Horizon vs Non-Horizon Balance

[剣 真]

Will the game be balanced so that anyone can still compete regardless of having the addon or not like, for example, in Battlefield 4 or will non-horizon players be in a disadvantage like in typical MMO-addons? Will non-Horizon players be able to fly in planet-instances but not land on them or are planets Horizon only? If they are exclusive to Horizon players, woudn't planets be save-zones against non-Horizon players pursuing them?

 

[Special Circumstances]

I guess the best way to see it as having a "license" for planetary landings.

 

[Zieman]

Compete? I don't understand your question (in the context of E: D).

 

[Jockey79]

.... If they are exclusive to Horizon players, woudn't planets be save-zones against non-Horizon players pursuing them?

And here is the incentive to buy Horizons.
Without it, you cannot enter "orbital cruise", so you have to wait in SC for them to come back up.

(Note: it was stated in a recent live stream, SRVs and orbital cruise engines are equipment to be fitted to your ship - no Horizons, no equipment)

 

[satrycus]

Will the game be balanced so that anyone can still compete regardless of having the addon or not like, for example, in Battlefield 4 or will non-horizon players be in a disadvantage like in typical MMO-addons? Will non-Horizon players be able to fly in planet-instances but not land on them or are planets Horizon only? If they are exclusive to Horizon players, woudn't planets be save-zones against non-Horizon players pursuing them?

Horizons isn't really an add on, think of it like a World of Warcraft expansion; you can't access the new zones/content without it. So to answer your question, players without Horizons will not be able to pursue those with Horizons across the planet threshold, in the same way players without a WoW expansion can't enter the areas specific to it.

 

[Alexander the Grape]

Will the game be balanced so that anyone can still compete regardless of having the addon or not like, for example, in Battlefield 4 or will non-horizon players be in a disadvantage like in typical MMO-addons? Will non-Horizon players be able to fly in planet-instances but not land on them or are planets Horizon only? If they are exclusive to Horizon players, woudn't planets be save-zones against non-Horizon players pursuing them?

There already is a safe zone. It's called solo mode

 

[剣 真]

Would it even be practical to flee to a planet and hide there if you know you're being hunted? I you have to slow down to get into the athmosphere that makes an easy intertiction target anyway, right? I guess if you fly into the planet at full speed you get an emergency stop in space anyway.

 

[Midian27]

Would it even be practical to flee to a planet and hide there if you know you're being hunted? I you have to slow down to get into the athmosphere that makes an easy intertiction target anyway, right? I guess if you fly into the planet at full speed you get an emergency stop in space anyway.

What does it matter? Anyone you "hunt" can easily combat log with no repercussions anyway, so your whole question is pointless.

 

[Westyb]

Buy Horizons. Problem solved.

 

[Flavourless]

Does anyone know if players who have bought both Mercenary and Horizons editions will be able to choose which one to log on to?
Apart from the novelty, most of the time I have no interest in going planetside with my spaceship, so it would be an advantage to run a smaller build without all the largely useless PL code.

 

[DaggerSnake]

Watching people fly down to a planet while sitting at that hard stop from the gravity well Wil be like standing outside the theater while everyone goes in to see the new Star Wars. I'm tearing up just thinking about those unfortunate souls...

 

[Jockey79]

Watching people fly down to a planet while sitting at that hard stop from the gravity well Wil be like standing outside the theater while everyone goes in to see the new Star Wars. I'm tearing up just thinking about those unfortunate souls...

Funny, I was going to feel sorry for those stood out in the cold while I have popcorn and a great time

Each to their own I guess

 

[Mushroom]

Does anyone know if players who have bought both Mercenary and Horizons editions will be able to choose which one to log on to?
Apart from the novelty, most of the time I have no interest in going planetside with my spaceship, so it would be an advantage to run a smaller build without all the largely useless PL code.

i don't think you understand how the game works, or games in general.

everybody will benefit from the Horizons, all the land-able planets will be updated to look more detailed and to use the new planet generator.

not to mention this in nearly all cases won't affect your game in any slow way, there are Level of details models so that if you are far away from planets the details are less so that the computer does not suffer.

 

[Herik]

Will the game be balanced so that anyone can still compete regardless of having the addon or not like, for example, in Battlefield 4 or will non-horizon players be in a disadvantage like in typical MMO-addons? Will non-Horizon players be able to fly in planet-instances but not land on them or are planets Horizon only? If they are exclusive to Horizon players, woudn't planets be save-zones against non-Horizon players pursuing them?

