Is Elite Dangerous a Dad's Game Played mainly by "non-gamers"?
- Thread starter indiebob
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Most dads here probably have been gaming since the Speccy/C64; through Amiga/Atari ST and onward. That's my experience anyway. I also must add, the local arcade during 80's was my favourite hangout as a teenager. I kinda discovered raving in my late teens and didn't really game, although I made tunes on my Amiga using Octamed and played Frontier for a while.
I didn't really get into PC gaming until I bought one in 2000. I kind of got into Mame in a big way. Thousands of arcade games at my fingertips for free. Then Tribes 2 came out and I was hooked on multiplayer. Later that year the amazing Operation Flashpoint came out with all the delicious mods, maps and usermade missions that were better quality than what the devs created. I became an Arma fanboi from then on! There was no other platform for me. I had tried consoles but didn't like the games, so never bought one. Steam hit the scene and wow!
Is Elite a dad's game and not a PC gamers; game? I think we can safely say that most dads are pc gamers, those of us that didn't buckle to the dim light of the console.
I didn't really get into PC gaming until I bought one in 2000. I kind of got into Mame in a big way. Thousands of arcade games at my fingertips for free. Then Tribes 2 came out and I was hooked on multiplayer. Later that year the amazing Operation Flashpoint came out with all the delicious mods, maps and usermade missions that were better quality than what the devs created. I became an Arma fanboi from then on! There was no other platform for me. I had tried consoles but didn't like the games, so never bought one. Steam hit the scene and wow!
Is Elite a dad's game and not a PC gamers; game? I think we can safely say that most dads are pc gamers, those of us that didn't buckle to the dim light of the console.
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As a Dad, and a gamer since Atari 2600 days I am unsure you got your message across properly. I kind of know what you mean but I think ED brings alot of "solo" players into the fold. Some of these are simply averse to PvP ?
Essentially with age comes patience which draws people to games that require a bit more nous over sheer reflex and button mashing. Thats not to say you still dont enjoy the button mashing, but when you have precious little time to spend on a game it needs to be worthwhile. I think thats the change ??
I dont know, I tend to gravitate to one game and play it to death rather than have a smorgasbord - ED for all its shortcomings does so much right, and I can see it going in the right direction. Lots more fun to be had. Though I wish more people played in open and just accepted the challenge of PvP if it arose!
Essentially with age comes patience which draws people to games that require a bit more nous over sheer reflex and button mashing. Thats not to say you still dont enjoy the button mashing, but when you have precious little time to spend on a game it needs to be worthwhile. I think thats the change ??
I dont know, I tend to gravitate to one game and play it to death rather than have a smorgasbord - ED for all its shortcomings does so much right, and I can see it going in the right direction. Lots more fun to be had. Though I wish more people played in open and just accepted the challenge of PvP if it arose!
I still have my original Sears Atari Pong in storage.
https://dehipgahngaming.files.wordp...s-tele-games-pong-controllers-and-console.jpg
Whoa! Yours had 16 game variants? Ours had 4. And the knobs were on the console itself, so we had to sit on the floor side by side to play.
Did get a lot of play out of it for how simple it was.
Elite is probably mostly played by the more patient gamers, age is not something that changes people from being gamers, it isn't only people below 25 or such that are gamers, so yeah.
But Elite is probably more for those that don't need a game that is, well, action action action...so yeah. Lets throw that stereotype about people playing elite being "non gamers" out the window
But Elite is probably more for those that don't need a game that is, well, action action action...so yeah. Lets throw that stereotype about people playing elite being "non gamers" out the window
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Very true. I have noticed over the years that those calling themselves "Hardcore Gamers" are usually anything but. The viewpoint seems to stem from them perceiving they have some form of "superiority" over others at their chosen form of unpaid entertainment time. Asking further, they will usually say that Game X beats Game Y, and by being "better" at Game X makes one MOAR hardcore.
Upon further questioning, it also appears that being "better" at Game X is also seemingly dependent upon which platform it is played. Apparently, Platform A is superior to Platform B, and those on the opposite platform are skill-less drudges who can never hope to proudly bear the "Hardcore" badge.
It goes back and back, doesn't matter which era you consider. XB1 vs PS4. 360 vs PS3. WII vs potato. Pentium vs PPC. MC680x0 vs 80x86. Amiga vs ST. Spectrum vs C64. Z80 vs 6502. RISC vs CISC. CMOS vs TTL.
It'll go on forever.
