Lower your Expectations for ED

[Greasetrap42]

You realize that people pour thousands of hours into this game, right? How is comparing it to D&D "wack", apart from the fact that your tank has run dry?

You are comparing a singular product to hobbies that incorporate thousands of products by a large range of manufactures, and the hobbiests themselves.

If a player of video games chooses to single out a single game made by a single manufacturer and build their central hobby around it and then complain because they don't like the direction the game goes in.... well oh well.

Perhaps you are young? Haven't played large scoped long-term games? They change. They come and go. Its the nature of things. Its how it is. Disappointing? Sure. Someday ED will be gone too. Completely. Just like all the other games I have played... and are gone. All my decades of game progress. And everybody else's too.

Meanwhile model planes, coin collections, and D&D continue.

As said previously, maybe choose a hobby that goes beyond a single product item made by a single manufacturer.

 

[Shabine]

You are comparing a singular product to hobbies that incorporate thousands of products by a large range of manufactures, and the hobbiests themselves.

In terms of the time some people put into it, yes.

If a player of video games chooses to single out a single game made by a single manufacturer and build their central hobby around it and then complain because they don't like the direction the game goes in.... well oh well.

And that's your opinion of those people. Fine.

Perhaps you are young? Haven't played large scoped long-term games? They change.

Of course they do. We all know that. But you're completely ignoring everything I've said about how some developers manage their projects better than others. And if some people have put a lot of time into ED and feel let down by how Frontier has managed its evolution, I understand why they might feel that way.

They come and go. Its the nature of things. Its how it is. Disappointing? Sure. Someday ED will be gone too. Completely. Just like all the other games I have played... and are gone. All my decades of game progress. And everybody else's too.

Again, I'm not arguing this. Nobody is talking about this.

Meanwhile model planes, coin collections, and D&D continue.

And there will be other space sims.

As said previously, maybe choose a hobby that goes beyond a single product item made by a single manufacturer.

And that's your advice to those people. Great.

From earlier in this thread:

Don't get me wrong. I like this game a lot, but it isn't my precious baby. It's just the game I'm playing right now.

That doesn't mean I'm not capable of understanding the frustrations of others when it comes to how they feel about the evolution of certain games.

I've played EVE since 2003. The people who I met playing it and became close with, attending drunken meetups in London and Tennessee, are all people I still know. We spent literally years of our lives hopping into and out of a game we all enjoyed greatly, and its developer (CCP) has, for the most part, done a great job guiding its growth over the past twenty years. It's been a big part of my life, and although it could disappear in an instant and I'd probably be perfectly fine with that, it doesn't change the fact that I very much considered EVE to be my hobby for a long time. You're free to mock me for that if you like, but the experiences that game lead to have had a measurable impact of my life - so much so that I still jump into Discord for major corporation and alliance meetings just to chat with old mates for a bit, and I haven't even logged in for over a year.

Your advise is to not bother criticizing a game, or talking about your expectations for it, because it's better to just walk away if it isn't doing what you need it to. And that's fine. We certainly got that message.

 

[MUTILADOR]

It's a MMO, with the added feature of players having more control over who they're instancing with (through the modes, which are nothing less or nothing more than a player filter)

I don't know what your argument is...
I've been able to interact with more players on NMS in just a few hours, than in the 3 years I've been in ED playing open.
No one says it can't be done, but maybe the "mmo" thing isn't very well implemented.
In SC the interaction of the players happens naturally because there are common stations and places for most of the pilots.

 

[Greasetrap42]

Your advise is to not bother criticizing a game, or talking about your expectations for it, because it's better to just walk away if it isn't doing what you need it to. And that's fine. We certainly got that message.

No, that is not my advice at all. I criticize this game lots. On these forums. But not in general terms. Not with big arm waving and generalized statements. In very specific terms or topics.

My advice that I have stated several times is to not build a central focused hobby around a singular item made by a singular manufacturer and then complain when it doesn't go in the direction you wanted it to. And then complaining that you spent hundreds (or thousands) of hours in the hobby that went in a direction you can't control. Or daily rants on forums like some do. Did they just figure out that you don't have control over their precious hobby? That eventually their hundreds of hours will eventually be a memory from the past? Have some perspective. Its a video game. Enjoy it while its fun... then move on with good memories when it is not.

Yes it can be sad or disappointing when the day comes to move on. I have done that with every other game I don't play anymore. So has everybody else.

 

[Shabine]

I criticize this game lots. On these forums. But not in general terms. Not with big arm waving and generalized statements. In very specific terms or topics.

