The "No Game" comments

What, exactly, IS your point? You have only told me that I'm missing something, that I'm not enjoying this "immersive reality."

All of my points directly contradict what you're saying about it being immersive. I can't leave my ship, at all. Ever. My pilot is soldered to his chair and is eternally damned to shoot, trade, or look at the stars.

I have to land on a station to pay my fine or collect a bounty because apparently technology in 3300 is so far behind that they can instantly put a bounty on me the microsecond I do something wrong, but I can neither appeal it or pay it on the spot. Jump through hundreds of light years? No problem. Pay a fine remotely? WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?

The immersion of not being able to land on a planet! Man, I'm so immersed.

The game right now is basically an astronomical tool, a way to very slowly see a ton of different stars in the galaxy. It has a thin veneer of a game layered over it. I agree, the scale of the game is impressive, loading up that star map and watching my screen fill with tens of thousands of on-screen stars, all of which I can travel to at will, is very neat.

It's just that there's not much to DO. Part of immersion for me is variety. Elite lacks variety. My imagination cannot add game mechanics. My imagination can't fix the broken online play. My imagination only goes so far.

I get what the game is, and I get that some people are happy with it as is. I'm not. I want more. As I said, if everything FD has talked about was actually in-game right now, it would probably be my favorite game of all time. The features they've talked about sound incredible, but all they've finished is the flight model and some basic mission archetypes.

I still have fun with the game, I don't need you or anyone else to recommend I leave or that it's not for me. If I hated the game, I wouldn't bother posting here. I cut my losses and leave if I have a bad game. This is not a bad game, it's an unfinished one. But sadly the label reads "1.0," which in game development terms means "content complete." Any truly major changes, like those planetary landings I'm positively DROOLING for, will sadly be in paid expansions. I'm hoping they don't do this with every major feature they've talked about. Eventually it will be very expensive to get the entire experience if so.

I agree 100% with the OP, I also agree to a certain extent with Xbob. However, with most games nice to haves never occur. ED is dynamic and evolving. At the moment it is as you have said an astrnomical tool, with a bit of fun attached, but, additional content will occur to make it even better. Yes, I agree the content may be paid for, but I dont think it will be the same as the merc price, probably £10-20 is my guess.

I am having great fun at the moment, but this will get better, probably in a couple of months.
 
As per with internet discussion there is a huge false dichotomy happening in this discussion.

Wanting more "content" is not exclusive to having an imagination.

My son uses his imagination when he plays with his lego, he always wants more bricks (content) though.

The real dichotomy is between the game providing us with raw "bricks" out of which we make our own experiences or whether the game provides us with ready made constructs that can only be used in a limited/scripted way. Hopefully most of the development energy will go on the former.

That said I do think players who are saying im done after 10 hours lack something. If you put me in a real space ship I would be hopelessly entertained just staring out the window for months if not years. This game creates the most believable visceral experience of being in a space ship evaaar.

I dont think you need imagination to know what to do, you need imagination just to be "there." For lots of hours this should be enough, but yes at some point the "what do I do" needs more bricks.
 
One major flaw. Point 1 of ED, it is not a live galaxy. It has no soul at all. All the NPC'S are randomly generated. Its a galaxy populated by very basic bots. Sure I can use my imagination and make an incomplete souless game more alive, but you can say that about anything ever. I can use my imagination, fill the plot holes, correct the nonsense of Prometheus, and now a terrible movie is a great movie. I live in the real world though and don't judge things by what they *can* be in my imagination but what they actually are in reality
 
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You nailed it! The game is suppose to pull me in and entertain me, not make me imagine I'm playing a game!

That said I do think players who are saying im done after 10 hours lack something. If you put me in a real space ship I would be hopelessly entertained just staring out the window for months if not years. This game creates the most believable visceral experience of being in a space ship evaaar.

I dont think you need imagination to know what to do, you need imagination just to be "there." For lots of hours this should be enough, but yes at some point the "what do I do" needs more bricks.
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One major flaw. Point 1 of ED, it is not a live galaxy. It has no soul at all. All the NPC'S are randomly generated. Its a galaxy populated by very basic bots. Sure I can use my imagination and make an incomplete souless game more alive, but you can say that about anything ever. I can use my imagination, fill the plot holes, correct the nonsense of Prometheus, and now a terrible movie is a great movie. I live in the real world though and don't judge things by what they *can* be in my imagination but what they actually are in reality

Whoa. Steady on now. No amount of imagination can make Prometheus a great movie. :p
 
I can play the game with no computer if I use my imagination...i don't even have to spend money buying it!. I can also imagine that it is a complete and fully functioning game!

My in-head game is X rated :D But sometimes i like to play computer games like ED.

Nice post OP. Having an imagination really brings this game to life. Loving it loads. And it will get better and better with new features as and when they come, i'm pretty certain of that.
 
You nailed it! The game is suppose to pull me in and entertain me, not make me imagine I'm playing a game!

I agree, I don't know what game I could use as reference. soulless is maybe a bit strong worded, however it feels kind of clinical dead.
When I walk in the wood in DayZ there is not much to do either but survive. What make that game great is that you actually feel that you're in a apocalyptic world.
 
