Dear Mr Braben... The poll

[Frankfort]

Why should they please the new crowd with dumbed down features ?

If you dis agree with how te game is at the moment you should have been playing testing during the alphas and betas you could have made suggestions ,

But no now they complain about disisions made before Gamma .
and dont read up on how this game is going to progress and be developed in the future .

 

[tucker]

Poll: Do you think FD should change aspects of the game just to please the new crowd?

Ridiculous poll, of course they should satisfy there new player base. But the assumption that if you were not part of the 84 crowd then you are in some way worthless and need/want your hand holding is offensive and really gets my back up.

You could have asked a more generalized question like do you find Elite: Dangerous too easy in it's current form, if so please explain and actually had a decent productive, debate but instead you turn it into a 84rs rule thread, him verses her...

Joker... I won't vote because the options are worthless, even more worthless than the current Elite AI

Sorry that all of my posts upset you.

i Just wanted to know what your thought were if you are new to Elite or not and to how FD are progressing with the game. That's all.

 

[Panzer]

Poorly built poll. You assume there's a distinct rift between traditionalists and newcomers.

I say, that a game, that fails to adapt at least in detail - is doomed to fail. It's what hapened to Tomb Raider series all the way to its fifth iteration. And then another company bought the idea and made awesomes based on an old premise, though, using MUCH newer mechanics.

And I bought this for the sake of longest-term gaming, at least a decade. If the game doesn't keep up with some things (Multiplayer functions being most critical atm), it won't last anywhere near as long.

 

[CMDR Canaris]

Elite fans will still want to play this in 1-3-5+ Years, a lot (not all) of today's generation will play it for 2-3 weeks or a month at the most and move onto something else.

Not if they create new Elite fans by not alienating newcomers. The main fan base is small compared to the wider market.

Appealing to a broader audience is a good idea, whether or not it alienates the hardcore fans. Your experience isn't the only one that matters.

 

[Renegade Roach]

I do think simplifying/dumbing down the game is a very bad idea, why?

Elite fans will still want to play this in 1-3-5+ Years, a lot (not all) of today's generation will play it for 2-3 weeks or a month at the most and move onto something else.

Do Frontier really want to alienate their main fanbase? It's not a good idea.

That said.. I do think there should be better tutorials and a manual for the newcomers.

This is an utterly false premise. People will play a game in years to come if it is good, if it offers challenges and progression that last beyond the short term. To suppose that 'original Elite players' will stick with the game regardless, or that 'newcomers' will abandon the game in a few weeks or months is absurd. Make a good game and it will last, cater to those who want short term gratification or to those who want some masochistic revival of 30 year old gameplay is nonsense.

 

[Witzo]

I need a better understanding of the concept 'new crowd' before I can vote.
I would expect younger players to have variant preferences; some want a hard game at the level of Eve, some want a carefree game at the level of WoW.

 

[Steve50]

Poorly built poll. You assume there's a distinct rift between traditionalists and newcomers.

I say, that a game, that fails to adapt at least in detail - is doomed to fail. It's what hapened to Tomb Raider series all the way to its fifth iteration. And then another company bought the idea and made awesomes based on an old premise, though, using MUCH newer mechanics.

And I bought this for the sake of longest-term gaming, at least a decade. If the game doesn't keep up with some things (Multiplayer functions being most critical atm), it won't last anywhere near as long.

Off topic for one moment. I'm a huge TR fan and have played them all since the first one on the PS1 but I bought the new one and it's awful!! As a normal game it's okay but as a TR game the reboot is horrific.. They removed all challenge from the game, there's no decent puzzles, just 1 room puzzles a 6 year old can do and they ramped up the shooting to appeal to the CoD generation. As a TR fan the new game is an epic let down

Sorry, now back to Elite

 

[Neilos]

I think that the problem lies here:

People who backed the game think that in some way they own the rights to direct its future to suit them, and generally speaking it is the 84ers who backed as they are older and have more money available. I don't think that this should be the case. Regardless of how much you spent on the game we should all have equal votes. I do not believe that the Backers should be treated as special citizens who we should all fall down before and worship, that is reserved for David Braben!

Of course the game should suit the entire player base that is where the future revenue will come from, FD is a business afterall. By simply saying that newcomers have to play passenger to the mighty Backers is unfair and a little self-righteous, no one forced you to support the game and in doing so I believe that the benefits were not inclusive of a seat on the board of FD?!?!

Having said that I do believe that the game should cater for all. The trouble is that there are two distinct groups of people here, the 84ers and the non-84ers, and these two groups have two different views... Old fashioned gaming experience and modern gaming experience. Generally speaking the 84ers I think don't have much of a past with computer games post Elite 1984 (certainly online MMO, I know this isn't MMO but it's close) whilst the other group have a rich history of online gaming and have certain expectations that come with that. The trouble being that backers want to recreate the 1984 version using modern tech, but he newcomers want a modern game based on the original.

I actually did play the original even if I did play it in the early 90's when I was 7 after watching my Dad play it on our BBC Micro which eventually I electrocuted myself on, but I am in the non-84ers camp really as I have played lots of games my whole life and been playing online multiplayer and MMOs since the early 2000s; I have a modern taste for gaming.

I do think however that it is possible to please both camps.

Your poll however is not reliable. There are too many factors that are included. The poll cannot be objective, but I'll still vote

The poll will naturally attract more of the 84ers who feel stronger about what you are saying. Also as time goes on the newcomers will begin to outnumber the 84ers which likely isn't the case currently.

Having said that there is no indication in the poll of what will actually be changed so you'll have people voting for the same thing when that have completely different views.

 

[fademist]

I need a better understanding of the concept 'new crowd' before I can vote.
I would expect younger players to have variant preferences; some want a hard game at the level of Eve, some want a carefree game at the level of WoW.

