News David Braben Guest Blog - on Xbox One and CQC

[Deadlock989]

How about "Keeping the servers switched on"?

That costs money. Lots of it. Do you really think that sales and the KS money are going to keep them going indefinitely?

The alternative is pay-to-win. Is that really something you'd want to happen?

The real alternative was the offline play that we all expected and wanted. Y'know, back in the crazy old-fashioned days when people paid money for a *finished* game *after* it was finished.

 

[Riedquat]

This is a good move, I got no problems with it, more copies sold, more money to ED.

Cheers,

Yes, but what will they use that money for?, that concerns me.

It is becoming more and more apparent to me that the essence of the game Elite has been lost somewhere along the line, it just looks like it's going in the direction of a 'space shooter'.

During the kickstarter they used the line 'We are making the game we want to make', I dont believe that anymore, they are making a game for the masses and the thing is , Elite was never a game for the masses.

If I had known this at the start, I wouldnt have pledged.

The only way it can be saved IMO (if they truly want to it to be Elite), is by going back to basics and filling in all the fine detail that is missing currently, bring some much needed immersion and depth to the galaxy.

If it was all just a ploy to get funds, then fair play - I was duped good and proper.

 

[ajwm]

The cold hard fact of life is that backer's (and my) money has now been used. I don't mind, I've had more than my 100 pounds worth from this game. To keep it going they need more cash. I don't care where it comes from. MORE CASH BETTER GAME. simples!!!!!!


In fact, because you can't say it Mr Brooke's, because you have to be all fluffy and nice to your customers. I'll say it for you " stop whining, were generating more revenue so we can make this a better game for us all. Wind your necks in....jeez"

 

[Patrick_68000]

Since Powerplay came out I'm losing hope, slowly but steady. I've only joined at Premium Beta stage (although I would have joined at KS stage if I was only in the position to do so at the time, sadly that wasn't the case), so I don't feel as offended as some of the other backers, but at the same time I've read most of the DDA and I was really excited to see these features implemented. Instead, we're being served something completely different, out of the blue, second time in a row now. And this second time we won't even be able to play it until some undefined "before end of the year".

I'm still enjoying Elite, but without the content described in DDA and the new PP stuff being a little bit on the "meh" side, the passion is slowly burning out... Disappointing at the very least to be perfectly honest, but I'm not giving up on Elite yet. With the strong emphasis on "yet". I try to be understanding and I still have some trust in Frontier, but I'm running on the last reserves now...

If we could at least get a confirmation that the DDA features are still in the pipeline and will be worked on next (none of this soon™ stuff, but a firm "NEXT"), it would calm many backers down. I think what we need now is reassurance that we haven't been forgotten about and we are going to receive the core Elite experience we all wanted, hoped and paid for.

I think these steps (PP, CQC, XB1) were necessary for the survival of ED. Will allow perhaps later to acquire more authentic updates for ED ?

 

[SpitTheDog]

I love the look of this and look forward to playing it.

BUT

I paid extra to get early access and all expansion packs for no additional charge. That promised was fulfilled on PC and it was fulfilled on MAC. It is being broken on XBox One. Also XBox One users are being asked to pay LESS to get early access whereas on PC/MAC we were asked to pay MORE to get early access.

I agree XBox One is the perfect platform for this but colour me aubergine for expecting something better than a poxy £5 voucher to spend on the store. It should have been available on Windows Platforms too or a decidedly better cost option for early access backers even if there was a cost to cover whatever the Microsoft XBox platform costs entail.

FD - this looks brilliant and long overdue for those that want easy access to fast paced play, but your marketing guys aren't worth the money you pay them as far as building brand loyalty is concerned. At every opportunity they seem to revel in offending those that helped fund this out of the gate. When you release that preview of CQC they should be tied up in various locations around the arena and used as target practice to unlock achievement points.

Sooo glad I decided not to opt for those god-like powers. Seems like those that did are finding out what it is like to be a hands-off kind of deity.

 

[Hurricane Moon]

It's a perfect fit for the platform, so it made sense for it to come onto Xbox One first - it will be coming as a free update to PC and Mac before the end of the year.

Michael

before the end of the year? i was hoping we would have seen planetry landings by then......

xbones mid range weak specs are going to stop this being what it could be.



watching that trailer made me so angry....its like here you go xbox cod kiddies a space shooter for you!



please dont dumb down this mature gamers space opera.......dont make me pledge to mr roberts

 

[Space Fan]

Is this why PowerPlay is so poor - because they've been working on this?

 

[rootsrat]

I think these steps (PP, CQC, XB1) were necessary for the survival of ED. Will allow perhaps later to acquire more authentic updates for ED ?

That's what I'm hoping for and that's why I said I'm trying to be understanding. I realise that running a business costs money and the money sadly don't usually fall from the sky

 

[highpsiturbo]

I'm a backer so I deserve everything first and have the right to carry on like a pork chop as well.

Me Me pork chop pork chop.

Looks alright actually keep it up FD.

 

[Philip Coutts]

I do chuckle at the "more cash = better game", no it really doesn't. You can have all them money in the world and turn out a completely crap game. Also remember Frontier is a private company with shareholders and shareholders invest to make money, so at least part of that lovely Microsoft cash is going to go on making shareholders happy.

