....can I still enjoy this? If I grab the 40 dollar package with the Aurora, and do the 5 dollar upgrade, can I still have fun with this game, or will it just be frustrating as I get blown to tiny, little, space particles by all the guys who have spent over 500 bucks on this game?
Got a couple of dollars to spend on a game and I'm looking at this and the DCS F-86.

You can't play against anyone else yet. Well, we can't, the people who backed early on can and even if we could then yes you wouldn't last long in that dog of a ship (I have one too ).

If you mean in the full released game, then I guess it would be a case of who knows or when we will actually find out...

Thanks, Mace. Sounds like, right now, my money would be better spent on the Sabre.

Thats actually not true anymore. As of last thursday? they opened the MP up to everyone and added in a capture the flag game mode.

Oh, didn't realise, not had the want to update it. Does the X55 work now do you know?

No clue lol I have not touched it since they a big FU to everyone with trackIR and joysticks They might have even fixed the joystick problems and I know there is a 3rd party workaround for trackIR but I just cant be bothered to make it work. Not that interested in just dogfighting anyways.

Yeah, the more I read about it, the more I think that this could be a money pit. If I run out of insurance and my ship blows up, that means I have no ship to play until I buy another one. Right? Or do I misunderstand? I buy with in game currency, or real money?
I guess I'll have to watch this develop a bit more before I jump in.

You buy the first ship with real money (because you are really buying the cd key not the ship) and the rest are just bonus preorder ships you can skip. Then in game if your ship blows up without insurance you can buy a new ship, rent a ship, hire on as crew, get money from a friend, join the military or a bunch of other ways. Once the game is launched you wont be able to buy ships with real money anymore. That is only a preorder bonus.

You WILL be able to buy a limited number of in game currency per month though. But we dont know how much or if it will even be enough to buy a starter ship in game. Once the game launches though all purchases will be with in game currency.

p.s. One thing I will mention is that even though you only have a few months of insurance that is in game time not real life time. So that insurance timer only times down while you are playing the game. So if you play 2 hours a day for a week that only takes off 14 hours of your 6 months time.

Insurance is purchased with in game money and is supposed to be relatively inexpensive. I purchased the hornet package and have not flown it yet. I am waiting on the inclusion of Track IR and better in game joystick set up.

Quickcord

So when the game actually comes, what will it ship with? Or don't we know this yet?

I got Track IR working with the workaround. It is almost unfair being able to aim my weapons with my head. Haha. Oh well, sucks to be them!

That sounds great! Can you tell us how?

I've been trying to wrap my head around this, and I'm still not sure I get it.

Say I buy the $350 ship. And I start playing and shortly thereafter I blow up.

If I haven't bought insurance using "real money" then I can't fly that ship anymore until I earn enough "game money" through some means in game?

It's bad enough I have to insure my car in real life; when I have to start spending real money to insure my computer game "car" I guess I might just have a problem.

If you have not purchased more insurance, yes. I believe each game package includes a ceratain amount of insurance included. Once you start playing the game you can extend the insurance with in game money, not real money.

If you lose your ship and do not have insurance, you have no ship. You can crew another players ship to earn income to buy another ship. You might be able to earn money in the FPS part of the games as well, not sure.

Quickcord

As quick cord said. Insurance can be bought with game money, not real money

Per CIG, insurance isn't going to be a big deal like it is in real life. We've been reassured, at length, that LTI (Lifetime Insurance) is more of a convenience... as opposed to paying (with in game money) for hull insurance. If paying for hull insurance isn't a big difference from not paying since there is LTI on a ship, then that means that paying for hull insurance isn't going to be a big thing. If you have 6 months insurance on your hull, which most start out with, that's 6 months of game time, not real life time.

and... don't buy a $350 ship, buy a starter ship and decide if you like the look of the game and where's it's headed first.

There is actually a $30 Aurora package available. The mustang package does not seem to be available yet, but that is a comparably priced starter ship. You can always melt your ship, to receive in game credits for its value, and buy a different ship.

Whether you can have fun with a starter ship depends on your play style. If you like crewing for others, and taking lower paying jobs that your ship can handle until you buy a better ship in game, then yes, you can have fun..If you prefer to spend $$$, you will probably make in game creds faster, and be able to buy more stuff.

Either way, make sure you get a game package to start. This gives you the SP (Squadron 42) and MP (Star Citizen) games, plus the ship you choose. The Aurora package with early access is currently $45, so if you want early access, that would be the one to get.