;o eve is hard...join the blob and is easy;p

 

[Frankfort]

Have you read the news letters from kickstarter til now or watched the video dairys how this game will progres ?

then go and complain .

this is just one phase of the development .

 

[John Xenir]

I will refrain from voting as the original post, plus the poll, build an impression that "pleasing the crowd" = "dumbing the game down for idiots to understand".
And I disagree with such an approach on the subject, plus the whole thread is not precise enough to show where the problem is.

NPCs are tougher the higher their level. I had no problem killing NPC pirates in Cobras with my Eagle, but when I stumbled upon Elite Cobra pirate, it wasn't certain who will win until the last few seconds. I barely made it out of the fight but I gave 101% and still won only to a bit of luck (I layed what seemed to be a critical blow to his engine and he lost majority of control over his ship).
NPCs are not tough enough when you consider top ships like Pyton/Anaconda. I agree with some posters saying they should be feared and an ultimate challenge to bring down. While I lost couple of times trying to challenge them to see how I can do against them, I managed to do far more damage than I expected before being killed.

That said, "changing the game aspects to please the crowd" - in relation to OP's post and above example- is not an accurate statement and does not shed light at all game aspects equally. It only is a thesis that increasing challenge level is good while decreasing it is "dumbing the game down" and that is not the case across the whole game. See above examples (two of many!) that a generalized approach to game difficulty level is nowhere near solving any problems, creating more issues instead.

 

[Ghostile]

There is no end game. It is what it is, hence why its hard

Which means it's lacking in design.
And there's a quite easy remedy for that.

 

[CMDR Carbo]

Stupid poll is stupid. I started playing elite in 93 on the Amiga, wouldn't even know where to vote here.

I find this whole "I'm an 84er, my opinion is worth more" behavior really childish.

I mean, as an 84er, you should expect a bit a more grown up attitude than that.

 

[GibMeister]

I Agree with this, elite should be dangerous. And also the Devs shouldn't change things just to please the new crowd.

I've put in quite a lot of money into this game, and really only for this game. Being an 84er and paying into premium beta, skins, Rift, gtx970 and a new ECU, MB, memory. I've easily spent £1000+ and I know a lot of others that have paid that kind of money into this game just because of the promise of a rebuild of the classic Elite.

All the input through the beta stages seems to be worthless if they start to change the game to accommodate the £35-£40 new comers.

Well, say you were a backer of FORD motor cars a 100 years ago, would you be today sticking with your guns that cars should all be black have 2 doors use the same engine, have no options in them etc ?

I say to you and all Backers, well done! You have helped get this game off the ground! You have earned the reward of having some of the ideas you love implemented in this game and we all enjoy most of them so thanks! Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic, I mean it.

However, now the rest of us are coming on board and there will be more of us than you at some point....we will have to have a say as equal as yours if not greater at some point, so concessions will me made, its the law of the jungle. Yes the game may be softened and rounded a bit at the edges so we poor noobs don't bump our selfs too much, but essentially it will remain the same but shinier, softer, more appealling etc - Plain Jane will get some cosmetic surgery and start wearing make up and nice short skirts - but she will still be the same person inside ;-)

 

[imashination]

I don't get it. Your post is effectively "I spent some money on a new computer to play this game, they should cater to me, not people that already had a computer"

You make some reasonable points, but you're just coming off as some entitled old grump yelling "back in my day we had to walk 20 miles to school through snow, uphill both ways."

 

[TannakaObi]

Sorry that all of my posts upset you.

i Just wanted to know what your thought were if you are new to Elite or not and to how FD are progressing with the game. That's all.

I didn't say all your posts upset me. I said this poll offends me. It works on the assumption that anyone that was not a player in 84 is weak.

Let me give you as clue, just as many of us new players think the game is currently too easy, for a host of different reasons. There are many players from 84 that are fine with the way it is.

The point is that being a player from 84 is immaterial, it means nothing and makes no difference on players opinions. By suggesting differently is.... newist... haha! It creates an elitist attitude and it's got to the point where I cringe now when I hear the number 84 on this forum.

 

[Armour]

This is a pretty disgusting attitude, really.

The fact is that the Kickstarter backers, along with those who paid Frontier direct for Beta access, have shelled out lots of money to get in there early, and to have the ability to influence design and subsequent development. This was offered as a reward to these folks, for their faith in the developers and their vision of the project - they made the game happen, after all.

For the beneficiaries of the backer's patronage to take their money and then ignore them in favour of pandering to those who either

• were unfamiliar with the series and it's unforgiving nature (witness all the posts online asking if the game was influenced by the X series for examples of such cluelessness about the history of the series),
• didn't put their money where their mouths currently are and now want things their way

does seem like a slap in the face to the original players - and not for the first time...

I'd suggest that is a more "disgusting" attitude, really.

 

[CMDR Carbo]

The point is that being a player from 84 is immaterial, it means nothing and makes no difference on players opinions. By suggesting differently is.... newist... haha! It creates an elitist attitude and it's got to the point where I cringe now when I hear the number 84 on this forum.

This. I completely agree, couldn't have said it better.

 

[dannysquid]

I don't see any evidence that games now are more dumbed down than games from 1984. We've learned a lot in thirty years. Ignoring that is the dumb option, IMHO. If anything making the game MORE challenging would be more in line with current tastes!

 

[Stressfest]

I think the poll results 'thus far' speaks volumes. The majority aren't happy with how easy the game is mechanically.. not the earning capacity, not those stupid interdiction and associated mini game but how riciculous it's all become. Elite Anaconda vs Viper... In what universe would you stand a chance, unless your name is Obi Wan.