AMA II: Question Boogaloo - Arthur, Bruce, Stephen and Paul
Greetings Commanders, We're back again to answer your questions, please bear the following in mind: One question per post Repeat questions may not receive an answer; check through the thread before posting Please do not start conversations with other players; stick to questions and replies to...
Answers from the last thread we won't be repeating:
- The Pulse Wave Analyser bug is known and being investigated currently. We don't have any further news on this issue for the time being. Apologies for the delay on this, we'll announce any news as soon as we have it.
- A fix for the Azure Paint Job issue is currently being tested. If successful, we'll notify affected players of the next steps.
- With regards to ongoing or historic narrative (Raxxla) we won't be confirming or denying any information!
Q: Judging by some published images, it can be assumed that in the Odyssey, players will have the opportunity to upgrade SRV, can you confirm this? Do other (than scarab) types of SRV, appear in the game?
We can't confirm anything about SRVs/SRV upgrades yet - please hold for more information about Odyssey as and when it comes. Dev Diary 3 is expected later this month.
Q: The following complex question is about physical multicrew. Will players be capable of sharing flight controls of the ships? (Perhaps in a form that only owner can access equipment and shipyard but anyone within the wing or friends list can actually be the helmsman?) Will the ship sharing be available when the owner is offline, so small exploration groups can perform deep space surveys together?
Thanks for the question, its a good one! There is a lot here to unpack let me pass this on to the Dev team and get some answers!
Q: Is there a way to join the team as a programmer specifically to implement multiple minor QoL suggestions? I have experience 13 years of programming in general, including recent 4 years of gamedev experience.
You can check out and keep an eye on the Frontier Careers page for openings: https://www.frontier.co.uk/careers
That said, I can't guarantee you'd only be working on specific fixes that you personally want in the game. Changes are usually prioritized according to factors besides personal preference.
Q: What can you tell us about Dev Diary 3? We know it's coming this month
The plan is for it to be coming later this month and it will be combat focused
Q: Can I ask when the Issue Tracker will be addressed? There are many bugs within the tracker itself and also there is no way to get reliable feedback on what is going on.
I agree this needs work - it is a big job but it is on my list, for full transparancy I plan at diving into this in the New Year as currently there are a lot of wheels in motion.
Q: I have a question / suggestion concerning NPC interdictions. [suggestions]
Thanks for this feedback! I've heard much of the same from other Commanders that NPC interdictions are very easy to avoid. I like your suggestion of scaling the difficulty according to system state and can pass that along.
Q: Tea, Coffee, Coffee Tea?
Yes
Q: Are you aware of current state of PvP? (OP Shield Booster stacking, OP Thermal Conduit Plasma, Fer-de-Lance being the only viable competitive combat ship, etc.) If yes, do you have any plans to re-balance it?
We're aware of many of the concerns with PvP but don't yet have plans for a major re-balance. I'm in contact with several members of the PvP community to understand and consider how to approach things. I suspect it'll be a big project with lots of features and aspects to consider rather than a few simple tweaks. If such an overhaul is announced, is likely to be next year.
Q: can you place the answer here when you get it? or indicate how I will be able to recognize it when it is given?
There are a lot of Odyssey questions I will follow up with an official post on the forums
Q: Will there be a Beta test for Odyssey?
We don't have anything to announce on a Beta for Odyssey right now but should that change we will let everyone know
Q: will there never be an arx reward in the cqc arena?*
No, we will not be using ARX as a reward in the CQC Arena. Your reward is glory above your fellow Commanders. If you're asking if playing CQC will help you accumulate ARX like other forms of gameplay then we have nothing to change at this time, but it is something we may look at in the future.
Q: Are standard, non-combat missions being considered for rebalancing?
Yes, absolutely although any additional changes will come in 2021.
Q: Is the current lack of development of Cross play between platforms either.....
a. A Microsoft / Sony not playing nicely together issue
2. A "too hard to integrate into the existing code" issue
iii) An FDev don't want to do it issue
5. It might possibly, maybe happen at some indeterminate point in the future
vi. {REDACTED}
Option VI, sorry.
Q: I enjoyed Bruce's turn as the voice of Dr Murphy in the recent Halloween event - can you share if any of the CM team did motion capture for the upcoming Odyssey Emotes and Dances - and if so which were your favourites?
Due to the working from home situation, none of the CM team had the pleasure unfortunately!
Q: How do you envision Small ships (such as the Eagle) being employed in the Sphere of Combat of Odyssey?
If a small ship lands on you it will hurt just as much as a big ship.
Q: CGs up to this point have involved space ports. With the combination of Horizons with Dangerous, will we now be seeing CGs sometimes involving planetary ports, please?
