Pay2Win made it to Elite

We have: develop a game, and expansions, that people consider worth buying.

Why do you think this isn't a viable alternative?
Yep, make good game. There are so many features (not even talking full expansions here) missing. Just even fix up some the contradictory and unenjoyable things they seem to think are great features. Pick a lane, the game can't be everything to everyone. Have a vision, stick to it.
 
We have: develop a game, and expansions, that people consider worth buying.

Why do you think this isn't a viable alternative?
These are long term goals, short tern they need cash to fund folks working on the game.
We have to remember this is a niche game, none of us want it turning into a copy of another game just an improvement on what we have without ruining the distinctly different feel of Elite.
There are still quite a few ships without shipkits, those would be an instant buy for me. The fleet carriers got 3 different exterior and interior skins on launch and never anything more. Given how popular carriers are and I know hardly any player who hasn't bought at least one kit for theirs, that's cash lost right there. There still is lots and lots of untapped potential in cosmetics still. Finally making the ship interiors would open another avenue of endless internal decoration, ask the Starfield players. Same goes for base building. And that could actually be sold as an expansion on top.
All valid points but again i see interiors and base building as something that needs a lot of manpower to produce, what they are doing now is using existing assets to raise revenue and hopefully new players to boost development.

O7
 
These are long term goals, short tern they need cash to fund folks working on the game.
We have to remember this is a niche game, none of us want it turning into a copy of another game just an improvement on what we have without ruining the distinctly different feel of Elite.

All valid points but again i see interiors and base building as something that needs a lot of manpower to produce, what they are doing now is using existing assets to raise revenue and hopefully new players to boost development.

O7
Long-term development isn't going to be paid for by a few extra microtransactions - the game already has other much larger revenue streams. This is icing on the cake, it's not going to conjure up the manpower to meaningfully develop Elite - especially if management are already opposed to that. Currently, their strategy looks more like "reduce costs and squeeze the existing playerbase a bit more" than investing their existing funds into the game to grow it.
 
Well everyone is criticising but im still waiting for anyone to come up with an alternative to help their cash flow 🤷‍♂️

O7
In addition to what was said already, here are some more:


I'll use this opportunity to make another point. In most cases when it comes to cosmetic shop items you also have to consider the creation process. The "spend some money to make some money" angle. I get that. In this regard, I can see why pre-built ships would be attractive to management, it costs almost nothing to create them, maybe just the developer time to put them together and set up the in-game delivery and shop. They're essentially just a JSON, no?

But in the case of Elite, there are already assets half-built or even readily available to be sold. They just have to market them. Like for example the all the concourse commercial logos and imagery which could be built into additional logos or ship skins (I'd love myself a Type-9 with a skin making it look like I got it for a discount from a company delivering Uszaian Tree Grubs). Or the new PP carrier layouts. These exist. We've just seen them in the stream with our very own eyes.

The fact that they would choose P2W items for the shop before even considering these items just boggles my mind. I don't understand it.
 
I found a post of mine in a pay-to-win thread from nine and a half years ago:

And back then i probably would have been dismissive of it, and perhaps even arguing it wasn't really pay to win (maybe i even have a post in that thread).

But my opinion has shifted over the years, largely fueled by more and more dissatisfaction with games with worse and worse monetization schemes so think i've become more sensitive to it, and while there are certainly gradients of P2W, we as consumers should always be cautious of the thin edge of the wedge.

I've become a lot more critical of pre-order bonuses these days. Its gone from a "thank you for supporting us" to "pre-order or miss out"
 
These are long term goals

Developing a game and expansions worth buying aren’t “long term goals,” they’re a monetization strategy. One that’s worked for many single player games. Some haven’t even needed expansions to continue development. Heck, this + cosmetics worked well enough for Elite Dangerous that they even gave us one of the five planned paid expansions for free.

short tern they need cash to fund folks working on the game.

I understand the situation. There are plenty of ways of dealing with that, without going the pay-for-assets route. My question remains this: Why do you think the strategy I described above won’t work?

We have to remember this is a niche game, none of us want it turning into a copy of another game just an improvement on what we have without ruining the distinctly different feel of Elite.

I’ve played many games far more niche than Elite Dangerous that are still releasing updates and expansions, both free and paid, for longer than this game was even a Kickstarter. Being a niche game, or even a complex game, has nothing to do with the “make a good game and expansions” won’t work.
 
whaling the crap out of dumb rich people.
I'm neither rich nor dumb (in the context in which you are offensively using it) and I can afford a tenner when I wish...
I certainly couldn't afford a grand or more though
Finally making the ship interiors would open another avenue of endless internal decoration, ask the Starfield players
I play Starfield and interiors have not inspired me to any degree, in fact I have spent less time in Starfield than any other Bethesda title I have bought, maybe a few updates may make it more attractive to spending my time playing.
 
I appears that, in the main, the objections are not about them spending their money, but concern that others may spend theirs, which is laughable, in truth.
In my case, I'm not concerned about those two ships, they're mediocre at best and there are better builds offered by other cmdrs that I can copy.
What makes my sense tingle is the 7th or 8th batch in the future, when the current trend will have been established and considered business as usual. Those hypothetical ships may not be mediocre any more.

Edit: I think we're being conditioned here.
 
Last edited:
In my case, I'm not concerned about those two ships, they're mediocre at best and there are better builds offered by other cmdrs that I can copy.
What makes my sense tingle is the 7th or 8th batch in the future, when the current trent will have been established and considered business as usual. Those hypothetical ships may not be mediocre any more.

Edit: I think we're being conditioned here.
That is the thing. And even if they came out and said that will never happen, I could not believe them anymore.They've also once said it'll only be cosmetics on the store.
 
In my case, I'm not concerned about those two ships, they're mediocre at best and there are better builds offered by other cmdrs that I can copy.
What makes my sense tingle is the 7th or 8th batch in the future, when the current trent will have been established and considered business as usual. Those hypothetical ships may not be mediocre any more.

Edit: I think we're being conditioned here.
Indeed, I'm sure they will be asking for player's firstborn eventually, and a lifetime of servitude for ours and five generations forward.

It is a great game to play, no doubt, but it is just a game and if FD actually become predatory along the lines of e.g. CIG, then I will gladly walk away, not even bothering to post a rage-quit, as I've never really been a follower of fashion...
 
This amused me from a 2015 David Braben interview, it got everything.. Pay 2 win, ship interiors and leather upholstery!!

RPS: But does the game depend upon a constant influx of new players buying the base game in order to keep those areas populated?

Braben:
Don't forget, we've also got the skins and stuff like that. We've not done pay-to-win but we have done things that make your ship shinier, and obviously as that becomes richer, as you can walk around inside your ships, things like leather upholstery are also things that we can do. It's not a pay-to-win thing but actually makes your ship more shiny.


Sadly he didn't 'promise' the leather upholstery :cry:
 
That is the thing. And even if they came out and said that will never happen, I could not believe them anymore.They've also once said it'll only be cosmetics on the store.
It is a shame that now whatever happens you will refuse to believe them any more.

After all if they decide to not put these ships up for sale then the fact they have gone back on saying they would still makes them untrustworthy.
 
Back
Top Bottom