The view from a potential customer

[lovelyhead]

I have been reading the forums for a couple of weeks now, trying to make up my mind on whether or not I want to buy Elite: Dangerous. I have watched many Youtube videos and read many impressions.

The general vibe I am getting is that Elite: Dangerous has a solid base to build from but is extremely shallow. It seems to me that it is being rushed to release.

I have been a backer of Project CARS since January 2012 and have watched that grow over the years. It was originally slated to come out in a couple of weeks but it was decided that it need a few more months of polish and is now being released in March. Just going by what I have read and seen in Youtube videos Elite has far less content than Project CARS and is slated to be released in about a month.

I have read on these forums, a significant group of people that seem to believe that Frontier are holding back large amounts of content which will be included in the gamma or release. Going from my experience of watching Project CARS grow (which allowed far more access to the devs than elite does) there is no way that there is going to be any significant content added at this stage. No chance. Frontier will be polishing and bug fixing like mad not adding new content with more potential bugs and problems.

Feature wise what you are playing now is more or less what you are going to get when it is released next month. This is not going to go down well with reviewers. If the game gets initial low review scores then you can wave goodbye to all the other promised content upgrades such as planetary landings as the income to finance such features will not be there.

The best thing Frontier can do to make their game a success is to delay the release until at least the middle of next year. Add more content and make Elite: Dangerous worthy of the Elite name. Frontier will only have one shot at this and if it fails they will never get the backing from the community again like they did when they launched the kickstarter.

I hope Frontier make the right decision as I want to love Elite: Dangerous but from what I have seen so far it is just not ready for prime time.

 

[Siggi]

It certainly lacks complexity, and thus depth. Some of what it's missing baffles me, given it wouldn't have been much of a stretch to include it.

 

[tagos]

I have been reading the forums for a couple of weeks now, trying to make up my mind on whether or not I want to buy Elite: Dangerous. I have watched many Youtube videos and read many impressions.

The general vibe I am getting is that Elite: Dangerous has a solid base to build from but is extremely shallow. It seems to me that it is being rushed to release.

I have been a backer of Project CARS since January 2012 and have watched that grow over the years. It was originally slated to come out in a couple of weeks but it was decided that it need a few more months of polish and is now being released in March. Just going by what I have read and seen in Youtube videos Elite has far less content than Project CARS and is slated to be released in about a month.

I have read on these forums, a significant group of people that seem to believe that Frontier are holding back large amounts of content which will be included in the gamma or release. Going from my experience of watching Project CARS grow (which allowed far more access to the devs than elite does) there is no way that there is going to be any significant content added at this stage. No chance. Frontier will be polishing and bug fixing like mad not adding new content with more potential bugs and problems.

Feature wise what you are playing now is more or less what you are going to get when it is released next month. This is not going to go down well with reviewers. If the game gets initial low review scores then you can wave goodbye to all the other promised content upgrades such as planetary landings as the income to finance such features will not be there.

The best thing Frontier can do to make their game a success is to delay the release until at least the middle of next year. Add more content and make Elite: Dangerous worthy of the Elite name. Frontier will only have one shot at this and if it fails they will never get the backing from the community again like they did when they launched the kickstarter.

I hope Frontier make the right decision as I want to love Elite: Dangerous but from what I have seen so far it is just not ready for prime time.

Totally agree. Releasing now is a big, big mistake.

 

[Tiggo]

people have no clue how professional development with 100+ developers work, and what such an experienced team can achieve in 4 weeks of crunch time.

it ALWAYS the same when there is a large beta audience there is always that group that is very vocal on forums how the game is not finished, needs more time, will get bad reviews, blabla.

 

[ste]

This game will do most of its selling on reviews and word of mouth, if they screw the launch up I fear Elite will struggle to ever recover.

Theres been bigger AAA marketed games gone down the toilet because the devs underestimated the importance of not rushing release.

Its clear they are rushing release, I'm just hoping theres enough 'up their sleeve' to get away with it.

Its obvious frontier need the money, I'm just hoping this doesnt backfire. Nobody here wants to see elite flop.

 

[PhanttoM]

I have been reading the forums for a couple of weeks now, trying to make up my mind on whether or not I want to buy Elite: Dangerous. I have watched many Youtube videos and read many impressions.

<snip>

Feature wise what you are playing now is more or less what you are going to get when it is released next month. This is not going to go down well with reviewers. If the game gets initial low review scores then you can wave goodbye to all the other promised content upgrades such as planetary landings as the income to finance such features will not be there.