And mainframes will always win
ED is played by people who are or have a a patience treahold above your average 'rage' gamer.
i know of people who sadly had tge mentality of a 16 year old who where above 30... Ive met those who where 15 that i thought was 30+
depends on the person, but i think patience has a lot to do with it, space games like ed, eve, sc and such always seem to attract these kinds of people, and its awesome.
i know of people who sadly had tge mentality of a 16 year old who where above 30... Ive met those who where 15 that i thought was 30+
depends on the person, but i think patience has a lot to do with it, space games like ed, eve, sc and such always seem to attract these kinds of people, and its awesome.
I sold my kids to imperial slavery. Am I still a Dadgamer?
What the hell is this crap (FD forum friendly version. It was much worse this side)?! I'm 40 and I've been a gamer before you were even born. Sonny.
Interesting post - I have a few questions about my status:
Played so many games over so many years for so many hours that my ccorporal tunnel hands have corporal tunnel also. Does Corporal tunnel squared make me a Hardcore gamer?
So many hours that my trigger fingers have trigger finger - a very disturbing condition for those not aware. Makes it hard to shake hands or rub b... Down to only a single useable trigger finger. Does that make me hardcore gamer?
Played my first PC game on a TRS color computer - hardcore gamer?
Played my first console game on an Atari - hardcore gamer?
Have a collection of purchased PC game Floppy disks and CD's to fill two file drawers? hardcore?
Spent more money to have the latest blazing PC that I have spent on my cars. hardcore?
I don't live in my parents basement playing games all day - hmm maybe Dadgamer? Since I left my parents basement at the age of 19, I have owned a number of basements that I filled with my kids playing games.
Will be celebrating my 70th birthday in 2016 - sounds a bit like grand dad gamer?
OP seemed to be asking what flavor of gamer will Frontier want to dev for - with the implication that age was the critical parameter. I total disagree - Frontier wants to create a game for folks like myself who will pay and play for the next decade!
Played so many games over so many years for so many hours that my ccorporal tunnel hands have corporal tunnel also. Does Corporal tunnel squared make me a Hardcore gamer?
So many hours that my trigger fingers have trigger finger - a very disturbing condition for those not aware. Makes it hard to shake hands or rub b... Down to only a single useable trigger finger. Does that make me hardcore gamer?
Played my first PC game on a TRS color computer - hardcore gamer?
Played my first console game on an Atari - hardcore gamer?
Have a collection of purchased PC game Floppy disks and CD's to fill two file drawers? hardcore?
Spent more money to have the latest blazing PC that I have spent on my cars. hardcore?
I don't live in my parents basement playing games all day - hmm maybe Dadgamer? Since I left my parents basement at the age of 19, I have owned a number of basements that I filled with my kids playing games.
Will be celebrating my 70th birthday in 2016 - sounds a bit like grand dad gamer?
OP seemed to be asking what flavor of gamer will Frontier want to dev for - with the implication that age was the critical parameter. I total disagree - Frontier wants to create a game for folks like myself who will pay and play for the next decade!
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The top management at ED are "making the game that they want to play", and how old are they ?
It is a game designed at least in parts for the older generation (Solo, PVP opt out mode, simulation heavy, easy to avoid death, game can be played in a relaxed manner), but some parts are designed for the younger generation as well (CQC).
It is no bad thing having a game that appeals to the older generation.
I guess Valkyrie will be aimed more at a younger generation.
It is a game designed at least in parts for the older generation (Solo, PVP opt out mode, simulation heavy, easy to avoid death, game can be played in a relaxed manner), but some parts are designed for the younger generation as well (CQC).
It is no bad thing having a game that appeals to the older generation.
I guess Valkyrie will be aimed more at a younger generation.
I'm 25, I play big gamerly games, no MMO though, and I have close to no reproach to make to this game.
I don't like your typology. But I admit there is people who get Elite, and those who want it different than it is.
And I think the people who get it are those that will still play and support the game in 10 years when the big gamers will be playing WoW II or some big AAA game. Big impatient "gratify me now" players want World of Assassin's Creed New Modern Warfare.
I recently posted a thread to explain just what I love in this game and you couln't find anywhere else.
I I had to sum it up... Elite is unconventionnal. That's not a game who tells you what the goal is. How to win. What is winning. Which can unnerve some "quick-reward players". They tend not to get that without a defined goal, as in life, you set your own goal and YOU determine when you've won.
This is a game profundly technical. The pleasure is not in the moment when you go reach some signal and go into battle. It's about waking up in your cockpit. Posing your hand on the yoke and getting that chill as your hands carefully take over the launch sequence. You feel the detach. The zero gravity. The slow drifting of your ship coming to life... you delect in the roar of the engine, you can almost feel its tremor in the yoke and the Gs adding up as you speed up. You get a jolt of adrenaline shooting throug the mailbox of a coriolis station. You are in space. Free. And when this countdown it zero, FSD engage, stars elongate and deform as you shoot lightyears away, you can finally achieve your dream as child to one day push into hyperspace the Millenium Falcon and explore the stars.