Well that's a good thing, because you aren't just moping about it - you're focused on what you feel deserves focus. I think some people do eventually switch over to heaping blame for what they perceive to be shortcomings of the game onto Frontier in an entitled way. About that I totally agree with you.

Yes it can be sad or disappointing when the day comes to move on. I have done that with every other game I don't play anymore. So has everybody else.

It's true. I honestly try not to think about all the characters and playthroughs I was so into for a while and then completely abandoned. Sometimes one of their names pops into my head randomly and I'm like "Oh yeah, I did play that didn't I?"

 

[EdzUp]

We have paid for the game or a frontier game since Elite 1 yes back in 84, i was a member of their original forum a few forums ago (who remembers Elite club) before this one. Yes we might not fly around as a target in this game at present but as we have a stake in ED we should be allowed to have a voice in the forum to shape future content to possibly entice us to play it again.

I dont see the Jurassic crowd getting moaned at for not flying in space or the now defunct F1 crowd who were dropped fast that OSX in ED i think a couple od months is fdevs record now for dropping a project

 

[Christopher Roberto]

Your argument needs less filler, more content.
Saying they only added plants (insert thargoid pun), is dishonest bordering on disrespectful towards the people that have worked hard on the game.

I didn't say they only added plants . I'm saying scanning thousands of plants is not a draw outside of the ED community. It wasn't even a draw inside the ED community until they increased the credits, which suggests most people are doing it to grind rather than for fun. Exobiology is the first thing people think of in "Should I get Odyssey" / "I love Odyssey" threads on the subreddit[1][2][3][4] so scanning plants is the best Odyssey has to offer as far as the community is concerned.

"It's a lot of stuff you gotta do, hoops you gotta jump through." -- Disaster Movie, 2008

 

[Christopher Roberto]

Its only a grind if you have to do it and you don't.

It's grind as designed whether or not people engage with it as there is no skill component to it, it just requires time, a lot of time.

Im only Elite V in Exploration and Trade, guess what? yep my two main activities, did i grind those ranks? nope i just played the game.

If you got Elite V without specifically trying for it, why then point to Elite V as an example of content?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Well unlike yourself most of us haven't reached Elite V in everything, been to all 743 Tourist Beacons, circumnavigated the Universe in a cobra and/or Fleet carrier, helped their Power reach No1, Mined, traded, fought (in ship and on foot), gathered plants on strange planets, found pirates in Icy rings (and shot them), battled back the marauding planty things from our systems.
Nope nothing to do in this game

....

You know about all that stuff you can do in Elite Dangerous? It isn't worth doing. The grind requirements are so ridiculous, the reward from "regular" gameplay is so measly and miserable, players just resort to exploits and edge case scernarious to collect the grind items in suffficient quantities. They go to a handful of places in a galaxy of billions of stars to collect the loot required to move on in this broken progression. And when they finally finished the worst of it they have gear that is OP af that totally trivialises the gameplay.

I mean, what do I know, but it might better be OP af because you have to grind your nuts off for that crap, right? Noone, but the most OCD-type players would do any of it otherwise.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I'm saying that I understand why people who have invested a lot of their time into this game might have grievances given how it has been managed by its developer over the past ten years.

Oddly enough, that is one of the things I don't understand.

I've played something like 7,000 hours of ED/O since 2017, and just played the game as Frontier provided it - bought EDO as I was interested in the new content.

But, the relevant bit, I don't 'expect' the game to go or grow in any particular direction, so if some content bores me spitless (Thargoid War for the forseeable future, anyone) I play content that interests me.

The developer has managed the game over the last 10 years as they see fit - like it or lump it - and will continue to do as they wish. If this doesn't mesh with any particular player's (or ex-player's) expectations, who is to blame?

ED/O is what it is, nothing more or less, but certainly a great example of "Curate's egg"

 

[Alien]

Forgive me for being late to the party, blame my needing work for money ...

All I will say is, if Frontier want to insist that Elite still has a future, actions like cutting live streams from two per month to one per month, is not inspiring much hope in the community, and as such, threads like this one pop up.

 

[Shabine]

The developer has managed the game over the last 10 years as they see fit - like it or lump it - and will continue to do as they wish. If this doesn't mesh with any particular player's (or ex-player's) expectations, who is to blame?

The thing is, what if the grievances some veteran players have come directly from Frontier's incompetence when it comes to fixing the things we all know are bad or broken?

