Questions

ParkBark · Jan 4, 2016

Hey all,

Made a account just to post some questions. I am really interested in getting this game after seeing videos and reading up a bit, but the lack of available information regarding Planet Coaster features is unsettling. I have tried Google searches and forum searches looking for a simple FAQ/Q&A regarding the game. Perhaps I am just blind and there is one. If so, please point me in the right direction.

Questions
Q1: Will the game have the "always online" functionality that Elite Dangerous does? (Single player offline being dropped from Elite is one reason I ended up not buying it, but that game in an ugly can of worms I don't want to get into)

Q2: What is the general stance being taken regarding online functionality? Is it just for sharing creations, or will it feature the ability to create with friends?

Q3: Will I be able to accidentally, or intentionally, murder my park guests? (Very important lol)

Q4: Is this game going to have micro-transactions. If so, what kind? (Purely cosmetics or dlc pay walls) (Note: I have seen this discussed in other posts, but nothing definitive has been stated.)

That ends my most pressing questions. I REALLY want a good theme park building game, and currently Planet Coaster looks promising. I am worried about how Frontier plans on handling future dlc as I am not the biggest fan of Elite's model. It has me VERY anxious about pre-ordering. For now, I will be watching carefully as more details come out regarding the game. I have seen to many good games crushed by day one dlc, base content locked behind pre-order or "Deluxe" edition paywalls, etc. Forgive me for being so bitter, but the current gaming market has left me burned one to many times. Thanks for reading and any help provided!

Milkman1 · Jan 4, 2016

Q1
No information has been offered.
Q2
Sharing
Q3
Very unlikely, this is a family friendly game. Probably means there be any coaster 'accidents' either from poor maintenance etc.
Q4
No real information has been offered aside from "it is not a single release game."

ParkBark · Jan 4, 2016

I see, thanks for the expedient reply. Looking forward to input from others to see if they have any additional insight. A bit saddened that I may not be able to murder my park goers. I loved dropping people in pools of water in Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 - especially the complainers.

Angelis1 · Jan 4, 2016

ParkBark said:
That ends my most pressing questions. I REALLY want a good theme park building game, and currently Planet Coaster looks promising. I am worried about how Frontier plans on handling future dlc as I am not the biggest fan of Elite's model. It has me VERY anxious about pre-ordering. For now, I will be watching carefully as more details come out regarding the game. I have seen to many good games crushed by day one dlc, base content locked behind pre-order or "Deluxe" edition paywalls, etc. Forgive me for being so bitter, but the current gaming market has left me burned one to many times. Thanks for reading and any help provided!

No need to apologize, many here are worried regarding the economic model. (especially after the mess with "ED", and packages they are currently proposing on Planet Coaster)

It's the biggest problem about Frontier, they are good to develop games, but the marketing team is not very good to make simple and efficient things. (maybe it's not their choice, maybe it's only because of "the direction", idk why)

Anyway, I "failed" by purchasing the game (and as a fan, I would tell you to do the same). But if I want to be really objective (letting my passion for this game on the side) I would tell you to wait for clearer information about this, and to be careful. In fact, if they are not transparent with us, then this will mean that they are preparing a dirty trick (and this would not be a first in the history of gaming, far from there) so, you just need to wait about an official announcement on this subject.

Given the importance that the "economic question" takes, gradually on every social networks, they should not delay to provide an answer.

But I think that they wait to talk about this, because they want to show the "homemade content manager" first (which exists only "theoretically speaking" for now). These are only assumptions, but if I'm right, we can expect many DLC on this "disguised cashshop" and if that's the case, I hope that they give players the ability to create their own free DLC (this will help to sweeten the pill)

I hope they have managed to position themselves on either side of the fence (the player side VS the company side) when they drafted their "economic model paper".

Joël · Jan 4, 2016

Angelis said:
No need to apologize, many here are worried regarding the economic model. (especially after the mess with "ED", and packages they are currently proposing on Planet Coaster)

It's the biggest problem about Frontier, they are good to develop games, but the marketing team is not very good to make simple and efficient things. (maybe it's not their choice, maybe it's only because of "the direction", idk why)

Anyway, I "failed" by purchasing the game (and as a fan, I would tell you to do the same). But if I want to be really objective (letting my passion for this game on the side) I would tell you to wait for clearer information about this, and to be careful. In fact, if they are not transparent with us, then this will mean that they are preparing a dirty trick (and this would not be a first in the history of gaming, far from there) so, you just need to wait about an official announcement on this subject.

