The newsletter, they announce 1.1 release in 2nd of February with additional collaboration features, improve gas giants.
March would bring Wings.
Recent answers = "More in the coming weeks"
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The newsletter, they announce 1.1 release in 2nd of February with additional collaboration features, improve gas giants.
March would bring Wings.
Ya seen that. I was expecting a "roadmap" though. Ok not really as I know FD doesn't have one but, you know what I mean
My money is on them wanting to move away from being reliant on Microsoft and spread their wings. An technically they have broken Microsoft parity clause by releasing it first on the PC. Plus I see Fronter wanting to allow cross platform play, which Sony is likely to be more open to than Microsoft.
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Ya seen that. I was expecting a "roadmap" though. Ok not really as I know FD doesn't have one but, you know what I mean
That is a road map, as in they have mapped out their first two major releases this year. Certainly better than them doing what a lot of companies do is release road maps 12 months ahead and then up meeting none of the targets on that road maps.
Yet another thread with an all too familiar motif. It's almost as if there was some actual substance to the disappointment felt by the backers of the game in the way things have turned out.
FWIW, I'm personally going with the 'wait one more month and give them a chance to get their house in order' plan.
The fact that the game was released in a state unfit for retail release is undeniable.
Whether or not it was a poor decision remains to be seen.
I personally am worried that giving an unfinished product to the wider playerbase (which led to even the generous reviews stating that the game 'has potential for the future') means that the financial kick that Frontier Developments needed to catch the second wind (of their bizarre business model of online play but no subscriptions) and get stuck into the next tranche of development will be too damp for the product to be viable. It only needs one final betrayal of promise (that should the online game servers ever be withdrawn, the ability to play wholly offline would be made possible) and the whole resurrection of the Elite genre will end in a train wreck. Which I hate the idea of... - when people talk of the 'Elite' game I want it to be positive, and it pains me that the decades of misty-eyed "that was the best game of all time!" may be replaced with "oh yeah it was originally a good game but didn't it all get messed up?".
Also FWIW, I too lament at the shortcomings that are in your face whenever you launch the game... such as the clunky UI (anyone else jerking their mouse around on the galaxy map context menu for a system in order to try to get to the buttons before they disappear?), perplexing mission system (that claims that you are not trusted enough for missions offered by a faction that you are allied with, or offers you three instances of a permit mission next to each other, which you can't take because you already have a permit... or bulletin boards that are completely empty, or sometimes ones that spam you with three of the same juicy mission every 5 minutes, or you kill one assassination target, and three other assassination missions complete), broken encounter system (where an npc in a USS says "" (i.e. nothing) to you three times and your mission log is updated telling you to go to "xxxMissionparameter" station), lack of mechanics (or it would seem, interest from customer services) to prevent or deal with griefers (such as the landing pad-hovering missile boats), new players getting ganked by stations for 200CR fines, and barebones placeholder gameplay elements (such as Exploration and Mining in their entireties).
Along with at least 1167 others, I'm also wondering where my "be a founding member of 'The Elite'" reward has gone. Again, a lot was promised / alluded to / wafted around but I don't even have a crappy decal to show for my extra fifty quid. MORE IMPORTANTLY, I don't even have a "Yep, we acknowledge this still needs doing, and 'x' is planned for this..." from the developers. This is the fourth game that I've been involved with from Alpha, and I've never previously had as much cause as I've been given here to have heebie jeebies at poor production decisions and communications.
So yes, we appear to be living on 'Jam Tomorrow...'
There'd better be some Jam in February (and not some wild attempts at clawing in a bit more money such as paint jobs or other DLC - I swear, if it transpires that development effort has been put into new monetization content before the deliverables of the retail release have at least been realised, then I shall properly kick off.
FWIW, I'm personally going with the 'wait one more month and give them a chance to get their house in order' plan.
The fact that the game was released in a state unfit for retail release is undeniable.
Whether or not it was a poor decision remains to be seen.
