Cult Citizen

[icycalm]

There are two types of exclusive vehicles, both of which can only be acquired with real cashmoney: newly released vehicles, that eventually become available in game (usually one-two updates later), and the real super-exclusive ships that you'll probably never be able to get in-game (even though Chris Roberts keeps saying that nothing will ultimately require real money: but if he keeps pushing back the date of this stuff's introduction, it might as well be locked forever without real money).

So this thread is about cataloguing these exclusive vehicles, and at the same time also how many of these we have in our current fleet, if any. Ideally, we'll have several of each, depending on their usefulness. And the most useful ones should ideally go to clones, so that everyone can use them and they'll be always available. But this may be tricky to arrange, especially with the most expensive ones, as people will naturally be reluctant to purchase expensive stuff that isn't going in their accounts. As I have said before, these vehicles can be gifted once, so anything you buy for a clone can eventually be sent to your main account, but again, not everyone will be comfortable with this. So we'll take it on a case-by-case basis, including the possibility of crowdfunding big purchases between us, so that people just spend say $20 and don't much care what happens to it (though the possibility probably exists to get even that back, because I think you can just melt the big ship and buy a bunch of smaller ones and then gift those out).

Also keep in mind that if you buy a vehicle for your account, you can always sell it on the grey market later, probably even for a mark-up. This is a G2A-like site I have used that functions like a marketplace: https://star-hangar.com

So you can either keep exchanging ships you've bought for newer ones, or you can even get your cash out at some point, possibly even with some profit. Or you can just keep everything, if you're a collector. Personally I haven't decided yet whether I want to get into collecting. I am on the fence on this. It will depend on several parameters, the functionality of fleets bought with real money being one of them. You can read more about my thoughts on this in the Insurance thread: https://culture.vg/forum/topic?t=7820

That was the introduction to exclusive vehicles. In the next post I will list all such vehicles I am aware of, how many we have of each and who precisely has them, and which ones we don't have and should maybe think about getting. This way we can coordinate our purchases to better effect than people randomly buying stuff with no warning. And this applies also to upcoming vehicles, which I will also list.

[icycalm]

Note that this is NOT a "real cashmoney fleet" thread, so Adjudicator's Carrack and Vanguard Sentinel don't qualify. This thread is solely for vehicles that can't (yet) be purchased in-game.

The Carrack Expedition on the other hand isn't available in-game, so if Adjudicator upgrades to that, we will be listing it in this thread.

Likewise, when say the Mule is added to the in-game dealerships, we'll be removing our Mules from this thread (which doesn't necessarily mean that we'll be selling our real cashmoney Mules from our account hangars; collectors won't be selling them, but other people might, so it all depends on how each person intends on managing their account).

[icycalm]

EXCLUSIVE CULT FLEET
Drake Corsair (∼$270) (1): ysignal
RSI Scorpius (∼$220) (1): icycalm
Anvil Centurion (∼$132) (2): icycalm, ysignal
MISC Hull A (∼$108) (2): icycalm, ysignal
Anvil C8R Pisces (∼$72) (4): icycalm (CULTCLONE-1), recoil, ChevRage, Adjudicator
Drake Mule (∼$54) (2): icycalm, ysignal
Drake Cutter (∼$48) (7): icycalm, icycalm (CULTCLONE-1), recoil, ChevRage, Adjudicator, shubn, schadenfreude
Greycat STV (∼$48) (5): icycalm, ysignal, recoil, Adjudicator, shubn


NOTES

Drake Corsair: We have one and don't really need more as Adjudicator's two Carracks more than fulfill our needs for large sub-capital ships.

RSI Scorpius: In official missions, only I can fly this, so we don't really need more. You're welcome to buy it for yourselves if you want to fly it outside official missions though. Keep in mind it's not normally for sale at the official store and you must get it from the grey market. It might be available in special events though, like the upcoming Invictus week (which is months away).

Anvil Centurion: We have two and don't really need more, especially since it's me and ysignal who have them, and we're generally available.

MISC Hull A: We have two and don't really need more. Of course feel free to buy one if you like it.