Given the importance that the "economic question" takes, gradually on every social networks, they should not delay to provide an answer.

But I think that they wait to talk about this, because they want to show the "homemade content manager" first (which exists only "theoretically speaking" for now). These are only assumptions, but if I'm right, we can expect many DLC on this "disguised cashshop" and if that's the case, I hope that they give players the ability to create their own free DLC (this will help to sweeten the pill)

I hope they have managed to position themselves on either side of the fence (the player side VS the company side) when they drafted their "economic model paper".

[up][yesnod] I think the same. I also bought Planet Coaster (Early Bird + CHC) but I would really like to know what kind of economic strategy Frontier has planned for the game.

Will there be DLC? (Probably yes)
Can we have UGC/homemade content and can we share that with other players? (Unknown at this time)
Will we have some kind of content manager to manage DLC/UGC/homemade content and user saved rides and scenery?
I'm looking forward to answers on these questions.

ParkBark · Jan 5, 2016

I see, thanks everyone for the expedient replies. Looks like I will indeed be holding off a few more months in buying this game. I refuse to get burned by another game publisher using "early access" to sucker people into buying the game, and then at launch doing a 180 on their promises. The gaming industry needs some serious readjustments. See you all at a later date, hopefully with more information by then.

0BobTheJanitor · Jan 5, 2016

And so the suspicion begins. Game looks promising now, but that could change at any time. All it takes is one poor business decision.

Angelis1 · Jan 5, 2016

0BobTheJanitor said:
And so the suspicion begins. Game looks promising now, but that could change at any time. All it takes is one poor business decision.

Yes, you are right. One single decision can change everything.

It's not for nothing that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. If they are too greedy they will lose more than they think.

I would be more serene (or not) after seeing the "homemade content management platform" and the "economic model" that goes with it. (if that is indeed the solution they have chosen)

xnode · Jan 6, 2016

Good points but one thing to point out is history, if anything the developers (Frontier) have been pretty up front on all their games and what they entail. If people keep interest in a game they un-doubtly will keep adding content to purchase. While I look at their recent release "Elite", they are constantly releasing both micro and now expanded content. Is it exactly what people wanted? Yes and no.

I know plenty of people (friends) who have purchased most of everything in that game , from skins to the expansion. Are they totally happy with those purchases? Most say yes and no. They loved their skins, not to happy with the expansion but promise of patching and additions keep them going. If this teaches me anything directly about frontier, they at least keep to their word.

In the past, their word had a bit more less meaning, as with any developer when you work for another company say like atari, the control you have to add content or offer fixes is based on what that company is willing too pay or invest in. So much realize on contracts and negotiations along with input from said company (opinions on what should or should not be in something) that it was (I am guessing but pretty sure on the mark) difficult to release or add things to those previous titles. Unlike now where frontier is going out of pocket, selling it themselves and have full rights to do as they please is a whole other ball then before.

In the end they have proven at least to me their interest is too keep profit margins going while giving the player base what they enjoy. While Elite is a great game in it's own right, it also is now being compared and in compition for the upcoming release of Star Citizen, which is very much a more broader game with a bigger idea and scope of gameplay. While they raised a considerable amount of funding for their project, it will be in the end almost impossible to compete and keep competing with that franchise if that franchise actually releases the game as promised with the feature intact. As owner of both games, both are great in their own right and the alpha of the latest build in Star Citzen sadly blows away Elite atm and that's just the alpha (and my opinon of course). Frontier is going to be hard pressed to compete with that title once out, not saying they won't release more content, but their base engine is just limited in scope compaired to Star Citizen.