This recent thing of telling people they lack imagination and can't possibly enjoy the game without it is the latest way of saying "it's a alpha...beta...gamma" in order to gloss over the utter lack of feature polish in the game. Hopefully that polish is coming from FD sooner rather than later to add depth to the ocean sized potential of the puddle deep we have now.
 
For the most part I agree with this. However on the imagination issue I think there could be improvements. My 40 year old imagination is not as good as my 10 year old imagination was. Maybe thats different for others, but life has beaten most of my imagination out of my head. And what little imagination I do have left, has less available time to daydream and wander due to the aforementioned life getting in the way and beating it down like a school bully sitting on the class nerds head and farting.
 
2 - You aren't the most important person in the game.

Elite is whatever 'You' bring to the game.

this is what I like best , no big ape on top of the hill.

what I see as new and see as revolutionary it how the game tries to police it selves.
with AI hunting down wrong do'ers.

this is something that confuses allot of players and it has spawn many discussions.
cos players were not aware of local laws.
if you understand this suddenly the game seems not that empty like some think.
and the realisms level is trough the roof.
all your actions mean something and have consequences.

what we see now is that lots a players run around like its a black Friday sale.
but if they would slow a bit down and really get into things it'll get allot more interesting.
for example with only two players we brought a faction up to 97%
just by supporting them in any way.
something players entirely miss if they only trade rare goods.
or only pick random fights.

I think the best way to play Elite is to choose your home and act accordingly.
like if they are hungry at home , I go out to get some food.
this might not give the best profits but boy you should know what it does for your game rep.
for me the entire Empire is green now.
even the places I haven't been yet.

it changes me too , and I wonder should I collect this fed. bounty that's still on the shelf.
or I'm I getting to proud for that.

and bla blah bla uh oh ,okay I shut up now.
like your post Ferris.
 
I have to say while I agree with the OP Xbob and others also make very valid points.
My take on it so far I guess is along these lines.
I played the original and also the sequel absolutely loved em in fact I worked in a computer centre for BT at the time and my first encounter with Elite was being introduced to this pc that was tucked away at the back of the massive server room out of the way of prying eyes, this was where those of us so inclined could be found whiling away the hours on a slow night shift.
But lets be honest now looking back Elite was a minimal experience you got out of it what you put in much like today.
And today I have what I wanted, I have to my mind anyway (your experience may vary) the same game with all the up to date visuals and mechanics I was hoping for, for me anything else is a bonus and yes I am very much looking forward and hoping that David and his team can and will add more content more story etc, because otherwise a large proportion of the playerbase will defect at a later date and I do understand why that will happen.
Elite cannot ever be a quick fix experience it never was, there wont be an "Endgame" there shouldn't be.
I can say with some certainty that ED will be on my hard drive for years, it may never be the game I rush home to play of an evening but it will be there slowly evolving as my story unfolds I hope.
And yes I will go and play Star Citizen when it is released lets be honest we all will, be mad not to.
Maybe that will be the one everyone is waiting for I actually hope it can deliver what it promises as I also believe there is room in space for both types of game.
Maybe Imagination is not what is missing here, maybe it is just Patience.

In the meantime lets just enjoy what we have.
 
Wat? Core mechanics are excellent. Name another game which does space flight as well as this one?
You listed one mechanic. And yes I will direct you to Evochron Mercenary. Four year old game made by one guy. Infinitely better space flight model.
 
+1 Rep to OP.

I have no complaints with how things are at the moment, particularly as Elite hasn't even been out a month yet.

What I do see in a whole galaxy to explore and the beginning of some fairly interesting storylines. And within that whole galaxy, the potential for other stories and events is huge.

I'm very happy to explore and improve my ship and skills, and once stories develop, maybe make more of a mark. Imagination needed? Maybe. Patience? Some.
 
Wat? Core mechanics are excellent. Name another game which does space flight as well as this one?

I like the flight mechanic, but it is far from a good space flight mechanic...for better space flight mechanics see: tachyon, freespace...drawing a blank I know there are more with more realistic flight in space
 
Cant agree enough shame some younger players lack imagination. Elite is all about your own way there is no end. As for boss fights if you want a challenge take on a conda in a eagle that should be enough for most! There should be a line added to spec sheet "Imagination Required"
 
Let me first state that I really like ED, and I don't think it's lacking much at all as far as entertainment goes.

What I think many players will miss in the long run is the possibility to build and defend their own part of the game.
I cannot help but compare this game to EVE, where this aspect is very nicely in place.
In EVE it's perfectly possible to live a similar live as in ED, you head out, you kill rats (or mine roids, or place some market orders), you fly back to the NPC owned station where you live and you collect your paycheck.

But there is also the possibility to place your own station, which enables you to make items more cheaply, it allows you to mine moons etc.
But to keep a player owned structure running, it needs fuel and maintenance.
this in turn forces you to move valuable stuff through space, allowing your competition to intercept those cargoes, and to do that safely, you need an escort; making the owning and maintenance of a structure a group based activity.

I think having a system like that in ED would be really awesome, because it would force players to work together against eachother.
 
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