400+ Billion Stars but to what end?

[anikaiful]

1) This game might as well be limitless, the resources are as well.
2) Does anyone think that only 1 billion star systems would have been too few?

1) it effectively is, and that is a good thing (IMO).
2) yes, that'd not be depiction of our Milky Way which E|D is depicting, it'd be something which'd bore e.g. me as there'd be nothing in relation to real space up there far above our heads. I don't get it why it's so hard for some people to wrap around in their head that there's 400B stars out there, and thus there's as many in E|D.

 

[AndyC77]

I think its great. It gives us a scale of the vastness of the universe. 400 billion stars in our single galaxy. Its like a game and a science project all in one.

 

[Kars Vandor]

To some, elite dangerous is simply a game.
To those players it is not life though they spend idle hours of their real life in this "unreal" simulation.

Yet others are fascinated by the implication, and the ideas that this game presents for the future.

One possible future, if we allow for the possibility that in research labs somewhere on earth at the hands of researchers not yet born we will discover the way to transit those vast gulfs between the stars.

This is a vision that is vast in scope yet humans with modern technology are working on building something, a simulation of a galaxy of stars, that has such a sheer amount of data that any simulation can only be a hint of what is to come for humanity.

There is a viewpoint that this is a game, and the time spent in the game is wasted, traveling to other stars, looking at the map, rendezvous and docking procedures.

To those people, it is a valid viewpoint for them.

I'm not bored when docking. I'm not bored when plotting a hyperspace route. I'm not bored when I'm defending my ship from an interdiction attempt by space pirate whose out steal my simulated cargo.

What this game will become, those who are inspired by it, even now, in its relative infancy, those are the people I want to spend the next decade with.

let us explore those systems, map those stars, set up those colonies over time, amd inspire others to their own real world greatness.

We count among our community Physicists, Electronic Engineers, Housewives, Gamers. People working for Nasa, and JPL, I'll wager.

Ideas wrought here will come to inspire real world applications.

It took me a while to see it, but this "Game" inspires, for those that choose.

I choose to be inspired.

 

[SeregDuin]

SeregDuin, what do you like best about the expansiveness of the space the game occupies? Was it a large part of your purchasing decisions? I genuinely want to know from people who enjoy having all this sand to play in!

My decision to purchase the game was made in October 1993. I just had to wait for Braben figure out he needed to make it.

 

[Commander Azriel]

CMDR Azriel, you strike me as someone who has peed in his own soup and is complaining about the flavor.

It's more like the developers peed in a bowl, and called soup. And a bunch of sycophants whine that it's the best soup even made.

Even though none of the ingredients that make up soup are there, but the sycophants say use you imagination or the soups not done yet, Give it a year or two then you'll see.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

That is the very question raised up for discussion. Does it matter? If so, how? Will it affect game play or player options in any positive or negative way? Does having such an impossible space to cover matter to a player. If you are one end of the galaxy, but your friends are on the other, does it detract from the experience have to circumnavigate the GALAXY to get to them, or is that part of the appeal? I am very interested in people's opinions on this being a selling point to the game, a detraction, or maybe - just a passing "so what" to them.

Ah, no. I wasn't clear. I meant why does it matter to you?

And nope, your friends are only going to be on the other side of the galaxy if they are explorers. In which case, no need to go visiting them, they will return to civilized space when they are ready.

 

[Kars Vandor]

It matters because eventually it will all be settled, in game and real world, unless we as a race, real world are wiped out in a cataclysm, or a war with whatever passes for real world space neighbors.

 

[N-Zed]

To some, elite dangerous is simply a game.
To those players it is not life though they spend idle hours of their real life in this "unreal" simulation.

Yet others are fascinated by the implication, and the ideas that this game presents for the future.

One possible future, if we allow for the possibility that in research labs somewhere on earth at the hands of researchers not yet born we will discover the way to transit those vast gulfs between the stars.

This is a vision that is vast in scope yet humans with modern technology are working on building something, a simulation of a galaxy of stars, that has such a sheer amount of data that any simulation can only be a hint of what is to come for humanity.

There is a viewpoint that this is a game, and the time spent in the game is wasted, traveling to other stars, looking at the map, rendezvous and docking procedures.

To those people, it is a valid viewpoint for them.

I'm not bored when docking. I'm not bored when plotting a hyperspace route. I'm not bored when I'm defending my ship from an interdiction attempt by space pirate whose out steal my simulated cargo.

What this game will become, those who are inspired by it, even now, in its relative infancy, those are the people I want to spend the next decade with.

let us explore those systems, map those stars, set up those colonies over time, amd inspire others to their own real world greatness.

We count among our community Physicists, Electronic Engineers, Housewives, Gamers. People working for Nasa, and JPL, I'll wager.

Ideas wrought here will come to inspire real world applications.

It took me a while to see it, but this "Game" inspires, for those that choose.

I choose to be inspired.

You should work on the FB marketing team because you just sold me on this game, and I already bought it. Now, can some one please answer at least a part of my original question:

What affect will having such a large sandbox to play in, overall, affect player experience - for better or worse from a GAMEPLAY stand point.

