Frontier: Please tell us what you're working on that isn't narrative

In light of the promise to actually communicate what you're working on, can you please tell us what's coming that isn't connected to the narrative?

We understand that you don't want to spoil the narrative, but surely you're working on parts of the game that aren't related to the upcoming narrative?

How come the "key feature overhaul" hasn't been revealed? The roadmap is too vague to even constitute a roadmap, it pretty much reads as "2023 - something".

Are there any plans to create more biology species?

Are there any plans to open up more atmospheric planet types to explore?

Are there any new ships coming?
They are working on a lot of liveries as usual ;)
 
If you're really waiting for important and relevant content updates, wait for Starfield.

There is none of that expected in ED.
 
In light of the promise to actually communicate what you're working on, can you please tell us what's coming that isn't connected to the narrative?
There's not much indication that Frontier read these forums. They just drop announcements from time to time.
 
Until Elite Dangerous, the Elite franchise was all about single player games. Some might think ED would have been better as a single player game.

I think ED would have been dead by now if it was a single player game with no further FDev involvement (the release model followed by the previous incarnations of ED)
To static without BGS and without any relevance regarding personal achievements if not for the shared galaxy.

There's not much indication that Frontier read these forums. They just drop announcements from time to time.

There is and They do
 
Its a single player game, its not ED

O7
Well I wouldn't define [really] Elite as a multiplayer game either...or at least, not in its pure sense. And don't get me wrong, I would most absolutely love Elite to be a true mmo (oh watch out here comes reactions!).
Unfortunately [I think], it's more of a semi-multiplayer game...or a single-player-possible-to-play-with-friends-game...or even a multiplayer game with a possibility to play "not-multi" but still affect the rest of the people's game.
But hey, I think I'll stop 'cause I realise that, it's not my intention to trigger this debate right now and, well...even with just so little said there could be a whole f-ing riot rising up. :ROFLMAO:

But oh boy can we say one thing about ED's real dedicated community: we really like this game to still be playing it because obviously the Dev's are either not giving an f#(* about "Braben's baby" or they all became meth-heads and lost all connection to reality. (Ok I see you people coming...and before you say anything, this is just humour...a joke...dark humour, so please sit back down).
Both are as much sad.
 
Last edited:
As far as I'm aware, no one ever said the 'key feature overhaul' is tied to Update 15.
Frontier pretty much have, in that Update 15 is the only time it could be released and still fit the original schedule, and the more recent descriptions of U15 contents are compatible with something they might call a "major feature overhaul". They didn't use the exact same phrasing, but given they called it two different things in the original May post it doesn't seem to be something they're attempting to build a marketing brand around anyway.

From the original post in May: "Work has also begun on a major feature overhaul for 2023" and "Early 2023Key feature overhaul"

From their U14/Live/Legacy announcement: "Aftermath will see its next major release with galaxy-wide implications in Update 14, with more to come in Updates 15 and 16. What we can say for now about Updates 15 and 16 is that they will both contain new content and gameplay mechanics linked to the unfolding events in the galaxy."

From 9 January Discovery Scanner: "We're also happy to confirm that we are on track to deliver further updates this year, targeting Update 15 in April and Update 16 to follow later in the year."

It doesn't technically rule out U15 being unrelated to the Key Feature Overhaul, and there being a separate and un-numbered update planned either before U15 or between U15 and the end of June to deliver that (possible, if it's something which could be done entirely server-side), but that certainly doesn't seem to be a natural interpretation of those statements.

(I agree with you that it's therefore almost certainly "more Thargoid War" of one sort or another)

Oh? What makes you think so?
I've seen bugs and non-bug issues mentioned only on the tenth page of an obscure forum thread get fixed, player actions that no-one was particularly trying to draw Frontier's attention to get brief mentions in Galnet, and so on. I doubt that they read absolutely everything - it's a big forum with enough activity that just reading all of them would be a full-time job, and then there's Reddit and other discussion places too that they need to cover - but they certainly read a surprisingly large amount of it.
 
ZfAg1JR.png


O7
Those memes have become increasingly "Comical Ali" recently.
 
Oh? What makes you think so?

one example:
the debacle with CEC and Peregrina Aristocrats
Dav certainly watched that topic and as a result we got Megaships from the factions that are issuing permits so no more PMF ganking permit systems.

Edit: so, while they do watch the forums, they won't and they can't be able to solve any issue raised by any random player. The very vast majority of time, even if it's a legit issue (which most of the time it isnt) there could be technical or financial constrains that make impractical solving the said issue
 
more recent descriptions of U15 contents
Source?

Update 15 is the only time it could be released
Assumption?

