Horizons Elite Dangerous: The Faux MMO

[DocPossible]

ED has taken aspects that exist in MMOs and tweaked them a bit, some more than others. Bulletin board missions are pretty close to the sorts of things you see in most MMORPGs, but minor player factions is a very innovative take on clans, one which they should be congratulated on I think.

I for one hope they continue to try to think of their own way of doing things rather than just copying what other games have done. Of course we'll know it really is an MMO when they raise the level cap from Elite to Very Elite xD.

 

[CYB34]

Whatever you personal definition of an MMO, the core concepts are:

1. "A massively multiplayer online game is an online game which is capable of supporting large numbers of players simultaneously in the same instance."
2. "MMOs can enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on a large scale"

GTA 5 Online has a persistent world and supports 30 player instances with P2P.
Nobody calls that game an MMO.

If ED is an MMO, and GTA Online is an MMO, a new genre would have to be invented to define EVE Online.

 

[Cosmo]

but minor player factions is a very innovative take on clans, one which they should be congratulated on I think.

Minor faction have too much restrictions. They aren't fully managed by players. We can't assign roles to faction members. There's no faction stash to store assets.

 

[DocPossible]

Minor faction have too much restrictions. They aren't fully managed by players. We can't assign roles to faction members. There's no faction stash to store assets.

Being able to store modules in your faction's station / settlement would be great. Especially if there was a danger of your faction losing control of it

 

[Bemoteajh]

1) Powerplay
2) Join Adle's Armada for all the PvP you can shake a Sidewinder at

Power play is broken to me aslong as it has decay... this is why I wanted a SINGLE PLAYER OFFLINE
I have a life to live and cant be on every day or even every week so having my progress go away because of that is bull    

And as for faction joining would be nice, how ever you cant declare faction everywhere... You can jump into combat sites and say who you side with but if you really meant for the system to work you could do that everywhere jump to empire system declare your self fed and start killing cops/civs/ORBITALS for fed standing WITH A CLAN or what every you want to call it lets say a Merc Corp

 

[david6768]

Thats not the game you paid for, so don't try to change it for something else people also didn't pay for!

And this is where we disagree, I bought a game that said it was an MMO. If they didn't want to make an MMO then they should not label and sell it as an MMO!
If I put an add in Craigslist to sell my boat and someone drops by and I show you my boat that has 2 wheels and says Harley Davidson on the side you would be like hmmm this is a motorcycle not a boat. We categorize things using names and labels for a reason and the name MMO imply's certain gameplay features and functions that ED currently lacks. People can claim all they want that ED just wants to be different or has a different vision blah blah blah. There is a reason all MMO's have the aforementioned features it is called an industry standard and if ED doesn't want to meet the industry standard then calling it an MMO amounts to nothing more than fraud and false advertising!

 

[CaptainKremmen]

And this is where we disagree, I bought a game that said it was an MMO. If they didn't want to make an MMO then they should not label and sell it as an MMO!
If I put an add in Craigslist to sell my boat and someone drops by and I show you my boat that has 2 wheels and says Harley Davidson on the side you would be like hmmm this is a motorcycle not a boat. We categorize things using names and labels for a reason and the name MMO imply's certain gameplay features and functions that ED currently lacks. People can claim all they want that ED just wants to be different or has a different vision blah blah blah. There is a reason all MMO's have the aforementioned features it is called an industry standard and if ED doesn't want to meet the industry standard then calling it an MMO amounts to nothing more than fraud and false advertising!

Is Elite a motorcycle, or a boat?

 

[lomac]

Yes it is still solo. You are playing alone = solo. Being connected to the BGS has nothing to do with making it not solo.

If it were solo, other players in other instances couldn't affect the economy or shut down space stations.

So no, it's not solo. You're just in your own instance but still interacting with the same world as everyone else.

 

[Mike Reacher]

I don't know why winging up with npc is not in yet, but it should be a big, big priority and so should be npc crew members.

I hope FD realizes that a lot of soloists like me play this game.
It really is a big thing for me that I am not able to make use of wings and will not be able to have crew members.
And of course this is also related to the fact that the game has no escort missions yet.

I sure hope they are working on this stuff. I'd love to hire a wingman or I would love to do missions in which I need to protect a merchant , or military missions to escort an imperial warship.

I love Horizons for the planetary landings, but one of the biggest additions in this season is the multicrew thing.
And it is totally useless to me!
Just like the two biggest additions in Season 1 (Wings and CQC) were useless to me too.

I have to agree with you.
In another post, I said I had help from local police when I was interdicted. Happened in two different systems. That was a huge improvement and made the fight actually exciting instead of a white knuckled keyboard bang session.