A great idea - although physical room might become an issue for our Commanders in Open!
Q: When are you planning to make some changes to improve CQC, if any?
There are no plans currently, but we are in talks with the CQC community to gather design feedback and suggestions. Let us know what you think!
Q: Is Col Sector 70 the Thargoid "bubble space", meaning, their "home"?
Not as such. The Thargoids seem to inhabit witchspace by means unavailable/unknown to humanity.
Q: Why do I need to turn the wing beacon on? The beacon options are currently 'off' or 'wing'. Nobody I've ever spoken to has ever been able to think of a reason you'd want your wing beacon off if you're winged with someone. Given that there are no more beacon options other than 'wing', wouldn't it make sense for it to default to 'on' rather than 'off'?
Makes sense! Thanks for the suggestion.
Q: can we get a visual representation of BGS states e.g. damage when terrorist attack, riots, maybe even advert drones changing?
That's a great suggestion! We can't commit to it in the near future due to the amount of graphics and dev resource that would require. The team are currently busy working on Odyssey and bringing you narrative/community goals. Perhaps this can come post-Odyssey!
Q: How (if at all) will the exit of the UK from the common market at the end of the year affect the availability of connections to Frontier's servers and are any contingency plans for how this will be handled?
We are not anticipating any changes.
Q: Why does the new gameplay of scanning organic life seems to be so important than even has a new career: exobiologist? When for example mining hasn't since it's included in Trading. Why this one is not included in Exploration? It even has a specific area in the stations, Vista Genomics, to sell the data.
Thanks for the feedback! We could create a separate career for mining, but I can understand it contributing to Trade since it's ultimately a method for gaining credits the same way trade is. Exobiology does not necessarily share similar ties with Exploration in the same way as it will have it's own unique mechanics and uses.
Q: am sure you will agree that as the Pulse Wave Analyzer has, as of today, been broken for 87 days, can you commit to going to the devs at some time before next week’s AMA and securing us some meaningful answers to the following inquiries?
A. What exactly is the issue causing the error?
B. As it was broken in a patch that included no notes on a change to PWA, how and why was it adjusted?
C. How did you expect to rebalance mining last week with meaningful data on players behavior when the PWA being broken removed 2/3 of the mining game play loops from ‘proper activity’?
We have answered the PWA question in our opening post however I will answer it again here for you...
The team and I are acutely aware of the PWA issue and the justified frustrations this causes our players.
We have been raising it with the development team who are currently working hard trying to establish what has gone wrong and why.
Please bear in mind that this is an incredibly busy time for them and they are also hampered by working from home, which despite the best efforts of everyone involved does affect the collaborative effort when it comes to solving problems.
A) I do not know what is causing the issues
B) There were no notes on it because there was no intention to alter it
C) The re-balancing used historical data as well as current, as was stipulated this is an ongoing process and one we will refine if required.
Q: Are there any plans to implement a 'Looking For Wing' function, similar to the Multi-crew 'Looking-for-Crew'?
This is a great idea and I will pass it on to the development team, but right now we have no plans of implementing a 'Looking for Wing' function.
Q: you will implement vr in odyssey also for those who do not use manual controls to use weapons with mouse and keyboard but inside the helmet? obviously in 3D, not 2D mode
Hey there. We don't have any details to share on VR for Odyssey outside of what was highlighted in this thread.
Q: How do you envision Small ships (such as the Eagle) being employed in the Sphere of Combat of Odyssey?
Stayed tuned for examples of this in the Dev Diary coming later this month!
Q: Are there to be any significant changes to the camera suite for Odyssey, on-foot or off?
We have no comments on Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's camera suite at this time. Stay tuned for our future updates and developer diaries for any new information relating to Elite Dangerous: Odyssey.
*Q: Has the team considered using the foundations of CQC but allow players to use their own ships? Ideally, a cmdr could dock at a station go to the CQC contact and arrange to join a competition using one of their own ships. This would be done via telepresence or virtual simulation (to keep it in lore and lower the cost of rebuys). There could be different classes of fights (small ships, medium, large, unlimited class).
This is a great idea! It's not one I'd heard about/considered previously but definitely one to discuss as and when we come to making large changes to CQC and PvP.
Q: Considering the PCGamer article last month confirmed physical multicrew with Odyssey so we can ferry our wing around, are there any plans to add an extra multicrew seat so we can carry a full wing in one ship? Or at least allow multicrew ships into a wing?
I'm not aware of any plans to increase the size of multicrew, but definitely something for us to consider. It may be that for larger groups, you'll simply need larger ships.
Q: If someone has a larger Player Group and that player group has designed its own Logo (so no copyright issues) will it be possible at some point to get these Logos onto our Ships in Game?