 

[SpitTheDog]

I'm a backer so I deserve everything first and have the right to carry on like a pork chop as well.

Me Me pork chop pork chop.

Looks alright actually keep it up FD.

FD charged them extra with the promise of this type of access. Soe of them paid hundreds over the standard pricing. Pretty certain most people that did that would feel aggrieved in some way.

 

[Hurricane Moon]

mr braben imagine back to the days of 84 when you just finished elite on the bbc and it was selling like hotcakes.....
you sqeezed every ounce of mem from that machine to run it.....real technilogical feat......and the last minute radar was a stroke of genius.

at the time the bbc was a good home computer......you didnt release a atari 2600 version? or a commodore vic 20 version back then...



so why now?


has the bedroom programmers of olds mentallity finally died....is it really just about money these days?

 

[highpsiturbo]

FD charged them extra with the promise of this type of access. Soe of them paid hundreds over the standard pricing. Pretty certain most people that did that would feel aggrieved in some way.

FD didn't force the money out of them though (me included) if you aren't comfortable taking the risk don't pay in the first place.

 

[SpitTheDog]

mr braben imagine back to the days of 84 when you just finished elite on the bbc and it was selling like hotcakes.....
you sqeezed every ounce of mem from that machine to run it.....real technilogical feat......and the last minute radar was a stroke of genius.

at the time the bbc was a good home computer......you didnt release a atari 2600 version? or a commodore vic 20 version back then...



so why now?


has the bedroom programmers of olds mentallity finally died....is it really just about money these days?

Have you checked how many platforms they actually released Elite on? You are listing platforms that had been superceded by that point really. When they developed for other platforms they went for the current one. If they were releasing ofr XBox 360 or PS3 you might have a point.

 

[ajwm]

I do chuckle at the "more cash = better game", no it really doesn't. You can have all them money in the world and turn out a completely crap game. Also remember Frontier is a private company with shareholders and shareholders invest to make money, so at least part of that lovely Microsoft cash is going to go on making shareholders happy.

Yes I see what you mean Phil, because it's been crap this game hasn't it. From day one it's been crap and that's were it's going to end up, crap ???? Have some faith mate.

 

[SpitTheDog]

FD didn't force the money out of them though (me included) if you aren't comfortable taking the risk don't pay in the first place.

No FD didn't force anyone. FD persuaded them with promises. The risk was whether the game would ever get released. The risk was not meant to be whether FD fulfilled their promises after release. I own Willy Wonka's Everlasting Expansion Pass too. The risk is that they never release a paid expansion, but if they do and refuse to give it thn FD broke the terms of the agreement and that is not the risk that we took on board.

 

[Hurricane Moon]

Have you checked how many platforms they actually released Elite on?

i have to admit i had it on a zx spectrum....

its not the point! lol...


i have owned both these so called next gen consoles......they are money grabbing sheep machines,made to squeeze money out of people for a 8 year cycle.
already outdated graphics...how will the games progress in the next 8 years?.....not much really,the cpu and gpu inside them can only do so much.

sold the xbox,gave the ps4 to my oldest son.


anyway i digress,elite was released on many platforms....dont recall it being on a console back in the day though.....home computers was the way to play.
then again i could be wrong.

 

[Genus]

It will only improve the support we can offer to our existing playerbase.

Please define "support".

How about "Keeping the servers switched on"? That costs money. Lots of it. Do you really think that sales and the KS money are going to keep them going indefinitely? The alternative is pay-to-win. Is that really something you'd want to happen?

I asked Ed Lewis. The question stands.

 

[Joif]

It was no secret we knew it would come to a console eventually seeing as that's where the majority of the market is.. however I don't think Elite in its current state is ready for a console release, the PC consumers are generally more forgiving as we'll still be around in years to come but releasing now on Console user base you need to get their attention fast or you'll be tomorrows trade in for the next game.

At present I can see the majority of them wont make if past the first 4 hours before switching off and never coming back due to either the current learning curve will be too steep as ED's interfaces generally don't explain things particularly well or the more savvy users will see the grinds for what it is and will ultimately play something more rewarding for their limited available time, first impressions matter and it's current state isn't a lasting impression I would be happy imprinting on a new user base that are used to AAA quality and polish.

My issue is that Elite at present is full of what most of dev teams would consider as "Placeholder" mechanics at best and yet since release there's been no major steps taken forward in terms of fleshing out the game as it so badly needs my biggest anticipated feature of 1.3 was the "major overhaul" of the mission system yet the missions seem no different from before except they actually work now and pay a little better, still no depth or any real sense of adventure seemed hardly a major overhaul.

My only hope is that the additional revenue brought in from consoles will be spent on expanding the team with some industry experienced members that can implement the in-depth game mechanics we come to expect from a "released" product and show us something worth sticking around for fast as it's obvious in this thread there is a lot of people losing faith and concerned for the future of Elite.

 

[highpsiturbo]

No FD didn't force anyone. FD persuaded them with promises. The risk was whether the game would ever get released. The risk was not meant to be whether FD fulfilled their promises after release. I own Willy Wonka's Everlasting Expansion Pass too. The risk is that they never release a paid expansion, but if they do and refuse to give it thn FD broke the terms of the agreement and that is not the risk that we took on board.

Fair enough.

There is a chance of rain next week and sunshine as well.