Anvil C8R Pisces: We have a bunch, including one for CULTCLONE-1, so we don't really need more. In fact if everyone except the clone melted/upgraded theirs to get something we need more, that'd probably be best operationally.

Drake Mule: We have two and certainly don't need more.

Drake Cutter: We have a bunch and definitely don't need more.

Greycat STV: We have a bunch and don't need more.


COMING SOON

Drake Vulture (∼$135): This is the one that will open up the upcoming hull-stripping salvage mechanics with 3.18. I am buying it for clone 1 as soon as it hits, so there's no pressing need for anyone else to get it unless you really want to.

[icycalm]

Some notes:

• My color coding: red means coming soon and/or we have zero of this type of vehicle; light blue means we have it but could use more.
  
• Report your purchases in the Cult Fleet thread as usual, not in this thread. Only post in this thread if you notice errors I need to correct in our exclusive fleet inventory.
  
• The prices I give are the cheapest I can find on the official store and/or in the grey market. I haven't done a thorough search for anything, so be prepared to encounter at least slightly different prices out there.
  
• Since the prices I give are generally the cheapest, they usually don't have lifetime insurance (LTI), unless it's a very new vehicle and you get it from the official site during a limited period. If you want LTI, you will generally pay more than I listed.

[icycalm]

And here are three super-exclusive vehicles, meaning they aren't scheduled for inclusion in the in-game dealerships for the foreseeable future, unlike most of the newly-released ships, which are scheduled for one-two updates later.


Sabre Raven ($1,000+): https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pled ... abre-Raven

This is a stealth interdiction ship that could only be purchased if you had a code that was sold with some Intel SSD lol. It goes for crazy amounts in the grey market now, if you can even find it. I think I've heard it has sold for $1,000. Morphologis did a nice review of it, worth watching, but it will make you want one, so be warned.

An Architect Reviews the Ultra Rare Sabre Raven [Star Citizen]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mahMLc6eE4



There is a Sabre Raven owners' club in the game and they organize meetings...


Pirate Gladius ($110): https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pled ... te-Gladius



This is different from the Solar Winds Gladius paint. It's not a paint, it's a ship variant, but as far as I know it doesn't have any differences to the base Gladius besides the paint scheme. You can only get it "after completing the multiplayer game mode of Pirate Swarm in Arena Commander", thereby unlocking the option to buy it in the store for $110 I think it is. This is win-to-pay, as Chev put it: first you must win, and then you can pay. Never heard of this in a game before. Another SC innovation. I plan to get one for myself so I can stand out while leading our Solar Winds-painted Gladiuses on pirate missions. As with the Scorpius, people are free to get one, but you can't use it in official missions.


Caterpillar Pirate Edition ($295): https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pled ... te-Edition

Drake maintains that the Caterpillar, a sprawling, modular spacecraft which appears at least somewhat like its namesake, is for legitimate commerce and extended search and rescue missions... but this special livery seems to suggest otherwise.

This costs $295, and has the same unlocking requirement as the Pirate Gladius. However, this one also rewards the user with the title "2949 Pirate Aggressor" and an emblem. I am not a fan of this ship's look, but perhaps it may grow on me with time; it certainly has many fans on Reddit for its functionality. Many Star Citizen ships have grown on me, so it's possible. But I do like the pirate livery, and wouldn't mind adding it to our pirate fleet if someone liked the ship enough to spend $295 on it. If so, attack Pirate Swarm in Arena Commander and let us know how you get on.


There are more super-exclusive vehicles than these, this isn't a complete list, they're just three off the top of my head that I wouldn't mind having if it were possible. I'll add more later, or you can post about them yourselves if you want.

[icycalm]

I updated the list with my new Centurion and my extra Cutter that I intend to upgrade to a Vulture when it hits with 3.18. This will go to clone 1, so that everyone will be able to enjoy the hull-stripping salvage mechanics without buying anything. You can still buy one if you really want it of course. I am sure that two people hull-stripping at the same time the same big ship to take it apart faster will be fun. But a second Vulture is certainly not a priority.