<snip>

I strongly recommend that you do not read anything unofficial at this stage - There is so much bias and conflicting opinions going around, from both fans and critics.
Just read the official stuff and come to your own conclusions, but avoid any fan or critic content unless it's quoting recent news. (Both fans and critics are digging up outdated facts from the original kickstarter campaign)

Regarding the features. As I mentioned in another thread, we still don't know how many features are missing. All that we do know from official sources, is that the game will release with fewer features (mentioned by David Braben in newsletter 49) and that the feature of having a purely offline mode has changed.
A couple of weeks ago I would have thought that the preview/gamma was the feature complete version, but this simple line in newsletter 47 says otherwise.

From Newsletter 47

Beta Closing - November 22nd!
Access to the Beta will be closing on November 22nd.

After November 22nd the opportunity to join the Beta will no longer be available for new players, but the Beta backers can continue to test (and play!) the game until the release of the game and beyond. All Beta backers will continue getting builds to test and play up until the final release.

Sources:
Newsletter 49 - http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=cea4f4cd56
Newsletter 47 - http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=ed3d21f568

 

[Rubbernuke]

Then wait six months- by then you will see if things are good /bad. At the minute we have the shell of the game without the underpinning fiction and dynamic background. By then work will be ongoing for the expansions and you can see if things are to your liking and the dynamic galaxy will be in full swing.

 

[Glock_17]

people have no clue how professional development with 100+ developers work, and what such an experienced team can achieve in 4 weeks of crunch time.

it ALWAYS the same when there is a large beta audience there is always that group that is very vocal on forums how the game is not finished, needs more time, will get bad reviews, blabla.

I always wonder if those are the same people that after release always post "this patch killed this game" threads

 

[LunarJetman]

I would without question recommend you to wait until after the release.

 

[Zenim]

I have been reading the forums for a couple of weeks now, trying to make up my mind on whether or not I want to buy Elite: Dangerous. I have watched many Youtube videos and read many impressions.

The general vibe I am getting is that Elite: Dangerous has a solid base to build from but is extremely shallow. It seems to me that it is being rushed to release.

I have been a backer of Project CARS since January 2012 and have watched that grow over the years. It was originally slated to come out in a couple of weeks but it was decided that it need a few more months of polish and is now being released in March. Just going by what I have read and seen in Youtube videos Elite has far less content than Project CARS and is slated to be released in about a month.

I have read on these forums, a significant group of people that seem to believe that Frontier are holding back large amounts of content which will be included in the gamma or release. Going from my experience of watching Project CARS grow (which allowed far more access to the devs than elite does) there is no way that there is going to be any significant content added at this stage. No chance. Frontier will be polishing and bug fixing like mad not adding new content with more potential bugs and problems.

Feature wise what you are playing now is more or less what you are going to get when it is released next month. This is not going to go down well with reviewers. If the game gets initial low review scores then you can wave goodbye to all the other promised content upgrades such as planetary landings as the income to finance such features will not be there.

The best thing Frontier can do to make their game a success is to delay the release until at least the middle of next year. Add more content and make Elite: Dangerous worthy of the Elite name. Frontier will only have one shot at this and if it fails they will never get the backing from the community again like they did when they launched the kickstarter.

I hope Frontier make the right decision as I want to love Elite: Dangerous but from what I have seen so far it is just not ready for prime time.

Yer you got to learn to put on a filter when reading forums from very very passionate people.

The reality In side the mad hatters ring is a very defiant view one from the out side.

Unless you have been following this game from the Kickstart you cannot judge this game from this forums or youtub alone.

The only way would be to wait until release date if you can't the sign up to beta..

That's just my op.

Join us, space make you crazy...
Zen

 

[zhaith]

I would definitely wait, at the moment the networking alone is causing huge issues for some people, many bugs have yet to be ironed out, ED in it's current guise for me is a long way from release, they need a miracle to pull off and if your remotely interested in offline that is no longer an option. Up until beta 3 I was looking forward to it, I planned to play ironman (once your character is dead thats it) but the stability of the game currently makes that idea laughable, I wanted the offline mode for when ED finally ceased to have an online presence so I could continue to play.

 

[_Flin_]

It's already a good game that makes me want to play it like all the time. There are a few issues, but I think Gamma will be a huge step forward. Even with the game as it is now, the whole galaxy with 3 factions and loads of exploring and additional ships will be great.

So not all is well, but way better than some think.

 

[lovelyhead]

people have no clue how professional development with 100+ developers work, and what such an experienced team can achieve in 4 weeks of crunch time.

it ALWAYS the same when there is a large beta audience there is always that group that is very vocal on forums how the game is not finished, needs more time, will get bad reviews, blabla.