On your last sentence; -that's right, you got it.

 

[h347h]

Does anyone know if players who have bought both Mercenary and Horizons editions will be able to choose which one to log on to?
Apart from the novelty, most of the time I have no interest in going planetside with my spaceship, so it would be an advantage to run a smaller build without all the largely useless PL code.

You are aware you are going to always use the same build if you are on PC.

 

[Bomba Luigi]

There are already plenty of safe zones. Stations, diffrent mode, diffrent instance, Real Life. So nothing new there.

 

[Kristov]

Why do so many people confuse this game with a PvP based game? I don't get that at all...

As to the actual question, yes, the person with Horizons will be able to escape the person without by simply going to the planet. Exactly how it works in other MMO style games, you don't get the expansion, you can't visit the areas it adds.

Now, will we get real advantages for buying Horizons? Different question all together as this is NOT an PvP based game, and so far it looks like the answer is...not really sure! Real advantages that gives us a leg up on the non-Horizons players, eh, not really, we'll simply be able to do more things than they can, actual advantages to that are simply more game play options, not actual better toys ingame to use, that we're aware of at this time. Crafting will have things that can be found on planets, but they haven't outright stated ONLY found on planets, because crafting isn't a Horizons specific thing, everyone gets it.

 

[BurnyBurns]

The question gets really interesting when you consider that Horizons players might be able to form mutli-crews, which season one players might not be able to do if it turns out to be an exclusive feature (purely speculative).

If running a ship in multi-crew offered any PvP advantage over running that same ship solo, Horizons players would, in that scenario, have advantages in direct (hostile) interaction with season one players.

 

[Kristov]

The question gets really interesting when you consider that Horizons players might be able to form mutli-crews, which season one players might not be able to do if it turns out to be an exclusive feature (purely speculative).

If running a ship in multi-crew offered any PvP advantage over running that same ship solo, Horizons players would, in that scenario, have advantages in direct (hostile) interaction with season one players.

Multicrew is a core game mechanic, not a Horizon's exclusive, there's a lot of confusion on this subject and FD has addressed it in the live streams but so many people don't watch those.

And who cares if you get a PvP advantage? If you are an Anaconda and a player in a Sidewinder attacks you, is that a fair fight? PvP is NOT the basis of this game, it's NOT part of the design specs, they don't worry about that because this is a single player game that you play online and you CAN allow others to join you or not. PvP is simply not prohibited from happening, it is otherwise ignored. How do people totally miss that when they look at Elite Dangerous? The Dangerous is not a reference to PvP, it's a reference to the fact that the game is unforgiving and the universe is a big, cold empty place where bad things can happen, that's all it refers to. Per FD, PvP is supposed to be a RARE event, it's not supposed to happen much, so it's not part of the game design, it's just NOT prohibited. You want PvP, play CQC, it's designed for that, still suffers some of the same non-PvP design issues but they artificially balance those out somewhat, but the Sidey isn't a match for the Condor or Eagle even so, still fun however, and unlike the main game, the PvP isn't a bad joke.

 

[Flavourless]

Multicrew is a core game mechanic, not a Horizon's exclusive, there's a lot of confusion on this subject and FD has addressed it in the live streams but so many people don't watch those.

And who cares if you get a PvP advantage? If you are an Anaconda and a player in a Sidewinder attacks you, is that a fair fight? PvP is NOT the basis of this game, it's NOT part of the design specs, they don't worry about that because this is a single player game that you play online and you CAN allow others to join you or not. PvP is simply not prohibited from happening, it is otherwise ignored. How do people totally miss that when they look at Elite Dangerous? The Dangerous is not a reference to PvP, it's a reference to the fact that the game is unforgiving and the universe is a big, cold empty place where bad things can happen, that's all it refers to. Per FD, PvP is supposed to be a RARE event, it's not supposed to happen much, so it's not part of the game design, it's just NOT prohibited. You want PvP, play CQC, it's designed for that, still suffers some of the same non-PvP design issues but they artificially balance those out somewhat, but the Sidey isn't a match for the Condor or Eagle even so, still fun however, and unlike the main game, the PvP isn't a bad joke.

I agree.
But the majority that come to these fora to accuse people of "hiding in solo", or to insist that only players in open should count towards CGs, PP and the career ratings, do seem to maintain that PvP is the only thing in ED.