You can't enjoy Elite if you don't find pleasure in fighting, yes, but also mining, exploring, watching a beatiful sky, going on some planet just because you feel like it. No goal. No mission. You just want to see Jupiter.
And then, everything need to be mastered. Fighting ? Master it FA-On, and then try FA-Off maneuvers... should take you a 1000 hours to become an ace. You can't grind skill in Elite, you have to pursue it.
Trading ? You need to manage, calculate, search, get word of mouth in forums... cruise with an unarmed, unshielded ship through dangerous systems... if it is boring, you don't get it, you don't do it well, you are not seeking to play Elite.
Mining ? That's exploring. Finding a secret good spot. Dodging pirates. Wondering like a fisherman in the sea if you will come home with a sufficient load of precious minerals... drifting around a gaz giant telling yourself "damn... I'm mining Jupiter's ring... I'm experiencing that". You balance limpet and cargo space, you carefully manage you refinery, you have this thrill when hitting a 40% paininte asteroid. You hold your breath. You feel despair when hitting by accident the "jettison all cargo key".
And exploration ? "worse" of all. That's about going ot there to see if there is something beautiful to see. what this nebula looks like. How it is on the surface of this planet. What will happen to you. Will you return ?
Elite has the most complex "space-fighting" gameplay. But it also brings to the table poetry, contemplation, imagination, feelings, technicality, beauty.
Don't grind it. Don't hammer it 3 hours a day every day. Come live you own unsignificant space adventure whenever you feel like seing the stars and doing something among them.
I don't like your typology. But I admit there is people who get Elite, and those who want it different than it is.
And I think the people who get it are those that will still play and support the game in 10 years when the big gamers will be playing WoW II or some big AAA game. Big impatient "gratify me now" players want World of Assassin's Creed New Modern Warfare.
I recently posted a thread to explain just what I love in this game and you couln't find anywhere else.
I I had to sum it up... Elite is unconventionnal. That's not a game who tells you what the goal is. How to win. What is winning. Which can unnerve some "quick-reward players". They tend not to get that without a defined goal, as in life, you set your own goal and YOU determine when you've won.
This is a game profundly technical. The pleasure is not in the moment when you go reach some signal and go into battle. It's about waking up in your cockpit. Posing your hand on the yoke and getting that chill as your hands carefully take over the launch sequence. You feel the detach. The zero gravity. The slow drifting of your ship coming to life... you delect in the roar of the engine, you can almost feel its tremor in the yoke and the Gs adding up as you speed up. You get a jolt of adrenaline shooting throug the mailbox of a coriolis station. You are in space. Free. And when this countdown it zero, FSD engage, stars elongate and deform as you shoot lightyears away, you can finally achieve your dream as child to one day push into hyperspace the Millenium Falcon and explore the stars.
You can't enjoy Elite if you don't find pleasure in fighting, yes, but also mining, exploring, watching a beatiful sky, going on some planet just because you feel like it. No goal. No mission. You just want to see Jupiter.
And then, everything need to be mastered. Fighting ? Master it FA-On, and then try FA-Off maneuvers... should take you a 1000 hours to become an ace. You can't grind skill in Elite, you have to pursue it.
Trading ? You need to manage, calculate, search, get word of mouth in forums... cruise with an unarmed, unshielded ship through dangerous systems... if it is boring, you don't get it, you don't do it well, you are not seeking to play Elite.
Mining ? That's exploring. Finding a secret good spot. Dodging pirates. Wondering like a fisherman in the sea if you will come home with a sufficient load of precious minerals... drifting around a gaz giant telling yourself "damn... I'm mining Jupiter's ring... I'm experiencing that". You balance limpet and cargo space, you carefully manage you refinery, you have this thrill when hitting a 40% paininte asteroid. You hold your breath. You feel despair when hitting by accident the "jettison all cargo key".
And exploration ? "worse" of all. That's about going ot there to see if there is something beautiful to see. what this nebula looks like. How it is on the surface of this planet. What will happen to you. Will you return ?
Elite has the most complex "space-fighting" gameplay. But it also brings to the table poetry, contemplation, imagination, feelings, technicality, beauty.
Don't grind it. Don't hammer it 3 hours a day every day. Come live you own unsignificant space adventure whenever you feel like seing the stars and doing something among them.
