In my opinion and preference. Story, main plot, quest, etc arent free roaming gameplay. It's making a free sandbox game lineair. It is just the halve of the target market, who demand for such beast. And I see it just as a effort to please both. But it doesn't work that way well.
In X3 TC I like to play free doing my own thing. There is enough detail and gameplay variation to have some fun. Altho it in bad shape. It has become a bit polished with patches. But plot line lure you with excotic thing you can gain. Wich make it a must to do thing. Or else stay behind or miss lot of things you can own in the game. Not my thing bust msut do them for the goodstuff.
So people who want a huge story and sandbox have conflicting wishes. Unless the want the player to choose in a while to do the other thing. Might that part of the market like to swich from free to story and back. I'am pure free.
And with that all effort put in story goes off effort done to depth to the sandbox gameplay. Dev resources split to two different resource demanding gameplay styles.
Because of to much in little time you get a game with bad interface AI and story but with bugs. So focus you can do that one thing right, instead all medicure.
So it sound realy nice for infinity, to be able to play with a pure sandbox SP game. Sound interresting. Remindme of the reason Epic put bots in game. Because large part of those UT gamers play often offline. And that for a online focused game. From Epic market research. And I am one of those kind of gamers. So it's a big target market.
Offcourse Bot's feature is a heavy one to put in. But in case off persistend world, advanced npc are a common need for such games. In relation to some mplayer put into a arena. battleling it out. CTF TD etc. Where bot's are extra work. But in Epic case a need for a licencable game engine which could eb use for pure SP games to.
While infinity quest for earth is a bit far into production. So they have already planned most of it and done a decent part. And know most what they are going to implement. In case off Elite 4. That is in state of just a promise. Frontier Dev's would start wenn the studio production pipeline is free (outsider occupiing that slot). And because they even aren't near starting with it. Elite 4 is just like a big variable, the can go any way. Till they do preproduction. Iron the plan out, what to do with this old and dusty franchise.
So I espect they even don't know what they are going to do now. They might have a rough vision of the game. Maybe they are in concept fase. Or they cross that bridge wenn the lead game designer is on it.
So 6 month's to a year before a rough estimate or release deadline of the game. They could start filling in some off the details to the plubic. That's estimated about over 2 years. Starting marketing and advertising the game.
So it's just so far away, I aint waiting, until the first official news about it. Might it be MMO I'am off.
I wonder if they do marketing research. Like lokin at competive games in this genre. Even older sucsesses, wich still would be younger then there latest. Because this genre is a bit rare. MMO is hot by publishers. Because of it's naturly anti piracy nature of such centralised pure online game. But also a big step. In gameplay jumping from SP to MMO it's also big.
Slamming 4 as sequell on it means it would take the same core game formula, but in a 2013 implementation. That the common thing of sequells. In this case a Pure SinglePlayer is part of that formula as gameplay is based on that.
A MMO would be huge side step. A huge turn around in name is needed. A name like Elite Online would fit better as manny other IP's do. But just like the game also the name isn't set in stone yet.
With the current name I expect a SP game. Mplay is still a option.
A MMO is such different beast that it aint a sequell to a non MMO game.
And with that because Elite4 isn't set in stone and they have to start with it. If they take community input serious. This is the time to get your idea's trough.
My idea keep it singleplayer with a coop online part and support multimon nativly. create a living persitand world. With some advance AI/AL using those many cores in 2013 - 2015 wenn the game comes out. Wich would be mainstream CPU.
Inspired by other games.
You can choose to be the Elite combat fighter. But know that there are lot slow and more tactical gamers. wHo wont go for being the best combat fighter, because that's beyond there reach. They go for bigger more tactical slowpace combat with bigger ships. So more Capital ship combat. Wich isn't managing a bigship. That's largly done in save moments. But that is more leading a big ship. Wich comes down at making big tactical desisions, commanding key officers. Ore in smal crews, specific crew member.
A bad example is Derek Smart 3000AD Universal combat.
Guess what. I'am a slow pace gamer. My fast day's where wenn Atari 2600 was new.
Also for such complex game, innutive interface and AI is very important.
Dislike stupid enemy AI. Like in X3TC it makes it so easy even for such slow gamer like me. But Owned ships do stupid things wich result in ship property loss. Due to to simple restricted dodo AI. So avoid the need to babysit every single Unit within your fleet.
If no capital ships then a heavy gunship who fit slowpace combat.