 

[ollobrains]

Ah, no. I wasn't clear. I meant why does it matter to you?

And nope, your friends are only going to be on the other side of the galaxy if they are explorers. In which case, no need to go visiting them, they will return to civilized space when they are ready.

i agree once u get exploring u dont come back for some time.

 

[Surly_Badger]

It's more like the developers peed in a bowl, and called soup. And a bunch of sycophants whine that it's the best soup even made

I actually enjoy it. But then, I didn't pee in mine. Saying "I enjoy this game" doesn't make me a 'sycophant' - it makes me a happy customer. For some reason I cannot fathom, that seems to bother you. So it's not just enough for you that you're unhappy, you want to make others unhappy too. Wait... Are you a professional critic?

Joking aside, maybe you could do a kickstarter or pass the hat here and see if you've managed to irritate enough people with your incessant whining that we'd help fund you finding another game you could loudly hate, somewhere else?

 

[N-Zed]

Me personally, why does the size of the game playing field matter? It only matters to me if it directly detracts of the gameplay mechanics and overall sense of community and unity inside the game world. I worry that overall, having a massive procedurally generated environment that is for all intents and purposes copy and paste, lends to a very empty feeling GAME. Note game, not theoretical thought experiment. I personally did not purchase ED solely for the "accurate" representation of our galaxy, but that we would be able to experience space travel and interact in ways we can't normally in real life using current technology and graphics. The selling point of it all being encompassed in a gigantic simulation of the galaxy first wowed me, then didn't phase me while playing, and now it starting to concern me.

Thus the reason for the thread, to get insight from others about what they have to say about it.

 

[Cowboy Bats]

My decision to purchase the game was made in October 1993. I just had to wait for Braben figure out he needed to make it.

And +1 for you Sir.

 

[Commander Azriel]

2) yes, that'd not be depiction of our Milky Way which E|D is depicting, it'd be something which'd bore e.g. me as there'd be nothing in relation to real space up there far above our heads.
.

So this game as it is, would bore you, if some didn't tell you there were 400 billion stars out there, that you will never, ever see? Wow...That does say much for the games mechanics, if the only thing that matters to you is the rather arbitrary number of 400.

Your the type to say use your imagination, but you couldn't imagine that the other 399 star that you will never see are out there?

 

[Kars Vandor]

It's like an artist painted a hologram on glass, and also invited the blind who never having seen, can only imagine from description. The artist advised people in a year you will be able to touch this via force feedback gloves, and some were happy with that, because it gave them a mental spark. The others busied themselves with wrestling, or asking what kind of soup there was for lunch, while a few art critics peed in it, and told everyone they did, in the hope of ruining lunch, and the exhibit, for everyone. Some had already eaten, and showed up for the program, which was "holographic art of the future", and paid attention, because the artist had done well 30 years ago with oils.

 

[anikaiful]

So this game as it is, would bore you, if some didn't tell you there were 400 billion stars out there, that you will never, ever see? Wow...That does say much for the games mechanics, if the only thing that matters to you is the rather arbitrary number of 400.

Your the type to say use your imagination, but you couldn't imagine that the other 399 star that you will never see are out there?

... you simply refuse to understand me in the least. Fine by me.

 

[N-Zed]

Whatever Kars is on, I want it.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Anikaiful, tell us what inspires you about ED and what about the scale of it is meaningful to you as a player. I would like to know from all sides what people have to say about this as a selling point or otherwise. Thank you for your time.

 

[Cowboy Bats]

It's more like the developers peed in a bowl, and called soup. And a bunch of sycophants whine that it's the best soup even made.

Even though none of the ingredients that make up soup are there, but the sycophants say use you imagination or the soups not done yet, Give it a year or two then you'll see.

It's much more basic than that. Like soup, it's not for everyone. Obviously, given your comments, this game is not for you. You don't seem to be having a very good time. Equally obvious, there are players who are having a great time. This game is for them.

Calling the people who are enjoying it sycophants is really rather pointless. I don't see how it furthers your point at all.

 

[SeregDuin]

Now, can some one please answer at least a part of my original question:

What affect will having such a large sandbox to play in, overall, affect player experience - for better or worse from a GAMEPLAY stand point.

The fact is we have no idea how it will affect it. The whole concept is a huge experiment that I for one are happy to be a part of.

 

[N-Zed]

The fact is we have no idea how it will affect it. The whole concept is a huge experiment that I for one are happy to be a part of.

I never thought of it that way

 

[Cowboy Bats]

Whatever Kars is on, I want it.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Anikaiful, tell us what inspires you about ED and what about the scale of it is meaningful to you as a player. I would like to know from all sides what people have to say about this as a selling point or otherwise. Thank you for your time.

Not directed towards me, but I hope you don't mind if I answer. I don't know that I've ever, ever, in the time that I've been playing games (since pong, literally pong) done anything meaningful in a game. Game and meaningful are IMHO wholly exclusive terms.

In warmer months, I ride my motorcycle all over Dallas in the middle of the night. It's not constructive, it's not meaningful, but it sure is pleasurable. That's exactly how I see gaming. Passes the time in a pleasurable and engaging fascination.