“CIG has launched a pre-citizencon 10th birthday event where people can find, buy, or win in the game what many persumed would be a super-exclusive ship. Is this great or terrible?”
CIG (Cloud Imperium Games) has announced a 10-day event for their 10th birthday celebration leading up to CitizenCon. As part of this event, a previously exclusive ship called the F8 Lightning will be available for players to obtain. The ship can be obtained through two different types of tickets: gold tickets and platinum tickets. Gold tickets can be found as rare loot drops during FPS missions, and players can rent the F8 Lightning for 24 hours before receiving instructions via email on how to purchase the ship with real-world money or store credit. Platinum tickets are carried by a Dev in the game, and players need to defeat the Dev to obtain the ticket. If successful, everyone on the server will receive a notice and marker to locate a ship dealership where they can turn in the Platinum ticket to receive the F8 Lightning for free.
The F8 Lightning is the UEE’s premier single-seat heavy fighter and was initially positioned as a reward for completing the Squadron 42 campaign in the game. However, it was later made available as a reward for Concierge members who spent a certain amount of money on other aspects of the game. This led to the misconception that the ship was extremely expensive and rare. With the upcoming availability of Squadron 42 and the expected fraction of players purchasing it, the F8 Lightning will likely become a very common ship among combat pilots.
To address concerns of scarcity and pay-to-win accusations, CIG introduced the gold and platinum tickets as a replacement for the traditional limited supply sales method. These tickets limit the number of ships given out and provide a way for players to obtain the F8 Lightning through gameplay success rather than spending real-world money. This raises a discussion about whether this new system is a good replacement or if an in-game earned token system would be preferable.
There is speculation that the introduction of the ship giveaway event and the potential changes to how the F8 Lightning is obtained could be an indication that Squadron 42 will have a release process introduced at CitizenCon. This could affect the ship’s scarcity and value as players may choose to wait for the game’s release rather than spending money to obtain the ship early.
In closing, there is a ship giveaway event happening where players have a chance to win their choice of a Galaxy-class ship or $100 of Steam store credit. The secret word for entering the giveaway is the key on your keyboard that may wear out while trying to buy a limited ship.