In the video, January from Ray’s Guide critiques Star Citizen’s user-facing economic tools, highlighting issues like multiple non-interchangeable physical currencies and a high-friction player-to-player marketplace that hinder trust and accessibility. He advocates for modernizing the system with digital account-backed currencies, secure trade interfaces, and consignment stores to reduce complexity, lower barriers, and improve the overall player economy experience.
In this video, January, the voice behind Ray’s Guide, discusses the current state of user-facing economic tools in Star Citizen, highlighting a paradox where the economy is simultaneously too complex and insufficiently sophisticated. He clarifies that his focus is on the player-to-environment (P2E) and player-to-player (P2P) economic interactions visible to users, rather than the behind-the-scenes economic simulation. He emphasizes that an effective economic system should reduce friction, build trust, and lower barriers to entry, using his personal experience with the evolution of financial tools over the past decades as an analogy for how economic systems should ideally progress.
January points out that Star Citizen currently has at least five different currencies, including UEC, Klescher prison merits, guild credits, and Wiccolo favor, none of which are easily interchangeable. These currencies exist as physical items that players must manually exchange by dropping them on the ground, a system he criticizes as outdated and inefficient. The physical representation of currency leads to logistical problems such as increased technical overhead in the game’s entity graph database, vulnerability to theft or loss, and impracticality for large transactions, especially since crafting and guild-related purchases may require carrying thousands of these physical currency bars.
He explains that this clumsy system likely arose from development constraints in 2025 when content designers, limited by their tools, resorted to using physical loot items to represent currencies instead of integrating them into the more sophisticated UEC codebase. This has resulted in significant technical debt that will need to be addressed in the future. January suggests a better approach would be to maintain physical currency items only as optional visual props backed by a digital account system, reducing complexity and improving the economy’s overall functionality.
The video also critiques the current player-to-player marketplace, which requires players to be physically present in the same location to trade items, creating high friction and trust issues. He praises the efforts of the community-driven UEEX website, which attempts to fill the gap by providing commodity prices and a marketplace, but notes that it cannot solve the fundamental problems inherent in the game’s design. He contrasts this with upcoming base building features that allow players to set up shops and trade terminals, calling this a step forward but pointing out that the high barrier to entry—requiring land ownership, base construction, and security—makes it inaccessible to new players.
To improve the player economy, January advocates for the implementation of basic, secure trade interfaces similar to those found in traditional MMOs, such as a double-sided trade window with timers to prevent scams, and consignment stores integrated into space stations for easier buying and selling without needing a base. This would reduce friction, increase trust, and lower barriers to entry, enabling all players to participate in the economy regardless of their progression. He concludes with updates on giveaways and encourages viewers to engage with his content, emphasizing the importance of economic sophistication in creating a smooth and trustworthy player experience.