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Is Elite a motorcycle, or a boat?

In Australia an Elite is a New Harley Davidson. because they cost more that our mid-range cars.

 

[Darkfyre99]

PLEASE READ THIS ALL THE WAY
You took away single player and said we were getting an MMO. Ok sounds fine.

What we got:
No Clans,Guilds,Corps,Bands,ect ect ect. (Complete lack of social interaction)(Wings dont count as they are hard to get going if you dont have friends with the game)
No Trading with other players (Cant pay a pilot to go out and use prospector and call you when he finds good stuff)

I LOVE THIS GAME... Im currently gringing the Fed Corvette but its hard to get others to play a "MMO" When you lack everything other than the bare minimum.

Suggestions
Form player clan/fleet and align with a faction, gain access to special ships and discounts
PVP events that are only players with bare minimum ai ships (assault defend colony or crippled capital ship)

Let's see... Does Elite: Dangerous qualify as an MMO?

Online: Is part of the game played online, rather than entirely on your own computer? Check. (Much to the disappointment of those who preferred a play offline option.)

Multiplayer: Are more than two players able to play the game simultaneously? Check. (Instancing issues aside.)

Massively: Can the game support more than twelve players online simultaneously ? Check. (I remember when MUDs that passed this threshold were described as being massive. YMMV. )

What this game isn't is a traditional MMORPG. For which I'm eternally grateful. I am indifferent to many of the more traditional elements of MMORPGs.

My online gaming time is frustratingly brief far too frequently, so I don't want a pretty graphical chat engine. I want a game I can play. I have game forums, which I can now participate in even more frequently thanks to the wonders of modern technology, for my socializing.

I dislike guild politics, which all too often becomes a monument to one person's ego. I will cooperate with others spontaneously as opportunities arise, but whenever someone suggests joining a guild, my initial reaction is "never again."

And PVP is all about who has the most time to invest in the game to sharpen their skills, and knowing about the latest exploit broken game balance meta. The former I no longer have time for, and having time for it when I was younger is the reason I suffer from tendinitis today. The gamey nature of the latter, as opposed to making choices based on the nature of the character I'm playing in the game, is why I've always be BAD at it.

 

[Jockari]

Let's see... Does Elite: Dangerous qualify as an MMO?

Online: Is part of the game played online, rather than entirely on your own computer? Check. (Much to the disappointment of those who preferred a play offline option.)

Multiplayer: Are more than two players able to play the game simultaneously? Check. (Instancing issues aside.)

Massively: Can the game support more than twelve players online simultaneously ? Check. (I remember when MUDs that passed this threshold were described as being massive. YMMV. )

What this game isn't is a traditional MMORPG. For which I'm eternally grateful. I am indifferent to many of the more traditional elements of MMORPGs.

My online gaming time is frustratingly brief far too frequently, so I don't want a pretty graphical chat engine. I want a game I can play. I have game forums, which I can now participate in even more frequently thanks to the wonders of modern technology, for my socializing.

I dislike guild politics, which all too often becomes a monument to one person's ego. I will cooperate with others spontaneously as opportunities arise, but whenever someone suggests joining a guild, my initial reaction is "never again."

And PVP is all about who has the most time to invest in the game to sharpen their skills, and knowing about the latest exploit broken game balance meta. The former I no longer have time for, and having time for it when I was younger is the reason I suffer from tendinitis today. The gamey nature of the latter, as opposed to making choices based on the nature of the character I'm playing in the game, is why I've always be BAD at it.

With your definition Battlefield 4 and its 64 players map is a MMO too .

For me Elite is not one of those for many reasons:
- Multiplayer is here technically. But from a gameplay point of view it's not. You can group with only some friends (when it's working) and that's it. No missions made for groups, no objectives in the world to leave a significant mark. Nothing really worth spending time for specifically with a group.
- Socializing is impossible in-game: No guild tool, no community research tool, nothing even close. Just a local chat. You have to rely on third party tools to get a clan. The world is so huge that you even never encounter an other player. Interactions are basics and quite rare between players except in a few areas (and I am quite generous on this...)
- Elite doesn't have anything permanent about your avatar except your ship. I mean, everything in a MMO making your avatar part of the world is not in Elite. I can pretend to be an Imperial or a Fed guy or an Indepedent but.. whatever, I can be all those 3 at the same time ! And anyway, none of those camp react about my standing with each other. I can be best friend with everyone at the same time. It's just a virtual limit to get access to a faction ship.
On the same note, inventory is not there nor any kind of housing. I can't even "declare" a station as being my "home station". Something which could be a beacon of tranquility, a storage facility for the player to get to when he is exhausted by exploration in dangerous vicinity. Being under the relative protection of the police in his faction home system. Of course, being a citizen of a system would require a good standing with them, etc... But no. Nothing. I can choose to be a hobo and... well let me correct this: I am a hobo whatever happen. There no other choice.

