Then a whole lot players wouldn't bother with ED, expect the pew-pew crowd. And it'd not be canonical Elite then either.
But there's them stars out there in numbers, and that fact ain't gonna change.
Actually, what maked me - to share an example - purchase this game was A.) the dream of having similar experiences like in Freelancer together with my Friends and B.) enjoy great PVP battles, since the mechanics are there to do so. What other sense does it make to implement a hands-on feature like a space sim combat simulator (yes, because most stuff you purchase has actually to do with COMBAT) if you cannot prove your skills against other players? And yes, basically ruining someones day because of interdicting him is going to push him towards other players, to crowd together or even to pay other players for their own protection. THAT'S what a Sandbox has to offer. A Sandbox is a place where I can do whatever I want. I can build a castle - just out of sand, or I can live wonderful adventures together with others - in short words: I can do whatever I want, how I want and whenever I want. And if I want to be a rogue popping up everyone coming into my line of sight, because my role says I'm a mass-murdering villain in space, then - for gods sake - it has to be exactly this way. Honestly not caring one single second about thos crying then.
So what? Honestly - I like the space setting, no matter how big it is. But 400 Billion are definitely NO argument. Rather than having implemented 400 Billion Systems which all consist of maybe a few suns, from which the most planets and sun textures are even re-used (so the copy / paste argument is definitely valid) - not even talking about the small amount of different station models (!).
From what I hear, if you go a thousand or so light years away from populated space, there is pretty much nothing but you and the system you happen to be in. I'd imagine things would feel different knowing you live and die alone, but that's just my opinion.
Also I would think being close to the galactic center would feel much different with the higher concentration of stars, and of course, the super-massive black hole.
Quite depressive, isn't it?
You obviously haven't opened the galaxy map so far even once.
Show me - besides the 8, maybe 12 unique constellations / systems - something special? Because as he said, the MOST are EXACTLY THE SAME. I mean, for gods sake, you were even able to land on planets (Freelancer) in past games and here? As said, you're trucking around 12/7 with your Vessel, purchasing goods you can't even use for your own (because there's no autonomical economy establishing system in order to fulfill a players "care" attitude)... hum... stations? Outposts?
1) depends. They're there already, so too late to cry a river. They don't reduce gameplay options, even, quite the opposite.
2) will happen.
So, what gameplay additions do they give, besides of flying there and say: I was the first? It's nothing which can't be achieved by EVERYONE. The most people will just say: "Why the hell would I bother about going there, if in the end there's the same crap just in a different colour?" I can't do exactly NOTHING else than GOING THERE, EXPLORE IT and THAT'S it!
If you call this a gameplay addition, then, wow. You're seriously happy with much less than 99% of the entire worlds civilization. I would find it great if you actually can find NEW minerals or stuff like that. But that for, either you've to mine - or what you've discovered on planet X is going to stay there until end of days. Because being member of a faction has exactly 0 influence on the fact that the colonization is going to be absolutely randomized from the current point of development. Just the way it happened already. Period. So, where's your system influence now? Simple: There is none. It's all in your head.
I mean, hey, no matter what: Even if there are tons and tons of dead bodies in a village, there still can be ONE person totally happy about how perfectly the sun shines, not even taking notice of all those bodies laying down at that place. As said before: You can form even the worst things into something beautiful, it's just a question of IMAGINATION. But that's not what I've paid for, sorry. I've paid to be entertained in a system which basically offers NOTHING than doing 12/7 commodity grinds or PVE grinds, because, the amount of players you're actually ABLE to SEE and FIND compared to the amount of NPCs lurking around is THAT MINIMAL. And I'm saying clearly TO SEE, because the server and neither the client is able to handle a constant interconnection between all instances and the data stream it gives out. You already notice that if there are too many crowds flying around a certain station in LHS 3447. Your FPS will drop down to 30 and you'll put your finger deeply into your nose. Wow. So this brings up the question once again: If the game has never been thought to be multiplayer, or even better, if they've tried to make it like Shroud of the Avatar, why the heck they didn't it from the beginning?