We'd love to do this! There are no plans for it at the moment, but stay tuned.
Q: since last April, players have been unable to change the power priority of certain Guardian modules (specifically the Module Reinforcement). I've submitted a couple bug reports and contributed to several more, but is this bug known? Are there any plans to fix it? It's a little disheartening to unlock a partially busted module.
If you have submitted a bug report to our issue tracker then it will be known. Currently, the development team is extremely busy with the Odyssey update, along with the difficulties of working from home. Please be patient as some issues may take longer to be resolved.
Q: Are there any plans to enhance Fleet Carriers' route planner like in ships?
Nice idea. We don't have anything to announce on changes to route planning right now.
Q: Would there be any means to achieve Localization like by cooperation with local translation groups by fans? Hope this can be delivered to the Devs to consider.
We have a localisation team that work diligently on the non-English versions of Elite that we support. I don't think we're currently offering freelance work with groups of players from those localised communities.
Q: any chance we will see a medium Saud kruger ship?
There's always a chance! No plans currently.
Q: What is the process for choosing which system a faction will expand FROM when there are multiple systems over 75% ? It changed with the introduction of FC, but there has been no mention in any release Notes
A faction's eligible for expansion if it's over 75% influence in any given system that doesn't have a conflict active within it. A faction can only have one expansion at once, no matter how many systems its present in. If multiple systems are eligible, then it chooses the one with the highest happiness.
Q: if you need inspiration
When the moon hits the sky...
Q: Could we have a lore-focused AMA at some point with the writers?
It's definitely something we're interested in
Q: Have you considered adding grappling hooks into the game?
They tend to get tangled up when in space.
Q: [rant] I am sorry if I sound rather… livid, but I feel this needs to be addressed soon; either menu logging must be made a bannable offense, the danger timer to logout increased if the hostile is another player (or across the board), or have menu logging during combat result in the ship exploding.
Sorry to hear you had this experience, it's understandably frustrating. I'll bear it in mind when discussing PvP with the devs.
Q: Can we have all ships fitted with a mini game of original 1984 Elite that we can play to pass the time while on those long supercruise journeys?
I love that idea. We should add it in next to the toaster.
Q: Could you consider having an increase in the amount of stored modules?
Yes!
Q: Any chance of a completely new galaxy(ies) like the old original Elite?
Sure - give me five mins I will go make a few more
In all seriousness players have barely explored the Milky Way - there is plenty more out there to be discovered!Q: Could you consider having an increase in the amount of stored modules?
Great feedback - will pass this on!
Q: With the combat balances happening can we expect that changes to anti Xeno and combat bonds to come next week?
The specifics will need to wait until an announcement expected at the end of this week or early next, but those are both recognised as high priority features within combat.
Q: I have money standing by for Powerplay bobbleheads. I know you have two already done, why did you stop? An Aisling bobblehead would fund a whole new expansion on its own, such is the brats popularity....
Humanity can only cope with so much beauty.
Q: Are there any plans on offering additional Non-English COVASes? I'd love to spend a few ARX on a different German-speaking one
Not currently, but thanks for the suggestion/showing interest - I could see these being offered if there's suitable demand.
Q: What are you going to do with the crass discrepancy (in yield per hour) between Painite laser mining and core mining?
We are contiuing to balance mining as an ongoing process - what numbers are you seeing and what do you think would be acceptable? I can then add this to our feedback.
Q: Will the Dark Lord, The Pirate King Archon Delaine ever feature on Galnet?
They are very difficult to interview
Q: Will players be able to double engineer modules at some point in the same way that where awarded to participants of recent CG's?
Not currently, this is only for specific moments which we will carefully pick
Q: Covid-19 has been taking its toll not just on peoples health but also on the way companies go about their business - FDev moved to working from home and as stated here and elsewhere this has slowed down the collaboration of the team. I was wondering if there was actually something positive a result of this? Any changes the team will keep?
I can't speak for everyone, but personally I've enjoyed many aspects of working from home. The commute is much shorter for one. It's not clear just yet what changes Frontier will make post-Covid19 but I'd be very happy with the option to do a couple days in the office and a few days at home each week.
Q: Can I make a request of Remote fuelling for the Fleet Carrier like you can with remote movement?
Let me look at this - this is good feedback thank you
Q: I guess this kind of posts are good to keep the community engaged, so thanks for doing this. However, most of your replies are quite underwhelming:
"I'll pass it along"
"There are no plans at the moment"
"We don't have anything to announce"
"We don't have any details to share"
"We can't confirm anything about that"
Any chance we could get an AMA with the people actually doing the decision making in Elite? The Lead Designer maybe?
There are no plans for that at the moment
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