The scope of the game has gotten very big with how much money they've raised, which means it's taking longer to develop that originally planned. Some people aren't thrilled with that.
As far as the Derek Smart guy that somebody linked, he's a nutter who likes the attention from his doomsday predictions of Star Citizen falling apart (it's the only reason anyone's every heard of him). Most famous for claiming last October [1] that Cloud Imperium Games would run out of money and collapse within 90 days.
Obviously it's been longer than that and development is still moving along. Alpha doesn't have a huge amount to do in the universe yet, but it's very playable. For example: the most recently flyable ship (Khartu-al) [2], and the much larger Starfarer [3] which is mostly done on the art side but not yet flying.
They've said Squadron 42 (single player campaign) will be out this year, with the multiplayer universe following sometime after.
> (it's the only reason anyone's every heard of him)
Derek Smart was an internet celebrity in the 90's. He was well known for his bombastic statements and engaging in flame wars about his own game, Battle Cruiser 3000AD.
Hm, I must have been on the wrong parts of the internet back then. I've seen his more recent projects (Line of Defense), but I had a Mac at the time so my selection of games was ... slightly limited.
That guy is easily the biggest tool in the industry. Just because he doesn't have what it takes to make even half decent games, he criticizes people with higher ambitions and skills.
The car looks comparable to a Honda CRZ or a Toyota Prius (or a Subaru BRZ). They should have gone with the small-sedan form factor, but I think they believe it will cannibalize Model S sales.
A Honda CR-Z is a compact 2-seater in the United States.
A Toyota Prius is an economy sedan with a surprisingly large back seat.
A Subaru BRZ is a small 4-seat sport coupe.
Your comparison can't possibly be valid because it's all over the map. From what I've seen, it IS a small sedan in the vein of a 3-series of A4 (larger than a Civic, smaller than an Accord).
Some nitpicks:
The CR-Z is a subcompact 2-seat hybrid hatchback.
The Prius is a compact hybrid hatchback (NOT sedan).
The BRZ is a 2+2 sport coupe (the back seat is nearly unusable).
I was focusing on the number of doors in pointing out how the parent's post didn't make sense. Thanks for the clarification, I don't know the exact vehicle classes obviously.
I disagree, bmw 3 series and basic Lexus are not "luxury" cars, they are called "Premium" cars. Luxury cars are Porshes, Maseratti, Bentley, bmw 6 series, mercedes CLS etc... Honda Fit and Ford Focus are small budget cars, Nissan maxima and accord are regular sedans.
If you call bmw 3 series a luxury car - then what would you call a porshe than?
Edit: Mercedec CLA is considered a luxury vehicle in a different class (just like you mentioned SUVs and trucks), it's a compact car, compact cars have a different starting price compared to the class we were talking about, thus it's considered luxury in that class.
I'm sorry, but luxury is relative to class. If you think a 6 series is luxury, but a 3 series is not, .... what is your definition, exactly? A 3 series is luxury because its compared to smaller generic cars, where a 6 series is ALSO luxury because it's compared to larger generic cars.
I'd never call a Porsche a luxury car because I consider them sports cars, even though many of their model lines are not particularly sporty anymore. Bentley/Rolls/etc are in a whole entirely different splashy show-off league where even many billionaires wouldn't buy one, simply because they're too ostentatious.
What's hilarious here is that you call the CLA (which is a bargain basement car) luxury, while a 3 series is not. Seriously, compare them. The 3er is a larger car and it's nicer. IF you're saying a CLA is luxury "in that class", then so is a 3 series.
But my Golf is nicer than a CLA. Of course, it's not considered a luxury car either, which is part of the appeal :)
> What's hilarious here is that you call the CLA luxury
I never called it luxury, I was referring to a link from wikipedia where it says it is a "luxury compact car".
My original point was in response to a comment (that is now edited) that model 3 does not look luxury for what it costs. My point was that none of the cars in that price range look luxury if you compare them to a higher priced cars.
"Luxury car", and "luxury car in a specific class" have different meanings in my opinion. You can't blame model 3 for not looking luxury, if other cars in that price range look the same and have almost the same set of features.
The actual specs haven't come out, but based on the video, it looks like the Model 3 size is somewhere on the order of Ford Focus / BMW 3-series / Mercedes CLA size. (I do realize that's a pretty big range of cars, but I'm being vague on purpose because its hard to get accurate measurements from a youtube reveal)
The Model 3's trunk AND frunk are abnormally short, kinda reminds me of the Honda Fit in some ways: save on costs by cutting back on the trunk and front of the vehicle... but put emphasis on the cabin space so that things feel comfortable from inside.
I'm willing to bet that the car feels larger on the inside than it looks... but from the outside... comparisons to the Mercedes CLA / BMW 3-series seem appropriate. I'll have to wait for the damn thing to come out to know for sure of course.
But in any case, that means that the Model 3 should probably still be considered a luxury vehicle. Compact-size at $35,000 starting? Yeah, that's luxury-class cost.
The Mercedes Benz CLA starts at $32k. Its considered a luxury vehicle by everyone I know, including Wikipedia.
Argue with someone else, like whoever wrote the Wikipedia article. A "luxury vehicle" is anything basically any sedan above $30k. There are a ton of vehicles below $20k, and plenty between $20k and $30k.
Vans and Trucks are a bit different, because they provide extra utility and often cost $30k+. Luxury SUVs, Vans, and Trucks are closer to $40k to $50k.
Most people I know don't even have new cars for crying out loud, and "new" is basically a luxury.
It's just a marketing thing, what "entry-level luxury" or "luxury" or "exotic" means is defined mostly buy the companies selling the cars, and the media industry talking about those cars.
"In economics, a luxury good is a good for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises, and is a contrast to a "necessity good", for which demand increases proportionally less than income. Luxury goods are often synonymous with superior goods and veblen goods"
You can buy serviceable vehicles for $15-20k that are reliable, last for a decade, and meet the critical needs in the US for a car [commute, almost all shopping trips, etc].
Adding what is effectively the price of another car ($15-20k) onto that is a luxury. Pretty much paying double the price you need to pay is something I'd consider a luxury regardless of the class of good.
Source: I paid $12k for a 2 year old car.
Honda Fit, etc as well are in that price range new:
