Game is lacklustre and boring for me, help me understand

[DaveB]

For most of us negative crowd, its not sour grapes because we're not putting down something that we can't have. Its disappointment at a missed opportunity because many of us believed in the vision of the Design Decisions Forum/Archive as they were written, and that is not what is being delivered. The reality is much more shallow and many of us were expecting something better than a graphical upgrade to the 1984 game we fell in love with.

I mean seriously, even Frontier: Elite II has more depth than Elite: Dangerous. And objectively given that we're 20 years moved on from that point it kinda does move into the territory of "it sucks" instead of "I don't like it".

I get that, but "I don't like X" does not equate to "everybody will hate X" - as it happens, as a veteran of the entire Elite series I do not agree with you on your comparison to Frontier. That does not invalidate your opinion. You have every right to hold the opinion you do. However, it's simply your opinion and does not dictate mine or anyone else's.

If you say "X sucks" and I say "Ok, but I like it" - that's the end of it. We have different opinions. There's no point in stinking up the forum trying to convince each other we're somehow "wrong" - By all means voice an honestly held opinion, but having done so, leave it rather than spewing bile all over the forum whenever anyone disagrees or whenever you see a place to hook your argument to. Folks will read it and honor your opinion a lot more that way.

Like I said to the poster I responded to - If you want out, sorry to see you go but if you're out, GET out. "I'm out but I'm going to bitterly all over the forum because of it" is the action of a troll. "I'm gone because of these reasons, see ya" is not. Guess which one I can respect?

 

[Fromhell]

This is the age old issue of sandbox vs themepark

uhmm.. no. At the moment it´s pretty much a big wide themepark, certainly not a sandbox.
It should become a sandbox one day but right now you´re only capable of doing stuff from Everquest 1 to be honest.
- Upgrade gear
- grind credits
- do mission A or mission B (kill or delivery sidequest type stuff)

this is 100% Non-sandbox, believe it or not.

when they add true player driven stuff, placing persistent stuff or players actually changing the universe, or something like housing on planets, then it will become sandbox.
Right now it´s 100% NPC driven themepark. Just with more real estate and without little story tidbits to pick up.

They should just add every feature from Eve, X3 and X-Rebirth, factory building, owning trade fleets etc., and make it multiplayer compatible.

 

[Bog]

uhmm.. no. At the moment it´s pretty much a big wide themepark, certainly not a sandbox.
It should become a sandbox one day but right now you´re only capable of doing stuff from Everquest 1 to be honest.
- Upgrade gear
- grind credits
- do mission A or mission B (kill or delivery sidequest type stuff)

this is 100% Non-sandbox, believe it or not.

when they add true player driven stuff, placing persistent stuff or players actually changing the universe, or something like housing on planets, then it will become sandbox.
Right now it´s 100% NPC driven themepark. Just with more real estate and without little story tidbits to pick up.

They should just add every feature from Eve, X3 and X-Rebirth, factory building, owning trade fleets etc., and make it multiplayer compatible.

It is multiplayer compatible, but the game has not released yet. The General Public aren't here yet.

Yeah?

We haven't started yet. We've been testing it. We're still testing it. That's what we've been doing.

 

[Patrick_68000]

The galaxy is probably still a little static. But the content will be added in the coming months and hundreds of thousands of players will make live the galaxy and make it dynamic. Patience

 

[XPhiler]

uhmm.. no. At the moment it´s pretty much a big wide themepark, certainly not a sandbox.
It should become a sandbox one day but right now you´re only capable of doing stuff from Everquest 1 to be honest.
- Upgrade gear
- grind credits
- do mission A or mission B (kill or delivery sidequest type stuff)

this is 100% Non-sandbox, believe it or not.

when they add true player driven stuff, placing persistent stuff or players actually changing the universe, or something like housing on planets, then it will become sandbox.
Right now it´s 100% NPC driven themepark. Just with more real estate and without little story tidbits to pick up.

They should just add every feature from Eve, X3 and X-Rebirth, factory building, owning trade fleets etc., and make it multiplayer compatible.

No sandbox is 100% complete. There are always some missing basic game mechanics. ED is missing a few sure. Building, crafting, housing etc..

not being a 100% completed sandbox doesnt chance the fact you're a sandbox though.

Who's driving events is also irrelevant as long as its not a story on rails it isnt considered a themepark. Beside ED isnt completely 100% NPC driven either Players effect stuff in every facet of the game.

There are also a lot more you can do then just ugrade gear, grind credits or do missions.
You can go exploring, prospecting,
even do a pilgrimage like I've just seen Scott Manley do this morning
or like they've shown in the live stream yesterday, people racing each other in between the station super structure etc..

 

[Fromhell]

No sandbox is 100% complete. There are always some missing basic game mechanics. ED is missing a few sure. Building, crafting, housing etc..

not being a 100% completed sandbox doesnt chance the fact you're a sandbox though.

