Star Citizen alpha 3.0 is expected to release fairly soon, so the game’s developers are finally talking specifics. During a recent Happy Hour stream , Cloud Imperium Games designer Will Maiden offered his take on how the highly anticipated ship insurance feature will work.
First off, it’s worth noting that the vast majority of ships in Star Citizen alpha 3.0 will launch with lifetime insurance. That means players will always be able to get their ships returned to them no matter how big or pricey they may be.
With that fairly reasonable policy, however, comes a couple of caveats. Just like insurance in the real world, ship insurance in Star Citizen will typically have a premium attached. In other words, players will generally be forced to pay a certain amount of UEC if they want their ships back in a reasonable amount of time. The main trick to the system is that that premium depreciates the longer a player waits. While the exact numbers aren't finalized yet, Maden said a decrease of about 1,000 UEC per hour seems like a likely place to start.
There are also ways for an individual's premiums to rise as well. Those who submit several claims a day will be penalized for their reckless driving. Explorers who plan on playing carelessly will have to have a deep wallet to back up their tactics.
Those who aren’t able to afford a fee will eventually be able to get a free repair, but it’s going to take some time. While Maiden initially said it could take weeks for that complimentary window to open, community manager Jared Huckaby piped up to say the team is more realistically considering a 24-hour cooldown instead. When a ship is finally returned to the player, all gear will remain intact and the craft will be shipped to the space station where the claim was filed.
Anything that bars explorers from experiencing the full breadth of a game’s content may initially seem like a bad thing, but Maiden and his team view insurance as something that cultivates an important relationship and adds a layer of realism:
“We want to foster that feeling of connection, of I'd rather do anything than make another claim, and so the first step is putting a normal fee on that and then we'll look at ‘is that fee too high, too low, is the 24-hour refresh too lenient, is that 1,000 per hour too punishing…’ It's the next logical step in insurance, but it's certainly not the last.”
That final sentiment is probably the most important one for Star Citizen fans to remember. As a constantly developing project, anything related to alpha 3.0 is highly subject to change. Because Kickstarter backers have spent large sums of money to buy their favorite ships, the goal here doesn’t seem to be one of price gouging. CIG is open to any tweaks as long as the insurance feature still feels real.
Star Citizen alpha 3.0 is expected to go live for backers in late August or early September. Earlier alphas are available now on PC.
Are you OK with Star Citizen having ship insurance? Does this plan sound fair to you? Tell us in the comments section!
