Frontier: Don't waste the E3 opportunity, please learn your market.

[Iskariot]

Well they truly gone and ruin the immersion aspect of the game by completely separating this CQC game instead of integrating it into the current game.

From what I gather it will be something akin to outdoor sports. It is fine by me. Personally I am not interested in that kind of competition at all, but many will have fun with it I guess.
In my opinion CQC is immersion neutral. It does not influence immersion in one direction or the other. I do not care about it whatsoever and will never partake in it, but that's just me.

FD need to add stuff that really enhances the 'everyday' Elite experience for everyone! I think this is crucial. The stuff I mentioned will do so dramatically. PowerPlay adds to it too, because it paints the political canvas that is in the background of the Elite universe. CQC does nothing at all as far as immersion and every day experience is concerned.

 

[Aegis I]

As a developer I can't help but worry that Braben and co. have lost sight of the core aspect of Elite and the game is suffering feature creep that was never part of the original design but someone thought it would be "cool" to add them as they would appeal to a larger audience.

This video is a fine analogy of video game development and how feature creep can completely change the face of your game if you don't stick to your core aspects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ2lO3ieBA

Best video I have seen this week! Highly entertaining +1

 

[Trafalgar Law]

As a developer I can't help but worry that Braben and co. have lost sight of the core aspect of Elite and the game is suffering feature creep that was never part of the original design but someone thought it would be "cool" to add them as they would appeal to a larger audience.

This video is a fine analogy of video game development and how feature creep can completely change the face of your game if you don't stick to your core aspects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ2lO3ieBA

I don't think you can have too much rep for posting that.

 

[andyseam]

see my thread' if it ain't broke, don't fixed it' I agree with all that is being brought up here

 

[Eben Sheti'ya]

I think frontier should take a step backwards to take a leap forwards by this comment I would like to point out that the original Elite was a space flight/trading game with piracy, the police and an alien threat.

Frontier Introduced the landing of ships at multiple planetary bases that supposedly had lifters taking cargo off-world to the orbital stations and a bulletin boards with pictures of the guys/gals you were taking the contracts from these also included transporting people as cargo not just slaves but vip,s.

IMHO a step back to bring these features forward into this fantastic game would flesh things out more than CQC and put back items that should already be in the game bringing the lore up to date.

Please let me land in Paris or London and allow my drive to fail dropping me in some random system or in the middle of a bunch of double jointed meat munching chitin covered space bugs. give me back what was taken away.

Humans cannot possible be the be all and end all of life in this galaxy.

 

[Insomnia]

I haven't played Elite for more than a month now. And I dont feel an urge to either. Thing is, I love the game. But I get so bored of it I MUST quit after an hour.
I've had hopes for 1.3 and the E3 announcements. But pvp isn't my cup of tea and I couldn't care less for galactic conflicts.
The more content patches FD reveals, the further away I feel I'm getting.
And it worries me for what croud FD is aiming for.
I need a ton more of single player content to do on my own. Hauling x to y and killing an endless amount of pirates isn't enough in the long run.
At least not for me...

 

[CmdrBulldog]

I haven't played Elite for more than a month now. And I dont feel an urge to either. Thing is, I love the game. But I get so bored of it I MUST quit after an hour.
I've had hopes for 1.3 and the E3 announcements. But pvp isn't my cup of tea and I couldn't care less for galactic conflicts.
The more content patches FD reveals, the further away I feel I'm getting.
And it worries me for what croud FD is aiming for.
I need a ton more of single player content to do on my own. Hauling x to y and killing an endless amount of pirates isn't enough in the long run.
At least not for me...

I must admit I have not played since 1.2, and most everyone I played with back then no longer play. It seems people last about two weeks average, and if you are stubborn enough you play for a month or two, then can't seem to muster the courage to log in again. This is sad since the games I grew up playing were games we played for 5 or 10 years before we got bored.

I kept watching the forums thinking that they would be adding the Corvette and Panther, and that would interest me alot. Also maybe making the mission system so that we did not see the continuously recycled missions. Even logical improvements to mining that did not involve disposable bots (poor design IMHO). All of these things would have brought some of us back but now the teamspeak server that used to have 50 people on at all times is empty, and everyone's response to me about Elite has been "I'm not going back, they (FD) don't know what they are doing".

This really is easy to fix with only a fraction of the effort they have put into powerplay, and yet they can't seem to see it. *Boggle*

 

[Vasious]

They don't need more players.

If they need more revenue then they should swallow their pride and say that, and re-open a kickstarter or some sort of donation thingy.

Asking for donations is no way to run a business
Makes a wonderful business plan
And reduces their profession to pan handling.

Perhaps we should all only work for what ever donations our clients are willing to provide us.

 

[slashgoh]

I haven't played Elite for more than a month now. And I dont feel an urge to either. Thing is, I love the game. But I get so bored of it I MUST quit after an hour.
I've had hopes for 1.3 and the E3 announcements. But pvp isn't my cup of tea and I couldn't care less for galactic conflicts.
The more content patches FD reveals, the further away I feel I'm getting.
And it worries me for what croud FD is aiming for.
I need a ton more of single player content to do on my own. Hauling x to y and killing an endless amount of pirates isn't enough in the long run.
At least not for me...

Neither to me. Fully agree.
Hoping in other space sims at this point.
The most unexplanable thing is the introduction of UA's with their complex sound basis system, added to the MB post on the first page for hearing to it and, after months of cooperative working (the only really fun "mission" of the game) discovering that it was all unfinished, on not linked to anything.

 

[FuzzySpider]

Asking for donations is no way to run a business
Makes a wonderful business plan
And reduces their profession to pan handling.

Perhaps we should all only work for what ever donations our clients are willing to provide us.