Please, don´t argue about this. It´s not a sandbox. I know sandbox MMOs. Entirely different feature sets. Don´t mix up the terms sandbox and open world. One does not imply the other.

 

[CMDR Von Abrahart]

The galaxy is probably still a little static. But the content will be added in the coming months and hundreds of thousands of players will make live the galaxy and make it dynamic. Patience

Agreed, a stable framework is in place to introduce large events, more missions, local events, aliens, generation ships, wars, wings etc etc. FD has a release schedule and had to ship on time, I think for a smallish company they've mad great guns in doing this. If they don't add more events I would be disappointed and surprised.

I think it looks great and I hope 16 Dec will have some more suprises - but even if it doesn't I live in hope.

 

[WeirdWizard]

I agree somewhat with the OP, I don't think its a lost cause but it is in a worrying state and I think being released way too early.

It all seemed to be going so well for the Alpha and first couple of Betas, but looking back there have been warning signs for a while. I may get around to writing more about where I think things have gone wrong and ways that they may yet be put right but I've got my own projects I really should be working on. I did however coin this rather nifty phrase that I think conveys how I feel about Elite Dangerous Today and that is -

Too much "Vision", not enough "Revision".

- Basically I think some of the underlying concepts and areas of focus were flawed from the start but the vision was so fixed in the minds of the developers that they refused to abandon them.

Something else I was pondering is that really we can't blame Frontier Developments too much for this, the last space sim game they made was 20odd years ago. Its not like Frontier are the Bethesda of Space Sims iterating and improving (by and large) on their genre. They make games like Zoo Tycoon and Kinectimal which are very different sorts of games. Combine that lack of experience with the genre (I know I'm going to get some flack for saying that but its true) with the fixed "vision" and its hardly surprising we are where we are.

 

[sbdags]

I agree somewhat with the OP, I don't think its a lost cause but it is in a worrying state and I think being released way too early.

It all seemed to be going so well for the Alpha and first couple of Betas, but looking back there have been warning signs for a while. I may get around to writing more about where I think things have gone wrong and ways that they may yet be put right but I've got my own projects I really should be working on. I did however coin this rather nifty phrase that I think conveys how I feel about Elite Dangerous Today and that is -

Too much "Vision", not enough "Revision".

- Basically I think some of the underlying concepts and areas of focus were flawed from the start but the vision was so fixed in the minds of the developers that they refused to abandon them.

Something else I was pondering is that really we can't blame Frontier Developments too much for this, the last space sim game they made was 20odd years ago. Its not like Frontier are the Bethesda of Space Sims iterating and improving (by and large) on their genre. They make games like Zoo Tycoon and Kinectimal which are very different sorts of games. Combine that lack of experience with the genre (I know I'm going to get some flack for saying that but its true) with the fixed "vision" and its hardly surprising we are where we are.

To a certain extent yes this is a remake if Elite 84. And I'm very pleased and happy with it. Imo it is refreshingly different to not be told where to go and follow a linear path but instead to create your own story. Yes I am an original 84'er and I love Elite.

Based on the reaction so far you either get that or you don't. You can't please all types but I am worried that a lot of younger gamers won't get it. As for Frontier well they created the genre in essence but they haven't moved on to what keeps gamers interested these days. Which is a shame as the game is brutally hard and difficult to see the depth if you are not familiar with the original.

I'm happy with the way it is progressing - my only wish is that they get some background story going with events and news kicking off soon.

 

[CMDR Von Abrahart]

To a certain extent yes this is a remake if Elite 84. And I'm very pleased and happy with it. Imo it is refreshingly different to not be told where to go and follow a linear path but instead to create your own story. Yes I am an original 84'er and I love Elite.

Based on the reaction so far you either get that or you don't. You can't please all types but I am worried that a lot of younger gamers won't get it. As for Frontier well they created the genre in essence but they haven't moved on to what keeps gamers interested these days. Which is a shame as the game is brutally hard and difficult to see the depth if you are not familiar with the original.

I'm happy with the way it is progressing - my only wish is that they get some background story going with events and news kicking off soon.

I'm on a Mac so I hope they get something in before I get the release.

 

[Alric]

To a certain extent yes this is a remake if Elite 84.

Yes and I think that is one of the main places where people are a bit divided. Do people want a modern day remake of Elite, or as a modern day sequel so Elite, Frontier and First Encounter?

For myself I want a sequel. Something that is part of the same lineage but building on it (a lot). A remake is just not enough. There has to be a whole lot more to the galaxy in 2014 than there was in 1984.

 

[SuperGhostMaster]

To a certain extent yes this is a remake if Elite 84. And I'm very pleased and happy with it. Imo it is refreshingly different to not be told where to go and follow a linear path but instead to create your own story. Yes I am an original 84'er and I love Elite.