I'll explain you why: Because that's exactly what Frontier has been looking for. Because PLAYING TOGETHER is MORE FUN than DOING ALONE.
But what's the problem with this? Easy: They're afraid of making the small solo-carers of whiney whiney.
Well, the best solution would have been to set up high-security systems with high-profile defense AI. Just like EVE did. But NO, instead of doing so, they just cut down connections and offer a Mix-Mash of "Multiplayer + Single Player", which is absolute utter bullcrap, just because of examples like this one:
Bounty in SOLO: ~1.250 for SIDEWINDER / Deadly.
Bounty in MP: ~3.250 for SIDEWINDER / Deadly.
Do you know why the bounty in MP is higher than in Solo? Just to prove what I said: Because ONLY THE PLAYER WHICH SETS THE LAST SHOT IS GOING TO GET THE BOUNTY VOUCHER! That said, there has to be an incentive to actually TRY getting that Sidewinder, RIGHT? Because it gives you MORE CASH than playing SOLO.
Those who chose exploring as their in-game vocation would probably have a bone to pick with everything you wrote. Doesn't seem like interacting with other players or spending credits is their cup of tea, as they spend so much of their time willingly avoiding both.
That disease usually is Social Phobia and is oftenly followed by Social Anxiety.
But here's not even where my rant ends.
You remember X3? Well, it managed to SAVE the prices of EVERY station you've visited. You know, it didn't even keep them up to date, but you could use them AS REFERENCE. Nowadays, in E|D, no matter how far in the future you are, no matter the fact there are plasma accelerators, YOU DON'T GET A TRADING COMPUTER ON BOARD. But yet, here it comes: YOU GET A KILL-SCANNER WHICH IS INTERCONNECTED AND UPDATED BY ALL STATIONS IN THE SYSTEM!
WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!
Now my question: Why can't I see then prizes from station A, B or C while I'm not there but in the same system?
But let's go to the next point: Why can't I just ZOOM DEEPER into the GalMap to actually set a WAYPOINT DIRECTLY to a station, instead of having to jump from sun to sun? Why can't I just set a waypoint and let my autopilot bringing me there, while I have to go on toilet? Why aren't there jump-gates between stations? Why does my stupid ship throttle me down when I actually DON'T WANT IT TO DO SO BECAUSE I WANT TO GET FASTER TO THE PLACE I WANT TO GO TO? Because it's a security measure? Well, you know what I'd do if you give me a car which slows down by itself 3 Miles before actually hitting a wall? I'd cut that out of it, pick it up and go to it's manufacturer to put it into the place where the sun never will manage to shine in!
Next thing is: You ask for landing permission. You get a number assigned to you. You fly INTO the space station. What do you see? Well, NOT ONLY THE SPOT WHICH IS ASSIGNED TO YOU - BUT MANY OTHERS WHICH ARE HIGHLIGHTED TOO!
What happens with this? Well, some people aren't able to read numbers, which ends up in SOME KIND OF BANANARAMAS crashing into your ship because you DIDN'T go inside the hanger and because THEY'VE been believing it was their spot, because apparently, it was BLINKING ORANGE.
And I'm not even talking about the tons and tons and tons of stuff which is still missing.
Long story short:
12/7 Trucking from A to C coming along B to sell commodity 1, 2 and 3 - never going to earn more than 2.500 CR/T. Why? Yes, why?
Do PVE in the same routine the entire time, no matter if the system tries to copy other players moves.
ADDITIONALLY:
Fly 6 hours from one point of the galaxy to the other one, just to find... the same thing as before, just with lesser life in it. Maybe crafting an interstellar map to show all: Look, that location exists. Period.
That's Elite: Dangerous in it's current state.
Releasable? I'd say NO. They should have taken far more time to bring this game up in glance.
And this is what I don't understand: 15.000.000 Euros - or even MORE for that + OR support?
R E A L L Y ?
EDIT: Oh, and dear Devs, please implement a Tetris-Minigame in the console, so if you have to fly 30 minutes, you can - in the meantime - at least do something entertaining. And maybe add a ingame-browser.
