Update 15, the Upcoming Feature Rework and More

[VR CMDR Novindus]

It's a major leap from "feature overhaul to be released in the next month" to "we'll share details of our investigation into a feature overhaul towards the end of the year".

It probably also means that it has been known by Frontier for a while that no feature overhaul was going to be included in Update 15, so the steady update stream of "no news on this front" has for some time likely been smokescreening.

I don't know what to say at this point regarding how Frontier deals with its roadmap, and with the communication of details and progress on its roadmap.
It's either Headline=>Long blackbox cycle=>Underwhelming release, or Headline=>Long blackbox cycle=>Delay, or Headline=>Long blackbox cycle=>Nothing, or Headline=>Long blackbox cycle=>Something's gone.

There will be some variations and exceptions, but the track record overall, despite the best efforts of community managers, is not worthy of the IP and core game they're working with.

 

[Frankymole]

How many tries does FD need? Also, in gameplay terms, do you do once you have your finished ship? Many times I've thought about designs only to go....whats the point? The game needs more things to do with ships, not more to do to get ships.

Or indeed, more ships.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Or indeed, more ships.

Well yes, and no.

Yes, for the brief spurt of fun but no in that.....again you are left with the same problem. Not enough of the game makes use of the ships we have now.

 

[Apocalysse]

Well yes, and no.

Yes, for the brief spurt of fun but no in that.....again you are left with the same problem. Not enough of the game makes use of the ships we have now.

Yes and no, Elite is a space game without monthly payment, so the only income after selling the game are the Arx, but Arx are used mainly in the ships stuff, but if you don't add any new ships where people can buy that stuff, you don't have people buying Arx and new income. I got 20K Arks, i have already bought all stuff i'm interested in, but it seems that Frontier has not interest for selling new stuff.

 

[EdzUp]

That's water level IQ

Its not a direct war more of an all encompasing tidal wave of destruction. If you think about it they are destroying humanitys infrastructure rather than going for key points.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Its not a direct war more of an all encompasing tidal wave of destruction. If you think about it they are destroying humanitys infrastructure rather than going for key points.

I don't think they're particularly aiming for the infrastructure either at the moment. They'll destroy it if it happens to be in their way, of course.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Yes and no, Elite is a space game without monthly payment, so the only income after selling the game are the Arx, but Arx are used mainly in the ships stuff, but if you don't add any new ships where people can buy that stuff, you don't have people buying Arx and new income. I got 20K Arks, i have already bought all stuff i'm interested in, but it seems that Frontier has not interest for selling new stuff.

You can do plenty without adding ships (which I'm not against)- its just that to keep people playing the actual game needs to be engaging, otherwise you develop Star Citizenitis.

 

[Hellrider]

New ships arent bad, but I agree with rubber.
more ACTIVITIES, not VESSELS.

Unless they will take certain niches, instead being "combat ship #12", or "mamba v2 with slighty better speed and worse agility".
Personally- I'm sick of seeing "multi task" med ship, which is THE BEST in few things, and still very good in other loops. Or "multi purpose" big ship with the biggest cargo in game. Or combat ship, which can take the most bulk passengers. But this things could be fixed be slighty rebalance of optionals, instead adding completely new shipz

 

[Apocalysse]

You can do plenty without adding ships (which I'm not against)- its just that to keep people playing the actual game needs to be engaging, otherwise you develop Star Citizenitis.

IMHO you need both, ships for $$ and a rework to keep people playing, if you don't have $$ you cannot finance the game, and if you cannot finance the game, the outcome it's like now, nothing new, no this, no that, only a war that put together already existing game mechanics and a 8 x copy of the malestorm.

 

[Rubbernuke]

IMHO you need both, ships for $$ and a rework to keep people playing, if you don't have $$ you cannot finance the game, and if you cannot finance the game, the outcome it's like now, nothing new, no this, no that, only a war that put together already existing game mechanics and a 8 x copy of the malestorm.

I agree- its just that ships need niches, or that tasks suit ships and more tasks / roles are added to justify having them, as well as having jack of all trades ships that do everything sort of OK. For example, supercruise agility should not be locked as it is now which would (hand in hand with better sc gameplay that requires agility, such as smuggling through patrolled areas) push for more smuggling like ships.

Right now we have too many ships chasing too few niches because despite engineering the core basics are still basic.

 

[zimms]

[...] basics are still basic.

Hear, hear!

 

[Rubbernuke]

Hear, hear!