Based on the reaction so far you either get that or you don't. You can't please all types but I am worried that a lot of younger gamers won't get it. As for Frontier well they created the genre in essence but they haven't moved on to what keeps gamers interested these days. Which is a shame as the game is brutally hard and difficult to see the depth if you are not familiar with the original.

I'm happy with the way it is progressing - my only wish is that they get some background story going with events and news kicking off soon.

The problem is that games HAVE come a long way and a lot of features that can be provided based on modern games, which would only serve to *supplement* this game are being left out.

There's no reason both those looking for nostalgia and those looking for a modern MMO couldn't both have their way, but neither will continue to get a game they want if some modern MMO features are not added.... because the money to fund it won't be there.

Nothing is forcing the hold-overs from the 80's from playing the way they want. But the lack of an option is isolating the rest of us.

 

[CMDR Von Abrahart]

The problem is that games HAVE come a long way and a lot of features that can be provided based on modern games, which would only serve to *supplement* this game are being left out.

There's no reason both those looking for nostalgia and those looking for a modern MMO couldn't both have their way, but neither will continue to get a game they want if some modern MMO features are not added.... because the money to fund it won't be there

Nothing is forcing the hold-overs from the 80's from playing the way they want. But the lack of an option is isolating the rest of us.

I think / hope a lot of 'younger' gamers will be included in FPS planet and on-ship combat. Which I am sure will happen - I'm optimistic. I'm looking forward to 'wings' and being 'carried' into war on a Cruiser.

 

[Sagan Ross]

I have to say that my fear is that this has been released to soon - i fear that a lot of people will get the game, have a look around a few days and say "hey that's nice" and then move on to other games forgetting this and when the expansions realeases with the new features there will be to few people playing this game to make the cost viable.

I do think that it was a mistake not to wait with the release until you have planetary landings - flying dirrectly from space down and land on a planet is a great feature that only few games have had a feature like that is a conversation starter - as the game is now you just fly from space station to space station interrupted by some repedative combat or even more repedative mining.

 

[CeskySkilla]

I have to say that my fear is that this has been released to soon - i fear that a lot of people will get the game, have a look around a few days and say "hey that's nice" and then move on to other games forgetting this and when the expansions realeases with the new features there will be to few people playing this game to make the cost viable.

I do think that it was a mistake not to wait with the release until you have planetary landings - flying dirrectly from space down and land on a planet is a great feature that only few games have had a feature like that is a conversation starter - as the game is now you just fly from space station to space station interrupted by some repedative combat or even more repedative mining.

Planetary landing is a boring gimmick. What this game needs are social features - to be truly a MMO - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=61001

 

[Sagan Ross]

Planetary landing is a boring gimmick. What this game needs are social features - to be truly a MMO - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=61001

You might call it a gimmick but planetary landings will offer a change of scenry compared to looking at space all the time - also people don't really want MMO's other than WoW if sales are to be believed.

 

[WeirdWizard]

Planetary landing is a boring gimmick. What this game needs is social features - to be truly an MMO - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=61001

Sadly I think the shear scale of the inhabited space makes any hope of it being a true MMO moot. Even if no one ever went beyond the frontier and limited themselves to inhabited system, that's still such a ridiculous obscenely vast area that people will be spread far too thinly to make any sort of traditional MMO gameplay unworkable IMO. The scale problem also makes me baffle at how they think they can actually engage more than 0.01% of the players in their big story stuff.

 

[CeskySkilla]

You might call it a gimmick but planetary landings will offer a change of scenry compared to looking at space all the time - also people don't really want MMO's other than WoW if sales are to be believed.

You can already dock on space stations, so what? You want also some stupid FPS minigame? You just don't get it. You cannot even do coop missions. This game is currently single player only.

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Sadly I think the shear scale of the inhabited space makes any hope of it being a true MMO moot. Even if no one ever went beyond the frontier and limited themselves to inhabited system, that's still such a ridiculous obscenely vast area that people will be spread far too thinly to make any sort of traditional MMO gameplay unworkable IMO. The scale problem also makes me baffle at how they think they can actually engage more than 0.01% of the players in their big story stuff.

Of course the scale does not make sense, How many stars can you really visit before it bores you to death? 100? 1000?

 

[Sagan Ross]

You can already dock on space stations, so what? You want also some stupid FPS minigame? You just don't get it. You cannot even do coop missions. This game is currently single player only.

I have no idea what you're talking about here .. FPS minigame out of the blue?? .. hey i can play this game as well .. ahem.. so you want a MMO so you also want to raid Orgrimmar is that it?

 

[Irre]

You might call it a gimmick but planetary landings will offer a change of scenry compared to looking at space all the time - also people don't really want MMO's other than WoW if sales are to be believed.

scenery is not what makes a game good , you look at it, and then, what?