Greetings Citizens, I’d like to raise a constructive concern regarding the Star Citizen development roadmap and how it significantly deviates from what is generally understood and expected in the software development industry. What is a Roadmap? In software development, a roadmap is a strategic, forward-looking tool. It’s meant to: • Set clear goals • Communicate timelines and priorities • Provide transparency on what’s coming and when • Enable stakeholders (i.e., backers) to plan and stay aligned A proper roadmap is not a changelog or a history log of what’s already done. It should evolve with feedback and technical realities, yes — but it must fundamentally be future-oriented. How CIG Deviates from This Standard: CIG’s current implementation of the roadmap and tracker acts more like a status viewer than a roadmap This reactive, almost retrospective model is not a roadmap by any industry definition. It’s a filtered snapshot of internal progress, and often omits crucial context like why delays occur, how features are prioritized, or what direction the project is heading in a 6–12 month window. The Result? Eroding Trust Many backers, myself included, support this project not just financially, but emotionally — we’ve invested in a vision. But without a credible forward-facing roadmap, what are we actually aligning to? At this point, it often feels like: “We’ll tell you what we’ve done. Maybe. After it’s already well underway.” That’s not what a roadmap is for. What Can Be Done? • Introduce true milestones and a clear prioritization model • Provide transparent reasoning for shifts in timelines or removals • Use the roadmap to engage the community in alignment, not just to react • Consider adopting tools (e.g., feature heatmaps, dependency indicators) that many live-service studios use to communicate evolving scope We all want this project to succeed. But to do that, it’s time for CIG to treat the roadmap as a strategic communication tool, not a post-hoc status board. Let’s push for a development process that respects its backers and mirrors the standards the rest of the industry adheres to. Thoughts?