What does this all mean? To me it means that frontier does want to support a whole line of products that they all out own directly and have full control over. They want to be a sucessfull company on their own accord and have time and time again proven they have the team and ability to pull this off. My faith in Planet Coaster is huge as I seen other titles out there such as RCT world and Theme park World that just don't compare. Each is unique to the genre but none so far have given me the thrill that I got from RTC3 and now what Planet Coaster will bring. How can I say Planet Coaster will be better then what I mentioned? I again refer to my whole reason for the post, the past shows what the company is capable of. In the end Frontier has a proven track record of not only working within this Genre, but doing a hell of a job in it with other titles (while more for mobiles and such) for other companies, now flagshipping their own title, just tells me it's going to be one heck of a ride

So is it worth the invesment to get it it now? I say yes, you know the company , you know the team, you know the history, nothing more to be said, the only real complaint I see most is the cost for early access. I get the arguments on this but in the end it makes sense to me, I would rather have people willing to pay a bit more in my alpha (coder here btw) then not. Why? Because if your willing to invest more into something you know a little about but have that much faith in, I bet dollars to donuts you will be the one I want to hear from first in opinions of how my code is working out for you as the user. Not just this , but other reasons as well , sure there is the financial gain for what most think "getting money from the super fans because well they are hard core fans of the genre and will pay" but I for one don't think this rout.

It was like with Elite, people paid a good penny to be part of the early access and that paid off in so many ways, I get why they are doing it and I actually agree with the concept. But I am sure thats just me atm

anyways, thats my 2cents on it all, sorry for the rant

coencoensmeets · Jan 6, 2016

Guardious said:
Good points but one thing to point out is history, if anything the developers (Frontier) have been pretty up front on all their games and what they entail. If people keep interest in a game they un-doubtly will keep adding content to purchase. While I look at their recent release "Elite", they are constantly releasing both micro and now expanded content. Is it exactly what people wanted? Yes and no.

I know plenty of people (friends) who have purchased most of everything in that game , from skins to the expansion. Are they totally happy with those purchases? Most say yes and no. They loved their skins, not to happy with the expansion but promise of patching and additions keep them going. If this teaches me anything directly about frontier, they at least keep to their word.

In the past, their word had a bit more less meaning, as with any developer when you work for another company say like atari, the control you have to add content or offer fixes is based on what that company is willing too pay or invest in. So much realize on contracts and negotiations along with input from said company (opinions on what should or should not be in something) that it was (I am guessing but pretty sure on the mark) difficult to release or add things to those previous titles. Unlike now where frontier is going out of pocket, selling it themselves and have full rights to do as they please is a whole other ball then before.

In the end they have proven at least to me their interest is too keep profit margins going while giving the player base what they enjoy. While Elite is a great game in it's own right, it also is now being compared and in compition for the upcoming release of Star Citizen, which is very much a more broader game with a bigger idea and scope of gameplay. While they raised a considerable amount of funding for their project, it will be in the end almost impossible to compete and keep competing with that franchise if that franchise actually releases the game as promised with the feature intact. As owner of both games, both are great in their own right and the alpha of the latest build in Star Citzen sadly blows away Elite atm and that's just the alpha (and my opinon of course). Frontier is going to be hard pressed to compete with that title once out, not saying they won't release more content, but their base engine is just limited in scope compaired to Star Citizen.

What does this all mean? To me it means that frontier does want to support a whole line of products that they all out own directly and have full control over. They want to be a sucessfull company on their own accord and have time and time again proven they have the team and ability to pull this off. My faith in Planet Coaster is huge as I seen other titles out there such as RCT world and Theme park World that just don't compare. Each is unique to the genre but none so far have given me the thrill that I got from RTC3 and now what Planet Coaster will bring. How can I say Planet Coaster will be better then what I mentioned? I again refer to my whole reason for the post, the past shows what the company is capable of. In the end Frontier has a proven track record of not only working within this Genre, but doing a hell of a job in it with other titles (while more for mobiles and such) for other companies, now flagshipping their own title, just tells me it's going to be one heck of a ride

So is it worth the invesment to get it it now? I say yes, you know the company , you know the team, you know the history, nothing more to be said, the only real complaint I see most is the cost for early access. I get the arguments on this but in the end it makes sense to me, I would rather have people willing to pay a bit more in my alpha (coder here btw) then not. Why? Because if your willing to invest more into something you know a little about but have that much faith in, I bet dollars to donuts you will be the one I want to hear from first in opinions of how my code is working out for you as the user. Not just this , but other reasons as well , sure there is the financial gain for what most think "getting money from the super fans because well they are hard core fans of the genre and will pay" but I for one don't think this rout.

