I don't get why people still keep giving them money for ships, why they are ok with the new shifted focus (the game they are going to deliver isn't what was promised), nor why people can't bring themselves to even acknowledge these problems.
These aren't just Star Citizen problems, this is the entire industry. Somehow by labeling it an art they're allowed to get away with anything.
There are very few successfully developed games and this new craze of "Early Access" is just ruinining all QC and somehow making any publisher/programmer imune to criticism via the "It's only the alpha! You need to expect it to be buggy! It's not the developers fault!"
The real problem is seeing "inside the box". Most games are buggy and unfun for at least 90% of development time, and change direction several times as certainly things are found to work, or not work. The problem now is people are, reasonably, expecting what's in the original design document, and then getting annoyed when they get something else.
Also, as you say, having people's money already removes the need to finish -- and that push to polish and finish so you can release and get some money in my experience is what makes games good.
> I don't get why people still keep giving them money for ships
It's the only game that allows you to be at the forefront of participation without burning time on playing. One step beyond "idle games" (that is something that actually exists). It seems to be an arrangement that somehow clicks with a small but lucrative group of people. They probably think that they will pick up gaming again "when it's ready", but most likely won't. Until then they can live the dream of one day being as excited about gaming again as they were twenty years younger.
These aren't just Star Citizen problems, this is the entire industry. Somehow by labeling it an art they're allowed to get away with anything.
There are very few successfully developed games and this new craze of "Early Access" is just ruinining all QC and somehow making any publisher/programmer imune to criticism via the "It's only the alpha! You need to expect it to be buggy! It's not the developers fault!"