Multicrew is still one of the most complained about features of ED. It has never worked properly due to this game's p2p network issues. There are still widespread concerns about fighters causing chaos due to p2p network issues precipitating extensive ongoing testing in groups like AXI. CQC is an abandoned mess. PP is a joke of a feature that most players just grind at the last minute to unlock a module.

The fact that Frontier has never addressed these or many other major issues with how the game functions, coupled with their failure to deliver teased features, is a legitimate source of criticism in my opinion. It isn't that they ran the game their way in regard to these issues... it's that they've handled a lot of these things badly.

 

[amigacooke]

Forgive me for being late to the party, blame my needing work for money ...

All I will say is, if Frontier want to insist that Elite still has a future, actions like cutting live streams from two per month to one per month, is not inspiring much hope in the community, and as such, threads like this one pop up.

I’m trying to cast my mind back to see if ED has been in such relatively deep hibernation before. I think it has. Clearly Frontier have other fish to fry, at least publicly, at the moment.

 

[Rat Catcher]

The fact that Frontier has never addressed these or many other major issues with how the game functions, coupled with their failure to deliver teased features, is a legitimate source of criticism in my opinion. It isn't that they ran the game their way in regard to these issues... it's that they've handled a lot of these things badly.

They have done as they choose - surely?
Addressing or not addressing issues, not delivering (remember the original FC reveal?) content, or adding things they consider relevant is their decision.
When the game degrades sufficiently to make it not worth playing, I won't. That will be the "lump it" of their decisions, after all.

Other opinions are available, naturally.

 

[Shabine]

Addressing or not addressing issues, not delivering (remember the original FC reveal?) content, or adding things they consider relevant is their decision.

You're absolutely right. Their decisions. And players, some of who are more passionate and vocal than others, are allowed to discuss the impact of those decisions among themselves on these forums. Some players may not like lots of negativity, but if there is a measurable amount of it and for good reason, that tells us something... not about the developer's vision or intentions, but about how they manage their IP.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Some players may not like lots of negativity, but if there is a measurable amount of it and for good reason, that tells us something...

Indeed it does. It is a game forum, after all, and they tend to be much more negative than positive, as players desire to air their discontent much more than otherwise.

not about the developer's vision or intentions, but about how they manage their IP.

Not about the expectations of the players at all then? Just the bad developers not meeting everyone's dreams.txt?
This place has had pretty much the same complaints content since I joined, it just changes to whatever feature Frontier may or may not have added, or which bugs have been introduced or left unsquashed. It is about average.

I get it, some folk are dismayed because Frontier are not particularly invested in making ED/O evolve into what they perceive it should be. They are not managing the game in a way that others perceive they should, is it, in a nutshell.

Note that I am not praising Frontier in any way, as I am often accused of doing by some who don't play... Just accepting that I either play what I have, or not bother playing it, an easy decision, isn't it?

For the last 18 months it has been play very little, perhaps in a few months I'll play much more, but for now the days are getting longer and warmer and there are more attractive things to be doing rather than sitting playing games for hours.

All of the criticism of game / developers will have no real effect on the perceived failings (or minimal at best), but I guess it permits folk to get it off their chests.

 

[Shabine]

Not about the expectations of the players at all then?

If someone criticizes a direction taken, as I have in the past, it often comes from personal expectations not being met and entitlement. I completely agree with that.

When something is broken, and everyone agrees that it's broken, and the people responsible for its current state do nothing about it, frustration is entirely warranted.

The most glaring example of this is ED's crime and punishment system. We all know it's trash. They know it's trash. Has it ever been addressed?

No, and that's a problem and a legitimate source of grievance. In my opinion anyway.

 

[ClaraRulesSpace]

Source: https://youtu.be/dewWvCh6aVQ


My latest report

 

[Martind Forlon]

Reading through this thread I thought if someone criticizing this game (mostly about lack of content) had thought for a moment about what all is available for players to do in ED and what was added over the time. It’s very likely given that if anyone dislikes feature or it’s implementation then it’s like it doesn’t exist, but still it could be interesting to read some more detailed summary. It’s few years already since I created small wiki for ED and do from time to time some updates to it but I’m always struggling with amount of details once I start with adding something new.

 

[metatheurgist]

Forgive me for being late to the party, blame my needing work for money ...

All I will say is, if Frontier want to insist that Elite still has a future, actions like cutting live streams from two per month to one per month, is not inspiring much hope in the community, and as such, threads like this one pop up.

tbf, this thread came up 3 days before the livestream decision. And I don't think the OP sounds like they have a gripe, they are just expressing realism.

And I' m not sure how people have expectations after the "Prestige ranks count as content" line.