News ANNOUNCING ELITE DANGEROUS: HORIZONS

[SJT]

Hardly.... given most MMORPG charge sub + expansion pack prices .... £30 a year for expansions is not the same league as 12x£10 + £25 that you'd pay for WoW or Eve
FD can't just create expansions for nothing, they pay for Amazon hosting, they have salaries ... the kickstarter income only covered about 15% of the dev costs.... supporting this game at the rate of evolution they're doing costs money.

Hell, its barely more than the price of a cup of high-street coffee per month.

I'm probably too old school in expecting expansions to be about half the price of the base game and requiring the base game to use them. I don't really care as I have the expansion pass from Kickstarter, I just like pointing stuff out that the fanboys don't care to mention. I still haven't had an answer from Michael as to why he's limiting an in game item (the Cobra Mk IV) to a specific group. He's always very good at ignoring the hard questions. (Again, something I'll get anyway but it goes against what they've said previously about everything within game, other than cosmetics, being available to everyone.)

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

No - some development will apply to all versions of the game and so will be available to all owners. This will typically apply to features that apply to everyone in game. Other features and content will be for Elite Dangerous: Horizons owners only.

Michael

Huge thanks for stating this. I hope you sell a lot today!

Good luck with the show!

 

[torc]

as a premium beta buyer should i have access to the ED: Horizons beta or have i to buy it?

 

[MarktJones]

So... will we actually be able to walk on the surface? Or will we still be stuck in our seat in our ship, then stuck in our seat in a buggy? Fingers crossed this means we can actually get out of our seat... it's one of the few places Elite has lagged behind Star Citizen. I want my Neil Armstrong moments!!

Be interesting to see if we can land on the moon and visit the cities and historic landing site.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Fantastic news ! So, as an alpha backer do I still go through the pre-order process and it will cost nothing ?

You don't have to preorder it at all. Expansion pass should cover this already afaik.

 

[Alien]

I presume that "Existing players will also unlock the exclusive Cobra Mk IV ship in Elite Dangerous: Horizons. The Cobra Mk IV will be available in the game only to players who joined us in the first year – forever." means year 2015 (or from 16 Dec 2014 to public release of Horizons), automatically including all earlier backers/buyers according to their pledge level (prem Beta & higher and Expansion Pass folk for free, others who buy the new expansion pass or Horizons this year will also unlock the ship).

EDIT: Hehe, Ninja'd by mr. Brookes while writing this.

I took it to mean anyone who joined (brought or already had brought) between December 2014 and release of Horizons 2015. I have a feeling I will be right, but hopefully as Michael is around now he can confirm


Edit: Muhahaha, ninja'd by Zieman

OK, that does make sense ... but that then means November 2012 to December 2014 didn't happen.

 

[Kemo]

I did. I was wrong and I admit it freely.

I'm as excited as anyone for this, but a little part of me is a little cautious as to how this will function and play - but for the moment, I'm 11 years old again, and it's Christmas day

 

[SeregDuin]

OK, planetary landings. Very well but i expected that this was the big Gamescom news.

The trailer looks really good but we already know that Frontier is good with this stuff.

Personally I think it's a little bit early for landings. IMHO the main game lacks a lot of things more important than this...

Bleh pft tsk

Yey!!!

 

[jabokai]

Michael, a question ...

On the store page for Horizons, it says or implies, people who pre-order Horizons TODAY will get the Cobra MkIV. https://www.frontierstore.net/games...izons/elite-dangerous-horizons-pre-order.html

But on the community page https://community.elitedangerous.com/node/247 it says the Cobra MkIV will only be available to those who joined in the first year.



Which is it?

It's pretty obvious that "first year" refers to the first year from the official release date... which we haven't hit yet, so of course anyone ordering now will get the Mk IV too.

 

[Mephane]

While you're here Michael, does the limiting of a ship type, i.e. The cobra Mk IV, to a specific group not go against your "promise" that everything in game can be earned in game?

I agree with this sentiment. I would be fine if it were just for free and other players would have to pay credits for it. But an exclusive ship? Please, no.