I personally am worried that giving an unfinished product to the wider playerbase (which led to even the generous reviews stating that the game 'has potential for the future') means that the financial kick that Frontier Developments needed to catch the second wind (of their bizarre business model of online play but no subscriptions) and get stuck into the next tranche of development will be too damp for the product to be viable. It only needs one final betrayal of promise (that should the online game servers ever be withdrawn, the ability to play wholly offline would be made possible) and the whole resurrection of the Elite genre will end in a train wreck. Which I hate the idea of... - when people talk of the 'Elite' game I want it to be positive, and it pains me that the decades of misty-eyed "that was the best game of all time!" may be replaced with "oh yeah it was originally a good game but didn't it all get messed up?".
Also FWIW, I too lament at the shortcomings that are in your face whenever you launch the game... such as the clunky UI (anyone else jerking their mouse around on the galaxy map context menu for a system in order to try to get to the buttons before they disappear?), perplexing mission system (that claims that you are not trusted enough for missions offered by a faction that you are allied with, or offers you three instances of a permit mission next to each other, which you can't take because you already have a permit... or bulletin boards that are completely empty, or sometimes ones that spam you with three of the same juicy mission every 5 minutes, or you kill one assassination target, and three other assassination missions complete), broken encounter system (where an npc in a USS says "" (i.e. nothing) to you three times and your mission log is updated telling you to go to "xxxMissionparameter" station), lack of mechanics (or it would seem, interest from customer services) to prevent or deal with griefers (such as the landing pad-hovering missile boats), new players getting ganked by stations for 200CR fines, and barebones placeholder gameplay elements (such as Exploration and Mining in their entireties).
Along with at least 1167 others, I'm also wondering where my "be a founding member of 'The Elite'" reward has gone. Again, a lot was promised / alluded to / wafted around but I don't even have a crappy decal to show for my extra fifty quid. MORE IMPORTANTLY, I don't even have a "Yep, we acknowledge this still needs doing, and 'x' is planned for this..." from the developers. This is the fourth game that I've been involved with from Alpha, and I've never previously had as much cause as I've been given here to have heebie jeebies at poor production decisions and communications.
So yes, we appear to be living on 'Jam Tomorrow...'
There'd better be some Jam in February (and not some wild attempts at clawing in a bit more money such as paint jobs or other DLC - I swear, if it transpires that development effort has been put into new monetization content before the deliverables of the retail release have at least been realised, then I shall properly kick off.
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Actually I know for the fact they did, in fact I met a person who told George face to face that Jar Jar Binks character was a rubbish idea, he was working on the 3d modelling/animation side of things and had a chance to meet him during production, he was ignored and George ignore many other criticisms and advice people gave him about Phantom Menace during it production.
I'm currently struggling with the "kick-off" part as I seem to be getting my leg in position.
"Hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned" and all that - - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -
I'd guess George and David will be laughing and swapping stories at their exclusive 1%ers club in a year or two lol. So sad.
Should Elite fail and have to close, I will be really, really* surprised if Frontier keep this promise.
*Actually I will be really, really, really, really surprised...
LOL at this kind of comments. Didn't read the last updates? They have talked about 1.1, 1.2 , balance tweaks, graphics enanchements and future paid expansions.
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Given the experience so far in promises/statements turning into 'well when we said that what we really meant was...' - well I would be more shocked than you.
Personally, I think the best we can hope for is that the code for the matchmaking/galaxy/market servers is dumped out of Subversion at us. And I'm not even that confident about that.
I'm currently struggling with the "kick-off" part as I seem to be getting my leg in position.
I'm glad you got all literary... - I actually was going to end with a bit of Lear ("I shall do such things...") but thought the better of it and replaced it with "Kick off"
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Tar Stone
Banned
Fascinating stuff! So people did actually try to talk some sense into him.
I'll tell you the reason I think this, and I know full well this is pure forum speculation and probably nonsense, but it's my honest thoughts nonetheless - I cannot get my head around Sandro defending the need for shield cells. I followed all the design discussions going back to Dec 2013, the DDF is there for all to see, and Sandro always comes across as a bit of an Elite guru with some solid designs. Shield Cells is just way off, way off, and it's coming off the back of some weird decisions that make the game (in my opinion) easier. So it looks to me like Shield Cells and some of these other things (eg easier AI) have come from above.
