Patch 1.3 - PVP centric again?

jojje · Mar 15, 2015

Just stumbled upon this interesting tidbit of what may be in the next patch.
If it's somewhat accurate, then it looks like the trend continues to mold this Elite incarnation into Arena Commander [TM] / "Unreal Tournament in space".

At this time I would really appreciate it if Frontier could provide at least an indication of when we can expect some kind of fleshing out of the single player part of the game.
It needn't be a certain date. Rough indication of month or even a quarter would be sufficient for me, and if there are no plans to work on the SP bit any longer, then please let me know so I can move on.

Joe Spivey · Mar 15, 2015

Ok, I'm still only on my first coffee so I may be missing something but I don't see a problem with a Pew Pew arena. If nothing else, it keeps the combat drones out of the real game while they get their fix. Then, when they've shot their load (of ammunition) they can be let out near normal people again

Bomba Luigi · Mar 15, 2015

I'm 100% sure I read somwhere something from a dev who said powerplay is not a PvP arena thingy. Alltough I have no clue where that was, so you will have to trust me ^^

Sanderson · Mar 15, 2015

jojje said:
Just stumbled upon this interesting tidbit of what may be in the next patch.
If it's somewhat accurate, then it looks like the trend continues to mold this Elite incarnation into Arena Commander [TM] / "Unreal Tournament in space".

At this time I would really appreciate it if Frontier could provide at least an indication of when we can expect some kind of fleshing out of the single player part of the game.
It needn't be a certain date. Rough indication of month or even a quarter would be sufficient for me, and if there are no plans to work on the SP bit any longer, then please let me know so I can move on.

Too early to tell, yet, but, my money (and FD's apparently) is on this being a glimps at the future of ED. That's were the money is and since there's shareholders to please that's where ED will follow. I welcome our new COD Xbox overlords and their PS4 cousins.

Many (and I'm one of them) would rather FD gets the core game working right and more than bare-bones before they go all COD Xbox on us.

Tinman · Mar 15, 2015

Bomba Luigi said:
I'm 100% sure I read somwhere something from a dev who said powerplay is not a PvP arena thingy. Alltough I have no clue where that was, so you will have to trust me ^^

Or read this:

Michael Brookes said:
The new platforms don’t stop development on the core PC game and the next major release for PC is something I’m very personally excited about. We’re calling ‘Power Play’ – and it isn’t the speculated PvP modes! It is however a major update that will be coming first to PC and we’ll reveal more in the coming weeks.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=121796

This was then followed with this in the latest Dev Update:

Michael Brookes said:
Before I go, I know everyone is excited to learn more about PowerPlay, but we’re keeping this one close to our chests a little longer. For now I can promise it will be our biggest content update yet and will introduce some major new features to Elite: Dangerous’ galaxy. Of course, you’ll hear the first details about it here soon.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=124528

jojje · Mar 15, 2015

Good point Joe. However once that's there, it would be great if backers looking for other play styles also received some love.
No problem if FD is doing like Chris, making sure some fundamental mechanics are in place before expanding on other modes, but I've not heard a peep from the studio about whether or not any SP content can be expected this year or at all.
Planet landings and other things were mentioned in the DDF, but it seems the DDF is not to be taken as any kind of indication of what we should expect from the game. So absent meaning of the DDF, I can't really see even a sliver of road map on this forum. If you've found something conveying non PVP futures, then please do share.

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

@Tinman, thanks for that tidbit. Sounds promising indeed.

Rubbernuke · Mar 15, 2015

If that is 1.3 for the PC then I can't mask my disappointment. To capitalize on the good work of 1.2 FD need to sort out the actual living galaxy part now before anything else, and not make a Quake 3 in space.

Hopefully before this thread, the forum and the universe go nova we might get a visit from A Higher Power(SoonTM) to put the matter to rest...EDIT: or ninjaed by Tinman!

[VR] Deggial · Mar 15, 2015

Bomba Luigi said:
I'm 100% sure I read somwhere something from a dev who said powerplay is not a PvP arena thingy. Alltough I have no clue where that was, so you will have to trust me ^^

I've read the same, so I can at least back your unproved claim.

Anyway, even if the next patch is all about single player content (which I hope), I don't see why - at some point in the future - a "fight club" for the bored rich trader's offsprings might be a bad thing. Hell, I eventually migth find myself in such an arena, just for the fun of it. And this comes from somebody who is definitely not overly interested in PvP activities.

Edit: wayyyyy to slow....

Tinman · Mar 15, 2015

jojje said:
Good point Joe. However once that's there, it would be great if backers looking for other play styles also received some love.
No problem if FD is doing like Chris, making sure some fundamental mechanics are in place before expanding on other modes, but I've not heard a peep from the studio about whether or not any SP content can be expected this year or at all.
Planet landings and other things were mentioned in the DDF, but it seems the DDF is not to be taken as any kind of indication of what we should expect from the game. So absent meaning of the DDF, I can't really see even a sliver of road map on this forum. If you've found something conveying non PVP futures, then please do share.

Planetary landings was never mentioned in the DDF. Other things, yes. Planetary landings, no. That is and has always been planned to be a future paid expansion.

And again...read the quotes I posted above. 1.3 isn't a PVP arena thing.

Rubbernuke · Mar 15, 2015

Tinman said:
And again...read the quotes I posted above. 1.3 isn't a PVP arena thing.

You type too fast, man of Tin!

Enride · Mar 15, 2015

I wouldnt mind some dedicated pvp content.
"Arena" style gamemodes would probably clean up the open play a little for those who finds it to hostile at the moment.