It doesn't technically rule out U15 being unrelated to the Key Feature Overhaul, and there being a separate and un-numbered update planned either before U15 or between U15 and the end of June to deliver that

Sounds like you already made your mind up and don't even consider the possibility of the Thargoid War being the key feature overhaul they were advertising for.
 
As I said in my post above, the Live/Legacy split announcement and the 9 January discovery scanner
Direct links if you want to verify the quotes I extracted: https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/elite-dangerous-update-14-and-beyond-live-and-legacy-modes and https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/discovery-scanner-09012023

Assumption?
I think it's a fair assumption given Frontier's actions and statements so far that the release order will be U14 -> U15 -> U16 and of those only U15 is scheduled for the first half of the year that the "KFO" is also scheduled for, so U15 is likely to contain the KFO.

Yes, they could go U14 -> KFO -> U15 -> U16 or U14 -> U15 -> KFO -> U16 ... but I can't see why they would.

Sounds like you already made your mind up and don't even consider the possibility of the Thargoid War being the key feature overhaul they were advertising for.
Since I said in my previous post "I agree with you that it's therefore almost certainly "more Thargoid War" of one sort or another" I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion.
 
As I said in my post above, the Live/Legacy split announcement and the 9 January discovery scanner
Direct links if you want to verify the quotes I extracted: https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/elite-dangerous-update-14-and-beyond-live-and-legacy-modes and https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/discovery-scanner-09012023


I think it's a fair assumption given Frontier's actions and statements so far that the release order will be U14 -> U15 -> U16 and of those only U15 is scheduled for the first half of the year that the "KFO" is also scheduled for, so U15 is likely to contain the KFO.

Yes, they could go U14 -> KFO -> U15 -> U16 or U14 -> U15 -> KFO -> U16 ... but I can't see why they would.


Since I said in my previous post "I agree with you that it's therefore almost certainly "more Thargoid War" of one sort or another" I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion.

I think we're talking past each other.

The new Thargoid BGS is a key feature overhaul, the key feature being the Thargoids and their BGS themselves.

The "overhaul" could be the introduction of the Thargoid BGS:
No Thargoid BGS (devs playing chess against players) ---> New Thargoid BGS (Thargoid algorithms let loose on players)

Is there any evidence to rule out the possibility that the key feature overhaul already happened? I feel like this would be exactly the level of miscommunication and exorbitant player expectations that I know from Elite.
 
From the original post in May: "Work has also begun on a major feature overhaul for 2023" and "Early 2023Key feature overhaul"
Still ambiguous...that could be a single feature or many...plus it could be only related to how things are handled backend, so there's a chance you won't notice anything in the client at all.
 
Is there any evidence to rule out the possibility that the key feature overhaul already happened?
Certainly if they'd said "Key Feature Overhaul" for the U14 contents I'd have believed that the Thargoid War update was it. It does also fit for the "Next Major Narrative Phase" they originally put on U14, though.

I think the main evidence against that is that the originally advertised plan said "early 2023" and so if it was the U14 Thargoid War changes, Frontier managed to deliver it at least two months early. That would be the first time ever they've done something for Elite Dangerous significantly ahead of the announced schedule.


They've got 5 months between U14 and U15. Thinking about other minor releases with that sort of lead time - which is on the long side for a gap between releases - they all contained things which could be described as "key feature overhaul" (some with more satisfaction than others) so I don't see them somehow failing to include one in U15, given how vague the phrase is to start with.
 
Certainly if they'd said "Key Feature Overhaul" for the U14 contents I'd have believed that the Thargoid War update was it. It does also fit for the "Next Major Narrative Phase" they originally put on U14, though.

I think the main evidence against that is that the originally advertised plan said "early 2023" and so if it was the U14 Thargoid War changes, Frontier managed to deliver it at least two months early. That would be the first time ever they've done something for Elite Dangerous significantly ahead of the announced schedule.


They've got 5 months between U14 and U15. Thinking about other minor releases with that sort of lead time - which is on the long side for a gap between releases - they all contained things which could be described as "key feature overhaul" (some with more satisfaction than others) so I don't see them somehow failing to include one in U15, given how vague the phrase is to start with.

Well, everything they share is vague.
Can't help but think of the phrase "The galaxy will never be the same again".
Players could interpret anything into this statement. Of course, even after the arrival of the maelstroms and the beginning of the Thargoid war, 99.99999% of the galaxy are still the same. Would've been smarter to say "The bubble will never be the same again", and even then, it wouldn't describe the current situation accurately.

You could be right, I'm not trying to make an argument out of this. But given the context of the last couple of years, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that the Thargoid BGS was the key feature overhaul and the community is heading towards a new wave of disappointment, expecting other things based on their personal preferences and wishes (insert Powerplay, Engineering, Fleet Carriers or whatever you want, here).
 
Back
Top Bottom