Spatman wrote:
Is there a point to getting a subscription now, or wait until the game comes out?
You mean the actual Subscription packages, or the ship pledge packages?
I assume the latter as Subscriptions are mostly insider, behind the scenes sort of things, mainly for seriously interested parties. You get VIP stuff, free stuff, exclusive merchandise, your name in the game, etc.
The latter is not so much a subscription as a one off purchase/investment. You buy a ship or a pledge package.
More than anything else, your purchase is funding the game.
The more money they get, the more stuff they can feature. Already they're supporting things like the Occulus Rift... and when you fly up close to your team mate you'll hear them talking on the intercom, but their webcam will track their face and make their in-game character's face follow the same movements and expressions!!
The basic ship packages feature in the downloadable Hangar Module preview, ie you can look around your ship(s), be amazed by such awesome early graphics, wonder at how stunning this will be when finished, etc etc. Every time you buy another ship, your hangar automatically expands in size and you get to look at all of them. You can also buy decorations, extra weapons and stuff, including a little spacey golf buggy for those hangars that are just HUGE!
But that's it for now. When the game is released, you still have to buy that but you will have this ship and anything else (including your hangar) already available.
Pledge packages include not only the ship, hangar and all the above, but also the eventual finished game as well.
You also get various stuff like early pre-release Alpha and Beta access to the game, digital downloads (or real ones, if your package is large enough (fnar fnar)) of things like maps, manuals, novels, behind the scenes info and several months of free in-game insurance. You get early test packages of things like Dogfighting, upon which you can give your feedback, so have input on how the game eventually turns out. They also give little rewards for certain milestones. For example, the 20mil mark rewarded people with 20,000 credits each, I believe.
In short, most of the stuff (less so the expensive package physical items) can be bought with in-game credits that you earn... but you will start from scratch, *possibly* without even having your own basic little ship. Buying this stuff now means you can jump straight in.
How much money you want to invest in the game and what ships/packages you want depend on how much of a Wing Commander/Starlancer/Freelancer/general space-sim fanboy you are, I guess. I'm planning a massive overhaul of my gaming rig to something seriously powerful and, if I can dig out the money, I'll be buying several more ships. I'm a pretty big fanboy.