No it's not how to run a business that produces products.

But it is a way for artists to produce art.

What would you rather Elite be?

 

[B33 ENN]

Having just about come to terms with the embarrassing episode on the PC Gaming Show spot that David Braben did, I have a new perspective on this topic:

Elite isn't Frontier's main priority. I think these other games are. I admit I don't don't quite understand the market for things like Kinnectimals, Roller Tycoon and now Planet Coaster never having played them. I presume they are sort of the Viva Pinata genre? I've played that and liked it.

Anyway, I think contract games like that for the consoles is what Frontier is about. I think Elite is more of a side project, rather than the flagship I assumed it was.

I don't know, to be honest I'm very confused and disillusioned now. All I do know is I'm looking forward to hearing more about No Man's Sky as I really liked Sean Murray's latest demo.

 

[Insomnia]

I was under the impression that Elite Dangerous was more like Frontiers baby and the other games were just contract products.
Unfortunately they're not taking good care of their baby.
Strangely they even seem to be proud of it.
What would Ian Bell say about it?

 

[B33 ENN]

I was under the impression that Elite Dangerous was more like Frontiers baby and the other games were just contract products.

I think it still very much is, but perhaps from a financial point of things, it isn't the what keeps the lights on, and it's we the fans that have got the wrong impression.

That once Elite came out, it would become their main focus. Perhaps this was a mistaken idea and they still get most of their income from the other projects.

It's probably that Frontier were doing well enough as a small developer before they decided to reboot Elite. So maybe these other products will always be their bread and butter.

I'm just not entirely sure why they needed the Kickstarter though, if that's the case.

 

[LameoveR]

In last three-four years all anticipated games were a total disappointment to me.
I can't play any game 841 hours straight, even real MMOs like TESO where i count only ~150hrs for the whole year.
I played ED for two last weeks and now i get bored, but i'm looking further for the new patches\updates and other stuff.

Last posts makes me think that you people are become too picky over the years that have passed since first Elite, and doesn't really know what do you want to see in ED.

Sorry for my bad English

 

[B33 ENN]

Last posts makes me think that you people are become too picky over the years that have passed since first Elite, and doesn't really know what do you want to see in ED.

I have a pretty good idea what I feel the game should be, or have in it. I've read many great suggestions and ideas on these forums from other members that were very detailed. There's also the DDA/F which has a directed vision of the gameplay.

Just caught this snippet on TB's roundup of the Steam sale. First time I've heard him talk about Elite: Dangerous, and I broadly agree with what he says.

 

[lilikin]

Well they were right about one thing there was exciting news at e3.....

No Man's Sky is releasing on PC at the same time as PS4........

 

[jabokai]

Good OP, erm, OP!

Haven't read the rest but I agree with your premise - ED will never have the oomph to outdo games whose sole purpose is one of the features presented in ED, just won't happen. For example, leaving aside that Eve Valkyrie is VR only and that, in itself, will somewhat limit it's spread - I will eat my hat if this is not a better fragfest experience than CQC. It is all it is so the entire experience is designed around that, no compromises, or thought, needed to "the greater game".

Having said that I see no reason why ED shouldn't have these things too but, I would hope they really would be addons, done as an aside to the core of the game which should (IMHO) be being developed to more depth, and at a far faster pace than it is.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

Having just about come to terms with the embarrassing episode on the PC Gaming Show spot that David Braben did, I have a new perspective on this topic:

Elite isn't Frontier's main priority. I think these other games are. I admit I don't don't quite understand the market for things like Kinnectimals, Roller Tycoon and now Planet Coaster never having played them. I presume they are sort of the Viva Pinata genre? I've played that and liked it.

Anyway, I think contract games like that for the consoles is what Frontier is about. I think Elite is more of a side project, rather than the flagship I assumed it was.

I don't know, to be honest I'm very confused and disillusioned now. All I do know is I'm looking forward to hearing more about No Man's Sky as I really liked Sean Murray's latest demo.

I think you have this exactly the wrong way round. Those contract games were what Frontier was in the past. E: D and Planet coaster are deliberate attempts to change that model, and to become a 'proper' studio, not just a sub contractor. E: D and Planet Coaster (and the games that they hope will follow) are what Frontier are betting their future on.

In terms of market size, the market for roller coaster games is just bigger than that for games like Elite. They did Elite first because of who they are (or, rather, who David is) and his history with the game. A more 'sensible' business plan would have been to start with the coaster game (they are world leaders at building those, even if it is not their IP), and use that as a cash cow to build Elite.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

I'm just not entirely sure why they needed the Kickstarter though, if that's the case.

Marketing. To show that there was a market there, even if it was nostalgia driven, and to some extent to get free advertising, and also to show that demand was there to help them raise funds through other means. They didn't financially need the kickstarter to make the game happen (kickstarter around 1.5Million, game costs over 8Million, money in the bank from the IPO), but they probably did need it to encourage investment. They had, of course, already been working on it as a stealth project for some time, or we would not have been able to see the 'as it stands' game footage during the kickstarter - two devs chasing each other through an asteroid belt, and all that.

 

[Insomnia]

In last three-four years all anticipated games were a total disappointment to me.

Alien Isolation
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Skyrim (end of 2011)
The Witcher 3
Assassin's Creed Black Flag

I'd say there have been some amazing releases the last 3-4 years.
But... Sometimes I wonder if I've lost the interest in gaming in general. Especially after putting 3 years into WoW and 4 years with Skyrim (with hundreds of hours tuning my ENBs). I can feel a little like you too at times, that games nowadays disappoint me. But I rarely give them a chance. When doign it, I like gaming again.

Hope my english is somewhat understandable.