David Braben Powerplay AMA

[David Braben]

From Philip Coutts:
Do you envisage Powerplay as a tool to raise the amount of PvP currently happening? It seems that you are giving carte blanche to attack anyone from a different faction to you, regardless if they are wanted or not. Is there not a danger that the inhabited parts of the galaxy end up as one big warzone?

The carte blanche only exists within systems controlled by your Power and only apply against ships that are aligned with a Power of a different major faction to your Power. Powers interact with each other in different ways and combat is but one of those methods. How the Power is structured geographically will also guide which areas are potential hotspots. In some case Powers could provide a safety zone within their borders by their actions.

 

[pprovart]

I second this, ship naming would definitely be a very nice addition. Hadn't considered the decal possibility though, nice idea!

Any word on whether this is still planned, and potential timescales?

+1 on Naming Ships..

 

[ape808]

Thank you for such a quality game, and many congratulations on 500k sales !


With all the new interface features, will we finally get to use that tablet screen between our legs?

If not now, when?! it's been taunting us with possibilities for too long

 

[bossbrigand]

I'm very much a fan of how Frontier has handled gender balance in its NPC characters, but as an Imperial citizen I'm quite disappointed to be hailed as a "Lord" and then "Baron" and so on. Is there a reason why the Empire has no Lady/Baroness/Viscountess/Countess ranks, or is this fixable? (FYI, there has never been a female equivalent of an Earl, perhaps Marquis/Marquess or Duke/Duchess could be substituted?)

A female holding the position of earl was referred to as a countess in antiquity. There was never a female form of earl.

Please don't use black text. It's unreadable on the dark background.

 

[Aldric]

Hello David and thank you for such an amazing game,

Will there be the ability in the future for a friend to sit in another seat in your ship with an ability to control other parts of the ship whilst the pilot flies and are planetary landings still a vision for an expansion ?

Thank you.

 

[Adept]

Might I be cheeky and suggest 11 for the chairman?

Bite your tongue sir!

 

[DoppelShifter]

The Federal Corvette was announced recently, and a lot of people thought it would be in the Powerplay mega-patch, but the "notes preview" don't say anything about it.

In the end, will the Federal Corvette be in Powerplay or is it postponed? (with only the Diamondback and the Courier being added now)

 

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Your conviction is admirable commander I also wish to know this along with the other questions I asked in advance I'll wait patiently for the rest to be answered but I too am very interested in smuggling and if it will be a real career with high risk and high reward dwarfing trading in potential revenue. Will there ever be a real black market where you can buy and sell unique commodities worth significantly more than regular ones?

I'm also interested in smuggling. Please make potential profit commensurate with risk.

 

[Agrar Therenus]

Have FD considered modules to allow us to see in other wavelengths, the most obvious being infra.

 

[Brian]

Might I be cheeky and suggest 11 for the chairman?

ROFL!!!

Brian

 

[CMDR Bravo Zulu]

Will there be improvements for the Oculus Rift support in the Power Play release?

Me too - any hints about future VR support? Thanks ...

 

[David Braben]

I'm very much a fan of how Frontier has handled gender balance in its NPC characters, but as an Imperial citizen I'm quite disappointed to be hailed as a "Lord" and then "Baron" and so on. Is there a reason why the Empire has no Lady/Baroness/Viscountess/Countess ranks, or is this fixable? (FYI, there has never been a female equivalent of an Earl, perhaps Marquis/Marquess or Duke/Duchess could be substituted?) Also, will ranks within powers avoid this issue?

You're right. This has come up before too. There is some context here, but I think it is something we want to look at down the line.

Margaret Thatcher insisted on being "Prime Minister" when she took power (ie not "Prime Mistress") and many female actors are not known as actresses at their own request. Similarly women chairmen. So there is an argument that gender-specific roles will lose their specificity over time.

 

[Frankfort]

Hi David , wil the exploration data you bring back have a greater roll and impact for the factions you bring it back to .

 

[Marshall...]

Will ship construction yards ever make it into the game?

 

[wstephenson]

Any chance that the NPC name database will be opened to new entries sold in the store? 10 for £1, for example?

 

[Marc Alexander]

Might I be cheeky and suggest 11 for the chairman?

..maybe Around the Science Park?

 

[Cmdr PeryplusErithrea]

Thankyou for the answer before!

One more from me if you would be so kind

Do the NPC leader characters (Aisling and such) hypothetically exist within the Elite universe?
As in are they for want of a better word "flying" around with the rest of us great unwashed?

 

[David Braben]

ROFL!!!

Brian

Can't imagine what you're referring to ;-)

 

[MarcoDisco]

Hi David,

Loving the game and eagerly awaiting the goodness to come.

Can you tell us what percentage of the ED universe is still 'undiscovered' - with no 'discovered by' assignation .

 

[Alexandra Wolf]

We already have Count rank though, so having two ranks both called Countess would be confusing