would call a Tier 2 starter, as it performs MUCH better than either of the earlier starters. The Avenger Titan has a cargo hold, stronger weapon mounts and better stats, making it a far greater ship to start off with if you can afford it. To get this ship, you can either purchase the Avenger Titan starter pack, or purchase a Mustang Alpha combo pack, THEN buy a ship upgrade from the Mustang Alpha to the Avenger Titan for $20. Alternatively, if you do not want SQ42, you can also buy the Avenger Titan starter pack for $70. Buying the Avenger as your first ship is not necessary, but it does make your life easier in SC. The CCU system is a way for you to upgrade any ship on the website to a more expensive ship while retaining ALL insurance, extras and game access tied to the original ship. When CCU-ing, you pay the price difference between the two ship's valuation price. You then receive an upgrade component in your website account hangar, which you can apply at any time to a package or ship to change the attached ship. WHAT CARRIES OVER IN A CCU? Everything except the old ship. When you apply a CCU on a game package, the game access remains, and any bonus items in the pack get carried over. The insurance that was originally included also carries over. This means that if you bought your pack with a 2 month insurance for your Aurora MR, your new CCU'ed Avenger Titan will also have 2 months of insurance. Exception: With the introduction of IAE/Warbond CCUs, packages and ships may change insurance levels, as a rule of thumb, if the package now lists multiple insurance levels, the highest insurance level will always apply. PART 5. ADVANCED PURCHASES CROSS CHASSIS UPGRADES CCU SYSTEM Melting is a way to "return" a game package or ship to the store, although this is not a refund, so instead you get back Store Credit , in exact dollar for dollar how much you spent on the item before melting. To do this, go to your account hangar on the website and click 'Exchange' beside the item you want to melt. CAVEATS There is a 24 hour melting lock on new purchases. You can only melt a ship/package 24 hours after buying it from the store. If you melt a package or ship that has been CCU'ed up from another ship, you CAN'T buy back the upgraded ship from buyback, only the original ship before CCUs. (Buybacks are explained in the next page) PART 5. ADVANCED PURCHASES THE MELTING SYSTEM / PLEDGE EXCHANGE I REGRET EVERYTHING!