As I said, I have been following Slightly Mad Studios work on Project CARS since early 2012. They are having to take an extra 4 months just to polish up the existing content to make it as good as it can be for launch. If you believe that Frontier will be adding anything significant feature wise in a month then you are being extremely naive.

On the Project CARS forum there is none of the negativity towards the game like there is here. I think it is very obvious to most that Elite is not really ready for release and it won't be in a month either.

 

[shreddog]

Feature wise what you are playing now is more or less what you are going to get when it is released next month. This is not going to go down well with reviewers. If the game gets initial low review scores then you can wave goodbye to all the other promised content upgrades such as planetary landings as the income to finance such features will not be there.

The best thing Frontier can do to make their game a success is to delay the release until at least the middle of next year. Add more content and make Elite: Dangerous worthy of the Elite name. Frontier will only have one shot at this and if it fails they will never get the backing from the community again like they did when they launched the kickstarter.

I hope Frontier make the right decision as I want to love Elite: Dangerous but from what I have seen so far it is just not ready for prime time.

HEAR HEAR!

I think most of us want Frontier do delay. I can't see why not. We already have access to the game, so delaying it and adding content isn't actually hurting any one. Except Frontier will have to wait for the money from sales.. But it will sell so much better if there is actually a rich game included, not just a framework.

 

[Roybe]

This is where the players and business part ways. We play the game they present us, they make decisions based on full knowledge. Will there be more on release than we see? Sounds pretty likely. Are they releasing to early? We cannot make a reasonable guess, since we really do not know what they are holding back. Based on the companies desire to roll out like Minecraft, I would say they are right on schedule. Minecraft took time to mature into the game it is today, one worth $2.5 billion US to Microsoft.

If Frontier is trying for this type of development, relax, let the game release, and watch their development cycle to see if they are/remain on track. 'Opinionating' about the inevitable demise of something based on other major companies failures, is not such a good idea, since this is a relatively small development house that has a very zealous playerbase, some have been playing these games for 30+ years (to the tune of 89% of the current responders on a poll here). One thing is true, the older crowd has more patience for growing pains. It would not hurt any of us to release later, however, it might hurt the company to do so.

 

[lovelyhead]

This is where the players and business part ways. We play the game they present us, they make decisions based on full knowledge. Will there be more on release than we see? Sounds pretty likely. Are they releasing to early? We cannot make a reasonable guess, since we really do not know what they are holding back. Based on the companies desire to roll out like Minecraft, I would say they are right on schedule. Minecraft took time to mature into the game it is today, one worth $2.5 billion US to Microsoft.

If Frontier is trying for this type of development, relax, let the game release, and watch their development cycle to see if they are/remain on track. 'Opinionating' about the inevitable demise of something based on other major companies failures, is not such a good idea, since this is a relatively small development house that has a very zealous playerbase, some have been playing these games for 30+ years (to the tune of 89% of the current responders on a poll here). One thing is true, the older crowd has more patience for growing pains. It would not hurt any of us to release later, however, it might hurt the company to do so.

If there was much more to the final game than is currently in the beta then I am pretty sure one of the Devs would at least post on the forum to say something along the lines of "we can't give too many details but there is a large amount of new content coming in Gamma."

The fact that what they have actually said sounds very much like damage control speaks volumes.

 

[mbabbs]

Not sure why everyone continually makes a judgement based on a beta version released on 27th October.

Why not see what the game is like on release in December and then make a judgement?

 

[nicomak]

And even then, after release, it wont be the final thing.

 

[ste]

Not sure why everyone continually makes a judgement based on a beta version released on 27th October.

Why not see what the game is like on release in December and then make a judgement?

People have been doing that since before June. I think it took a lot about 4 months to realise they had bought a beta and not a finished game.

 

[Half Giant]

I think that FD are in the best position to decide what is best for the game. We know that development will continue so why does it matter if there is a release now or later? FD obviously think they can get the level of polish right and if a bit of content comes a bit later big deal. For me games news is a rolling thing, modern software needs to keep in the news rather than have a single big hit calendar event. So updates after release are good for business.

If you think the right level of content can be achieved given another 4 months dev then check back in 4 months. Personally I expect to of gotten amazing value for £35 in that time and if stuff keeps coming all the better. This isn't a subscription based MMO but I get the impression some people want that sort of content. But compare it to a static £35 console port, which is none the less considered AAA, and I think ED wins hands down. For me anyway, obviously this is a matter of preference.

There are other business considerations. How big will Oculus Rift (other VR hardware will be available) news be as we approach the consumer version? ED is already an amazing VR experience. Reviewers are going to be gushing about the experience and I think being the best available game in the build up to CV is a pretty strong position to be in.