Its just...frustrating. Another:

what if bases had sweeping radars, and that by flying low enough using terrain you could avoid detection, thus leverage the proc gen landscape, ship atmo agility (i.e. small and some mediums being great for it), and that it would make sense for on foot assaults to switch off radars / defensive weapons in a co-ordinated way?

ED as a whole is achingly close to being amazing, and yet.....

 

[EdzUp]

Its just...frustrating. Another:

what if bases had sweeping radars, and that by flying low enough using terrain you could avoid detection, thus leverage the proc gen landscape, ship atmo agility (i.e. small and some mediums being great for it), and that it would make sense for on foot assaults to switch off radars / defensive weapons in a co-ordinated way?

ED as a whole is achingly close to being amazing, and yet.....

View attachment 351372

That is such a great idea if it was on the suggestion forum i would vote for it say under 100m you could fly in undetected .

One of the reasons i fly a Sidey is i can crash that into anything and come put without a scratch, heck ive bounced it off of asteroids and planets alike and never paid anything in repairs

 

[Apocalysse]

One of the reasons i fly a Sidey is i can crash that into anything and come put without a scratch, heck ive bounced it off of asteroids and planets alike and never paid anything in repairs

Try a Dolphin, it's very nice to use in odyssey content

 

[Rubbernuke]

That is such a great idea if it was on the suggestion forum i would vote for it say under 100m you could fly in undetected .

One of the reasons i fly a Sidey is i can crash that into anything and come put without a scratch, heck ive bounced it off of asteroids and planets alike and never paid anything in repairs

I have so, so many. Another:

Have a 'tick' rate for the radar which controls the pulses (and thus resolution) in SC and in realspace.

In SC a lower tick rate drastically reduces emissions, which could shoe horn into sensor grades for opposition ships (i.e. you need higher grades of focused sensors) to 'see' you.

In normal space reducing the tick rate makes it harder for gimbals and turrets to keep on you, for the cost of 'jumpy' contacts.

You could then make engineering really worthwhile, and provide some real meat to PvP encounters. For PvE this would also be great since it (in SC) could lower the chance of interdictions and allow for tougher smuggling gameplay situations to be added (and not just ping off a heat sink).

What annoys me is all of these things are in game right now but act like a giant unbuilt Lego set.

 

[Jack Winter]

You could even add a multicrew function to manage the ECM.

I wholeheartedly agree. I often think of ED as a raw building site, the walls are there, now it needs to be improved with doors, windows, paint, etc.

 

[Old Duck]

I wholeheartedly agree. I often think of ED as a raw building site, the walls are there, now it needs to be improved with doors, windows, paint, etc.

Oh Elite has plenty of paint [jobs], LOL.. It's the one thing Frontier loves to talk about!

 

[Darkfyre99]

What annoys me is all of these things are in game right now but act like a giant unbuilt Lego set.

More of a torn down Lego set than an unbuilt one IMO. The Stealth and Supercruise mechanics used to have a lot more meat to their bones during the original Alpha and Premium Beta, than what survived Frontier’s hacksaw approach to player complaints to make it into the released game.

I often wonder what this game would be like if Frontier had taken an additive approach to addressing player complaints, rather than deleterious one…

 

[W4rSkuLL]

Basebuilding anyone? Could it ressurect this game. For old backers.

 

[MUTILADOR]

Maybe not you specifically, but it has been said numerous times. And fair enough, if you were one who was looking forward to it, then my point wasn't intended for you. It read that way to me.


I don't know the other aspects to it, and I'm sure there are there too, but it really shouldn't be forgotten or allowed to be overlooked that the Odyssey crunch was during the height of covid. I would say that had a large part to play. Again, that's not necessarily excusing it, the conditions upon which decisions were made to not delay Odyssey further, and why, remain unknown though Frontier report to the markets and there may have been some pressure there that forced them into it. However, that's pure speculation.

My whole point is that for someone who wants the best for Elite, and for that I have to assume that it continues to be a success with more large scale DLCs like Horizons & Odyssey, what constructive gain is there to be had from ignoring a reasonably large update that's coming next month to focus on some future delayed update? I mean, Odyssey is rushed, so that was bad and Frontier should have delayed it, but now that Frontier have delayed the future update, that's not preferably now to it being rushed to release in what might have been a similar manner? Is there a win condition for Frontier?

I have read repeatedly, and I think the same, that the delay does not matter as long as it is for a better update.
I see that you only read what interests you without wanting to understand the context of what is meant.
what's really upsetting about this post is knowing that, even to this day, they haven't worked on anything they had named as "Last year we announced a major update that would rework a long-standing feature. This It's still being investigated."