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I don't know if i am really old guard because:
- i have only 44 years
- i played Elite on speccy clone but in early 90's (sorry no computer for me in my eastern europe country)
- i play ED mostly because of PVP and i really love the feeling of old Elite and actual commanders(s) vs commander(s) fights
Seems i have an identity problem.
Yep. What a strange and bizarre post. There are many types of gamers and there are many types of games. Do people that like baseball go to cricket websites and make posts about how the game doesn't have 4 bases or they call pitching, bowling and it must somehow be wrong and maybe they're not real sports fans but "dadfans"?
If we're going by sheer size, "real" gamers are teenage girls and women that play smartphone games anyway.
I can't figure out the motivation of the post, maybe they really like the "Dad" game they stumbled into and are in a severe state of denial?
I think E is one of the few games that actually caters to gamers. People that are interested exploring a game their own way, rather than going through a series of FMV sequences interrupted by instructed button mashing.
Among the highlights of past years (there haven't been many, I consider the 90ies through early 2000s the "golden age" of gaming) are Skyrim, Civilisation 5 and World of Warcraft (especially in the early days) for example. I also recently bought a Wii U and became fond of Mario Kart. Besides gameplay, I wished that games would take more advantage of current tech. While they where once technology leaders, game developers now often lag a decade behind current tech. Almost nobody wants to go so far as to exploit current CPU+GPU power as well as RAM to implement gameplay previously unseen.
is one of the few games that actually caters to gamers. People that are interested exploring a game their own way, rather than going through a series of FMV sequences interrupted by instructed button mashing.Among the highlights of past years (there haven't been many, I consider the 90ies through early 2000s the "golden age" of gaming) are Skyrim, Civilisation 5 and World of Warcraft (especially in the early days) for example. I also recently bought a Wii U and became fond of Mario Kart. Besides gameplay, I wished that games would take more advantage of current tech. While they where once technology leaders, game developers now often lag a decade behind current tech. Almost nobody wants to go so far as to exploit current CPU+GPU power as well as RAM to implement gameplay previously unseen.
Mid fifties and I have gamed since the Spectrum. I would call myself a gamer, but I have to play games that I can play at my pace, to balance the requirements of job, wife and children so gaming time is limited. I also have some hand issues which mean that certain types of games I cannot play. eg I could not play DOTA because of the need to dedicate a block of time and on the console I cannot play FIFA because of my hands not doing L1R1 stretch etc, but that doesn't mean I do not like or enjoy those games. I will sit with my lad watching Dota tournaments subject to the usual interruptions and wishing I could play. In our house ED is known as "Dad's game", not because the kid's don't think its a good game, but because it's Dad's game ie I own it, I play it and I played the original. I am forbidden to mention it in case they lose street cred with their mates. My Steam library is larger than either of my sons, but its a library of games that reflects what I can play due to the above constraints rather than what I would like to play. I have played a number of MMO's, but most of them do not work for me because of the time constraints.
ED is great for me, I can use a HOTAS which mostly eliminates my hand issues and I can game when time allows and I can break off in most cases within a couple of minutes when I am required for the usual "Dad" duties. I can also play at my own pace and in solo which is very advantageous when interruptions are likely.
If getting older, arthritis and family responsibilities make me a Dad gamer, they most certainly do not make me a non gamer.
ED is great for me, I can use a HOTAS which mostly eliminates my hand issues and I can game when time allows and I can break off in most cases within a couple of minutes when I am required for the usual "Dad" duties. I can also play at my own pace and in solo which is very advantageous when interruptions are likely.
If getting older, arthritis and family responsibilities make me a Dad gamer, they most certainly do not make me a non gamer.
Op seems totally to have missed the fact that there are also another group. To use their vernacular Mumsgamers. This Mum is a grand mum and heading quickly towards great grandmum status played games like original Elite, Wow, Guildwars, Diablo, Rift, Doom (various), Dragonage, Witcher 2 and 3, Eve online, Swtor, Assassins Creed Black Flag, Skyrim and online, Star wars, War Thunder, LOTR, Aria, etc. Even spent a lot of time on the PVP Nor sims in Second Life. Myst was another that comes to mind. Pong, Donkey Kong, Mario brothers in various incarnations, Batman, GTA V and online Need for speed various, Chess, Monopoly, Cards, Dominoes, Draughts, Cluedo, Scoop, Totopoly, Mah Jong. Probably a lot more also that have faded with the Mysts of udhu(geddit).
Does that make me a gamer or a Mumsgamer? Personally I think just a gamer with a healthy interest in sedentary challenges.
Does that make me a gamer or a Mumsgamer? Personally I think just a gamer with a healthy interest in sedentary challenges.
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