It was like with Elite, people paid a good penny to be part of the early access and that paid off in so many ways, I get why they are doing it and I actually agree with the concept. But I am sure thats just me atm anyways, thats my 2cents on it all, sorry for the rant

Wow you can write a lot! I only can write 1 maybe 2 paragraphs but you just wow! [squeeeeee][up]

Joël · Jan 6, 2016

Guardious said:
Good points but one thing to point out is history, if anything the developers (Frontier) have been pretty up front on all their games and what they entail. If people keep interest in a game they un-doubtly will keep adding content to purchase. While I look at their recent release "Elite", they are constantly releasing both micro and now expanded content. Is it exactly what people wanted? Yes and no.

I know plenty of people (friends) who have purchased most of everything in that game , from skins to the expansion. Are they totally happy with those purchases? Most say yes and no. They loved their skins, not to happy with the expansion but promise of patching and additions keep them going. If this teaches me anything directly about frontier, they at least keep to their word.

In the past, their word had a bit more less meaning, as with any developer when you work for another company say like atari, the control you have to add content or offer fixes is based on what that company is willing too pay or invest in. So much realize on contracts and negotiations along with input from said company (opinions on what should or should not be in something) that it was (I am guessing but pretty sure on the mark) difficult to release or add things to those previous titles. Unlike now where frontier is going out of pocket, selling it themselves and have full rights to do as they please is a whole other ball then before.

In the end they have proven at least to me their interest is too keep profit margins going while giving the player base what they enjoy. While Elite is a great game in it's own right, it also is now being compared and in compition for the upcoming release of Star Citizen, which is very much a more broader game with a bigger idea and scope of gameplay. While they raised a considerable amount of funding for their project, it will be in the end almost impossible to compete and keep competing with that franchise if that franchise actually releases the game as promised with the feature intact. As owner of both games, both are great in their own right and the alpha of the latest build in Star Citzen sadly blows away Elite atm and that's just the alpha (and my opinon of course). Frontier is going to be hard pressed to compete with that title once out, not saying they won't release more content, but their base engine is just limited in scope compaired to Star Citizen.

What does this all mean? To me it means that frontier does want to support a whole line of products that they all out own directly and have full control over. They want to be a sucessfull company on their own accord and have time and time again proven they have the team and ability to pull this off. My faith in Planet Coaster is huge as I seen other titles out there such as RCT world and Theme park World that just don't compare. Each is unique to the genre but none so far have given me the thrill that I got from RTC3 and now what Planet Coaster will bring. How can I say Planet Coaster will be better then what I mentioned? I again refer to my whole reason for the post, the past shows what the company is capable of. In the end Frontier has a proven track record of not only working within this Genre, but doing a hell of a job in it with other titles (while more for mobiles and such) for other companies, now flagshipping their own title, just tells me it's going to be one heck of a ride

So is it worth the invesment to get it it now? I say yes, you know the company , you know the team, you know the history, nothing more to be said, the only real complaint I see most is the cost for early access. I get the arguments on this but in the end it makes sense to me, I would rather have people willing to pay a bit more in my alpha (coder here btw) then not. Why? Because if your willing to invest more into something you know a little about but have that much faith in, I bet dollars to donuts you will be the one I want to hear from first in opinions of how my code is working out for you as the user. Not just this , but other reasons as well , sure there is the financial gain for what most think "getting money from the super fans because well they are hard core fans of the genre and will pay" but I for one don't think this rout.

It was like with Elite, people paid a good penny to be part of the early access and that paid off in so many ways, I get why they are doing it and I actually agree with the concept. But I am sure thats just me atm anyways, thats my 2cents on it all, sorry for the rant

Thank you for your detailed view and input! I appreciate it! [big grin]

Angelis1 · Jan 6, 2016

Guardious said:
Good points but one thing to point out is history, [...]