That's what it looks like and I hope my post comes across as intended and is not a slight at any of the guys working on the game, I've said before they are geniuses in my eyes - but man, this easy easy casual thing is not Elite.
I agree on all points. Hence the Elite ranks already accomplished, people with billions and bored players. In a month. A MONTH!?!?!?
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Graphic enhancements, tweaks and paid expansions? Alright! We can all stop complaining now!!!
FWIW i think the recent update from Sandro about cells having their activation upped from one second to five seconds will go a long way to preventing them from being the 'invincibility mode' than they currently are. That said, it was disappointing (and pertinent to this thread) that it involved a bit of history reworking (i.e. that they were released in the game with only 1 second activation "fell through the cracks" ...just like the 100CR refills for them was also apparently an 'oversight'). How many other things are out there that were 'never meant to be that way'...
I think that I should state though, that my concerns and woes for the game are not a result of 'developers' as I would know them. Sandro for one has been great at interacting with the player community and explaining his thoughts etc to us as an open and grown up conversation. Looking at the Dev Tracker link posted earlier in this thread it also looks like Sarah Jane would be fascinating to talk to down the pub about the finerys of AI (i'm intrigued about her passing comment about npc AI's potentially steering clear of player firing arcs). The 'devs' are just honest java codemonkeys and graphics chaps etc, and we can be *sure* that they would have liked nothing more than to have been given time to release a polished product. No my gripes are firmly with the production decisions, beancounters, communication and customer relations.
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Posted this in Memes, seems fitting here:
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I have to agree and hope the "little people" at FD don't take my thread personally. It's not directed at anyone other than whoever is "the person/people in charge".
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I have to agree and hope the "little people" at FD don't take my thread personally. It's not directed at anyone other than whoever is "the person/people in charge".
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Well, its not your approximation of a month that I don't understand.
Was the game released or wasn't it?
If its being released in a few months time then I can understand having to wait for features to be ready for the game.
Project Zomboid is an excellent example of how a small enthusiastic indie setup with a positive community with a shared vision of a niche game can transform upon popularity and media coverage. I was part of their forums from the early days and watched as the whole Eternal September thing unfolded. It was a lot worse than here.
I haven't played that game for years now or visited the forums. It is probably a wonderful game by now but forum fatigue and listening to the devs regularly update with how things are staying in the same place for now, but soon.... Just tired me out.
I believe FD are giving the feedback they can. it does seem like spin, but spin is something we are used to seeing. It is easy to see it. I get the OP, but for me it isn't a question of smoke up butts it is what information do they actually have? What information do we actually need? I find Micheal and Sandro and Mr. Lewis to be great at sharing what information they have and responding with a subset of that information that is useful. This is not the same as pacifying us. Which I am glad to say they don't seem to be that interested in, apart from when a real whine bomb goes down on the forums...
The main problem with the whole FD thing for me atm is the forums. I know from experience how that can negatively affect my game experience because I appropriate problems with the game I would never have experienced if I just got on and played it and enjoyed it instead of reading lots of other peoples reasons why it isn't good enough.... It is my own fault I spend too much time here.
Hey hey, we are here. Just not as loud. Being older and wiser to know better. I'm with you on enjoying the game of my youth in modern clothes - but what old Elite was, we already have here. I don't need a thing more.
25 ships were promised at release, not 30.
This was changed to 30 eventually because they acknowledged they wouldn't make the 25 target by release.
The 5 additional "free" ships were in compensation for missing the deadline for the 25 ships.
They didn't really make it clear that they would miss the 25 target by so much, but since this is one of the few things that was admitted as not being ready i time, and there is so much else, it should be taken as meaning they are very very far behind schedule on this.
Think you are being too hard on yourself about contributing to forums. In this case it can also lead to a broader community scope and maybe help answer questions you may have or meet new people to play with along the way. Don't take all the criticisms to heart, you enjoy the game for your reasons alone and no one else should affect that. That being said, OP has a raised a good point about transparency and when or where it is most valued and important. I personally think that if you tell us too much, you are essentially just dangling a carrot without any promise of dropping the line for us to catch it.
I love your chef analogy
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