Third Person Contention
By Rod-Serling
Third person view, commonly abbreviated as “3PV”, has been
at the center of turmoil recently in the Star Citizen community.
Feedback has been so strong that Chris Roberts posted a reply
in General Chat. We have included a link to his full reply, but
here is a summary:
• Star Citizen is primarily intended to be played from a first
person perspective, but will allow third person.
• When in third person mode there is no HUD, radar or
targeting information available
• CIG is prototyping a new first person view that dynamically
scopes your field of view and depth of field based on where
you are looking.
Star Citizen already allows you to identify targets quickly in first
person view, via a 3D radar system that shows exactly where
enemy targets are in 3D space, without the need to pan the
view at all.
This facet of gameplay is not made clear in the dogfighting
demo, wherein Roberts had to spin the camera around to see an
enemy behind him because the 3d radar system had not been
functional at the time.
Additionally, Roberts made it clear there would be measures
in place to prevent abuse in this manner. “…the only advantage
you could possibly gain [with third person view] is a wider FOV,
which is nerfed by the lack of all target info & control, plus the
delay in switching back to [first person view]”
Without the built-in tactical advantage, third person view
becomes simply a cinematic option. Players who want to
remain immersed in first person can do so without having to
worry about being at a disadvantage.
“[Third person view] will be for admiring your ship and space
around it but it will not gain you a tactical advantage in combat.”
–Chris Roberts
Despite the explanation, community members remain very
vocal about this issue. Star Citizen was originally funded as
a First Person Space Simulator, even while a third person
view was planned from the beginning. Additionally, one of the
major “selling points” for Star Citizen is Immersion. Immersion
seems to drive many aspects of Roberts’ design philosophy.
It is understandable that some who may have bought into the
Immersive First Person Space Simulator nature of the game
might be upset with this inclusion of third person view.
Arguments against a third person view are not limited to
concerns for immersion, but also stem from a concern for
gameplay fairness. Community member Logante highlights
third person view’s ability to grant the player a wide,
unobstructed view: “People fly around in third person view to
find their targets, then switch to first person, fire away, then
immediately back to third person, then to first person to shoot,
then to third person.”
Despite these arguments against the implementation of a thirdperson-perspective in the game, there are some good reasons
to support its inclusion, and some known facts about gameplay
in Star Citizen that mitigate its potential for unfair exploitation.
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