Possibly they could incorporate it as a form of sport in the year 3300. With the safety ejection pods and non-death that spans the game as it stands, it would even work within the game setting.
If players and NPCs alike could create their own Teams that compete in tournaments and leagues across the galaxy I think it would serve very well to suit those wishing for a more competetive game.

When it comes to the ingame "real world" conflicts though Id wish for a more objective and persistent combat experience.
Taking down outposts and capital ships to move the warzone from system to system. WHere players can support their preferred faction either by participating in the combat itself or by supplying checkpoints and military bases with supplies and resources.

Arindor · Mar 15, 2015

They may not be part of the huge 1.3 update or powerplay, but it looks as though arena death matches are coming at some time in some form. I suppose it was inevitable once consoles were thrown into the mix, as most games for them appear to cater for an unoriginal pewpewpew mentality. I'm not against this (I'm not excited about it either) because I may dip in arena matches from time to time just for a break from the main game (as some say, variety is the spice of life), and also because I appreciate that FD have to cater for all gaming tastes and look at other avenues of revenue. However, ED now appears to be becoming one of those dumbed down console centric games and it's possible that certain features will not be implemented because consoles may not be able to handle them. A shame really, but time will tell.

RhymeRhyme · Mar 15, 2015

I'm not sure about it but PowerPlay sound like implementing the GalNet story more in the game and having real effects on the entire gameplay and fraction power.
It is very necessary to implement a background story in the game with maybe cutscenes etc. and to really make player activity count. The Community Missions are pretty local but do not touch the story of the game. But to give a game a real game changer, a working and fully implemented background story with player activity having a strong input on is what it might be as it's needed.
But that's just my guess.

Rall · Mar 15, 2015

Sanderson said:
Too early to tell, yet, but, my money (and FD's apparently) is on this being a glimps at the future of ED. That's were the money is and since there's shareholders to please that's where ED will follow. I welcome our new COD Xbox overlords and their PS4 cousins.

Many (and I'm one of them) would rather FD gets the core game working right and more than bare-bones before they go all COD Xbox on us.

David Braben has a controlling interest in Frontier - He is the majority shareholder. So nothing happens without his consent.

https://www.frontier.co.uk/investor_relations/shares/

Edit : Added link since I don't make stuff on the internet.

W4rSkuLL · Mar 15, 2015

Man, the speculation over powerplay is intriguing. 1.2 comes out and now I cant wait for 1.3. There is so much potential in this game and the possibilities are endless. When you have an entire galaxy to fiddle with you can never go wrong.
I myself think powerplay must be something with factions and controlling part of stations or systems. Well, I might be wrong. Hope we can get some info on powerplay soon. I also like to see some sort of persistant NPCs out there. And bodies in space.

Obsidian Ant · Mar 15, 2015

Joe Spivey said:
Ok, I'm still only on my first coffee so I may be missing something but I don't see a problem with a Pew Pew arena. If nothing else, it keeps the combat drones out of the real game while they get their fix. Then, when they've shot their load (of ammunition) they can be let out near normal people again

The problem with an Arena Module is that it is a "lazy" way for Frontier to get PvP into the game. As it currently stands the galaxy is huge, conflict zones are spread out - if they can even be found. Nav Beacons and Extraction Sites are generally NPC only unless a players goes to a popular system. The dilemma for the developers is how to put interesting PvP combat into this, especially when they don't want choke points in the game.

So an Arena mode fixes this and bypasses the true issue. In my opinion it isn't a good solution, because it doesn't address the underlying issue of how to make compelling PvP in the game that has meaningful consequences. And I don't mean consequences on the player, but rather consequences on the game-world.

And once you have an Arena mode, there is no reason for PvP players to go out into the real galaxy for combat, even if somehow PvP did start to have meaningful effects upon the galaxy.

Mohrgan · Mar 15, 2015

Why should FD care what kind of PvP goes on? They should just make the game as they have been, and let PvP sort itself out. No one, has to promote PvP. Only players can make PvP successful or not.

beelbeebub · Mar 15, 2015

As tinman pointed out, 1.3 will not be PvP arenas, the general consensus is it's some form of update to the background sim/GalNet/missions/reputation system.
:
That being said, it looks like some sort of PvP arena is going to come, which can only be a good thing. Think about it, it would allow the trying out of different ships and loadouts, it would allow for rapid trialling of the effects of different techs (more powerful lasers, shield cells etc) to balance them. It would allow fine tuning of the flight model and ship characteristics, which would feed back into the main game trunk.
:
Also i'm really getting tired of the "add content before developing for console" whining.
:
You do realise that porting to a console takes a different skill set from the content creators and feature coders? I imagine as the COBRA engine is designed to be cross platform and the XBOne is pretty much a PC, even more so with W10, the biggest burden would be the MS certification process.

:

You do realise that most games are developed on a PC anyway. All the art assets will be developed for PC at high res then "down graded" for the target platforms so the idea that FD would lower the graphics quality on PC because they have an xbox version is daft

Alpha087 · Mar 15, 2015

Bomba Luigi said:
I'm 100% sure I read somwhere something from a dev who said powerplay is not a PvP arena thingy. Alltough I have no clue where that was, so you will have to trust me ^^

I saw this as well.

hashdeuzo · Mar 15, 2015

IMO 1.3 will introduce teamplay in a single ship, the possibility ton hold a vulture in an anaconda, and maybe a hostile alien race from outter space ^^