So at this point, we don't really need any more timed exclusives. Even the extra Corsair I was saying would be nice to have isn't really that important anymore now that we have Adjudicator's two Carracks. It will be cool to send the Corsair ahead as a raiding party, but two of them would be overkill, and if ysignal isn't around we still have the Carracks.

So at this point we're pretty much waiting until Invictus week in late spring to see what new vehicles CIG will launch next so we can get them. There's a slim chance they'll launch something new with 3.18, but I doubt it after the onslaught of new ships at IAE.

[icycalm]

Incoming PTU patch has added Centurion, C8R, Cutter, Corsair, and Mule to in-game shops!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... c8r_cutter

The Centurion and the Mule were sort-of expected, but the C8R, Cutter and Corsair were totally unexpected as they only launched a couple months ago.

Note that there is a chance they added them in the PTU just to test them, so I wouldn't go melting anything just yet if you own any of these ships. But from what people are saying, it does look like they really will be purchasable with credits in 3.18.

So for example ysignal could upgrade his Corsair to the Hull C if he wanted with a couple hundred extra dollars, and I could melt a couple of ships and do the same as well. My problem is that... I don't really want to melt anything. I would lose a bunch of LTIs this way, and I am just too attached to my vehicles to sell them. So I don't know what I am going to do. I know it's dumb to hoard dollar-vehicles which you can just buy in-game, but... I like it. And I will be posting an essay soon explaining why it's so addictive. This is basically what powers the game's funding. If everyone stopped doing this, they would have to scale back the game considerably; maybe altogether shut it down.

So I don't know what I am going to do. At the minimum, I am buying a Vulture for my clone when 3.18 hits. Beyond that, I want the Hull C badly, and it's only going to be on sale until February 6 (due to Lunar New Year). Then it will show up when it's flyable, probably with somewhat increased price. Another consideration is that the current sale doesn't give LTI, so to get LTI I would have to upgrade something, meaning losing an existing ship. And we don't know if LTI will be offered when the ship becomes flyable. Not a huge deal if it's not offered, since you can always buy a small vehicle with LTI on the grey market, and then upgrade it.

What I will PROBABLY end up doing is wait until the Hull C becomes flyable, and then buy it. UNLESS I have an epiphany and stop hoarding ships, in which case I'll just melt a couple of ships and exchange them for the Hull C, and just keep exchanging and melting to always have the latest vehicles.

My problem is that I also want to spend a lot of money on Pathfinder/RPG stuff, both physical and digital, and can't afford to go all-out on both fronts. So I am being cautious, but still spending a lot of money. Hopefully crypto will come back and then I'll be able to splurge on both hobbies like a madman :) This stuff is the best stuff ever and I want ALL of it.

[icycalm]

For the folks worried about buying the Scorpius in-game
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... e_scorpius



Crazy news. So only the Vulture will need to be paid for with cash. I could melt everything and pre-order the Hull C without spending anything. But I probably won't. In fact I think I am going into the CCU game to get some discounts. I'll have more on that shortly.

Good stuff. Because I am always interested in the nuts and bolts of things I wonder why CIG are releasing new ships so soon now?

Probably to make up for the massive lag up to this point caused by longer times between major patches - we’re still waiting for ships added at Invictus last year to be buyable for aUEC.

If I was them I'd make people wait YEARS.

[icycalm]

Star Citizen Alpha 3.18.0 PTU.8358255 Patch Notes
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... atch_notes

Heads up that the latest PTU patch that dropped 25 mins ago "Removed Drake Cutter, Drake Corsair, and Anvil C8R from in-game shops".

Could be temporary, could be permanent.

Maybe they saw their sales numbers drop and had a change of heart about it. Either way I am not melting anything, but just thought people might want to know.

[icycalm]

Response on 3.18 In-Game Purchasable Ships
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... able_ships



Lots of people were fooled and melted their ships because of this little PTU snafu. And the Corsair isn't even in the store any more to be repurchased. Also, the 90-day thing is bs; sometimes it works that way, but other times (as with the Scorpius et al.) it can take almost a year.

More interesting about this post is that 3.19 has been essentially confirmed for end of May, but I will comment on that extensively tomorrow when we get the full 3.19 feature list added to the roadmap.