So is it worth the invesment to get it it now? I say yes, you know the company , you know the team, you know the history, nothing more to be said, the only real complaint I see most is the cost for early access. I get the arguments on this but in the end it makes sense to me, I would rather have people willing to pay a bit more in my alpha (coder here btw) then not. Why? Because if your willing to invest more into something you know a little about but have that much faith in, I bet dollars to donuts you will be the one I want to hear from first in opinions of how my code is working out for you as the user. Not just this , but other reasons as well , sure there is the financial gain for what most think "getting money from the super fans because well they are hard core fans of the genre and will pay" but I for one don't think this rout.

[...]

Well, yes, but ... no, it's not the only real complaint.

You right about many things. We know the company, we know the team, and they are good at developping games (like I said before, and this is why I personally have pre-ordered the game, and why I am a member of Head Coaster Club, like many others) but there are always big problems unresolved to date. (And that is not correlated with the development, but with marketing and strategy)

The first is : The Early Access Price

I already given my opinion on this question on another thread, so I will stop there, and anyway, on this specific aspect, it's a little too late, so ...

The second is : The Sales Strategy

I do not think I need to explain why, just read this "reddit post" in its entirety to understand the symptoms.
When someone need to make a website (this one) to explain "how the packages works", then you know that something is wrong.
No need for more explanation, but I could mention at least 20 different examples, and only in this forum. I dont even speak of some members of french forums, who understand absolutely nothing, nor Facebook, etc...

The third is : The Economic Model
(and certainly the one that can do more damage)

It is more a "concern" than a "problem" because we dont know how this going to work at this moment, but everything seems to go in a direction that is not beneficial for players at all : the microtransactions way.

Because, if they "copy and paste" the Elite

angerous model (this madness [bored]), or if they add "Microtransactions" : this will be a huge disaster !!!

Oh, and, for now, i spend the same amount for PC than "The Witcher 3" and "GT5" together. For "a in-development game early access, a t-shirt, and a sub-forum access" (to re-contextualize things a bit, it's important sometime) so ... I hope they will not forget us ... and that we will not be treated like human piggy banks.

(EDIT : Last thing, thanks for the time you took to write your comment [up])

0BobTheJanitor · Jan 6, 2016

Angelis said:
Well, yes, but ... no, it's not the only real complaint.

You right about many things. We know the company, we know the team, and they are good at developping games (like I said before, and this is why I personally have pre-ordered the game, and why I am a member of Head Coaster Club, like many others) but there are always big problems unresolved to date. (And that is not correlated with the development, but with marketing and strategy)

The first is : The Early Access Price

I already given my opinion on this question on another thread, so I will stop there, and anyway, on this specific aspect, it's a little too late, so ...

The second is : The Sales Strategy

I do not think I need to explain why, just read this "reddit post" in its entirety to understand the symptoms.
When someone need to make a website (this one) to explain "how the packages works", then you know that something is wrong.
No need for more explanation, but I could mention at least 20 different examples, and only in this forum. I dont even speak of some members of french forums, who understand absolutely nothing, nor Facebook, etc...

The third is : The Economic Model
(and certainly the one that can do more damage)

It is more a "concern" than a "problem" because we dont know how this going to work at this moment, but everything seems to go in a direction that is not beneficial for players at all : the microtransactions way.

Because, if they "copy and paste" the Eliteangerous model (this madness [bored]), or if they add "Microtransactions" : this will be a huge disaster !!!

Oh, and, for now, i spend the same amount for PC than "The Witcher 3" and "GT5" together. For "a in-development game early access, a t-shirt, and a sub-forum access" (to re-contextualize things a bit, it's important sometime) so ... I hope they will not forget us ... and that we will not be treated like human piggy banks.

(EDIT : Last thing, thanks for the time you took to write your comment [up])

We know the game will be great quality, that's a given; I don't think anyone can deny that. It's from this point on business decisions, and how customization is handled that will affect the future. Everyone has a point where they say no, to a lot of people that is importing custom models, and I'm sure microttansactions for most.

Me, my breaking point is a Linux port, that is where I will not buy anything. It's really a shame it has to come to that. :-(