 

[Fosdyke]

Thanks so much for this Frontier Overjoyed!!! Beta bought

 

[GrimThara]

Whoa, well... I think me and a lot of people will have to eat our hats and other inanimate objects. I did not think we'd get something this substantial announced. This looks incredible/sounds incredible. As I watched the teaser and saw the Cobra begin to near the moon my mouth went wide open ... that looks awesome!

Not happy about the price tag (ouch) but that is still awesome.

 

[NeilUK02]

I agree with the point made that new players buying the game get the main game and Horizons for £40, we will have paid £70 or £80 by the time we get Horizons. Also those of us who wanted to play as two commanders and bought the game twice can double that outlay. Treating new customers differently than existing is wrong and it's the biggest complaint made against all companies. Sky TV, BT and the like all get lambasted for having "New Customers pricing" and "Existing Customers Pricing"

 

[Munial]

Quandry - shall I get the expansion on its own or the lifetime pass while its around? I am fully on board for the whole ride, but what else is down the road? Walking about.. er what else? Not doubting they exist but what are the later expansions - HELP me justify the lifetime pass I WANT it!!

 

[orfeboy]

Now THIS is what Elite is about. This is the direction I was hoping the game would take: "all sorts of things to discover hidden on them. You'll find surface starports, crashed ships, mineral deposits, hidden bases" - Hell yeah! Bring it on!!!

Yes and after the first few times you will realise that that is all you will find. It will equate to the same meaningless mundane tasks dictated by the bulletin board over and over with zero depth.

How easily people fall for trailers. Do you not remember the development diaries? How they inspired your imagination? All that stuff is here in the game already but none of it like you imagined it to be.

What does that tell you?

ED does not need more mundane tasks or planertary landings. What it needs is meaningful storyline that the community can steer by mass involvement. Until then, all you have is repetition over and over again for no purpose until you can't take anymore.

 

[Hexcaliber]

While this is good news and not in the least unexpected, I do have concerns over the cost of the add-on that on the face of it adds no more than driving and shooting around procedurally generated planets. I already suspect cqc will do as much for the game as powerplay did, with folks losing interest after a couple of weeks; so I have a few reservations when you charge the cost of a AAA title for this expansion. Will folks end up feeling they have had value for money a few weeks after it launches, I am not so sure.

 

[Jigsaw]

You think planetary landings ARE the game in a space combat / trading game? I really don't understand this sentiment.

For me Elite Dangerous is an exploration game that happens to feature space combat and trading. So yeah, exploring distant worlds via planet landings is the game.

 

[edgar]

http://i.imgur.com/O2DjOeT.png

Anyone know why the discount isnt being applied? I bought ED through steam, but in my transaction history in the account it shows it as being part of my account.

My £10 discount is not being applied.

From the Frontier Store:

For a limited time all Elite: Dangerous players will receive a £10 loyalty discount plus the exclusive Cobra Mark IV ship when ordering Elite Dangerous: Horizons through the Frontier Store. Discount will be automatically applied at checkout

.

However it shows £39.99 right up to Confirmation page in PayPal. I'm trying to buy the Horizons Pre-Order (normal price £39.99, it should be discounted to £29.99 as I'm an existing player)

 

[Tinman]

Only 4.17 pounds a month!

That you don't even have to pay in case you're not interested in the new content...

 

[noodle]

No - some development will apply to all versions of the game and so will be available to all owners. This will typically apply to features that apply to everyone in game. Other features and content will be for Elite Dangerous: Horizons owners only.

Michael

Elite Dangerous: Horizons is a full season of content extending into 2016, introducing new features and gameplay in each major expansion. As with Season One, this season of expansions is not just about planet surfaces, but other major features are coming too.

Of course support will continue for Elite Dangerous even outside of Elite Dangerous: Horizons

This does make it sound like major development will only continue within Horizons though. Can people who don't purchase Horizons still expect major updates like Wings and Powerplay? Or are we talking about minor features and tweaks?