There nothing like this in Elite. The world can be "permanent", "massive", "multiplayer" and still has nothing to do with what I feel in a MMORPG. My avatar can be erased right now, all I'll loose will be possessions. Nothing related to the world around will be missed. There's none. The new avatar would be poor but that's all. Nothing will change towards the 3 big factions of the game for me. Just have to grind the rep and the money again to get the ship I want.

This whole experience is quite hollow from a roleplaying game point of view. As the gameplay is. The flying in Elite is great, the combat is great and the rest is quite dull. More of an hindrance to get where I want.

To be clear, being or not a MMO is not a good or bad thing for me. Gameplay is all in my case. The other stuff (the Lore/realism/time sink/economy) should be adapted to the gameplay. Not the other way around.

 

[Sardu]

The only thing I want is a space game with ED's flight and combat model, and EVEs social aspects ,crafting and player run economy.

Personally, it's a VERY frustrating time to be a lover of Space Sims. Either you're clicking ships RTS style around a map, or actually flying around a world you can hardly interact with.

 

[sutex]

If it wasn't for the Third party apps , I would have given up on this game ages ago.... That should be a concern for the FDevs , but I doubt it , their in the BOARD GAME MODE
not even thinking about the players, and the really basic stuff , that needs too be sorted. There are pages and pages on bugs Consequence Griffter Communication Transport NPC wings Voice attack API too sync panels , ect lists goes on forever


This is what I see , FDev have been told all this thousands of times , and we are still waiting , AND there are other Sims coming , time is NOT on ED side.

 

[Raile]

I think all of you enjoy fighting on the forums more than playing the game.

 

[sutex]

I think all of you enjoy fighting on the forums more than playing the game.

Given last time I played , I got a bounty for miss fire on a ship hunting at NAV..

Then all the ships started attacking me.. My Panels were out of sync with VA, didn't know it , but in trying too escape, just not enough time, too sort out retracting hardpoints too get into supercruise.. They kept been re- deployed, so my Ship was destroyed very fast , millions of bounty lost.....oh well

Tweaked my VA , so that stuff up , shouldn't happen again..but once in awhile , I do get caught , with VA & ED been out of sync, with the commands been issued

 

[VR Murgle]

Let's see... Does Elite: Dangerous qualify as an MMO?

Online: Is part of the game played online, rather than entirely on your own computer? Check. (Much to the disappointment of those who preferred a play offline option.)

Multiplayer: Are more than two players able to play the game simultaneously? Check. (Instancing issues aside.)

Massively: Can the game support more than twelve players online simultaneously ? Check. (I remember when MUDs that passed this threshold were described as being massive. YMMV. )

What this game isn't is a traditional MMORPG. For which I'm eternally grateful. I am indifferent to many of the more traditional elements of MMORPGs.

My online gaming time is frustratingly brief far too frequently, so I don't want a pretty graphical chat engine. I want a game I can play. I have game forums, which I can now participate in even more frequently thanks to the wonders of modern technology, for my socializing.

I dislike guild politics, which all too often becomes a monument to one person's ego. I will cooperate with others spontaneously as opportunities arise, but whenever someone suggests joining a guild, my initial reaction is "never again."

And PVP is all about who has the most time to invest in the game to sharpen their skills, and knowing about the latest exploit broken game balance meta. The former I no longer have time for, and having time for it when I was younger is the reason I suffer from tendinitis today. The gamey nature of the latter, as opposed to making choices based on the nature of the character I'm playing in the game, is why I've always be BAD at it.

Now there was this thing, you know the thing, with the sum and parts 'n stuff. Don't quite remember what is was..

 

[Privata]

If they add player corps or guids the names should be filtered down by FD to make sure they are lore friendly.
We are better than ''battleship bob''

 

[VR Murgle]

If they add player corps or guids the names should be filtered down by FD to make sure they are lore friendly.
We are better than ''battleship bob''

Maybe we should be but I suspect some of us are not...

 

[Sardu]

This game *desperately* needs more social options.

 

[Iskariot]

PLEASE READ THIS ALL THE WAY
You took away single player and said we were getting an MMO. Ok sounds fine.

What we got:
No Clans,Guilds,Corps,Bands,ect ect ect. (Complete lack of social interaction)(Wings dont count as they are hard to get going if you dont have friends with the game)
No Trading with other players (Cant pay a pilot to go out and use prospector and call you when he finds good stuff)

I LOVE THIS GAME... Im currently gringing the Fed Corvette but its hard to get others to play a "MMO" When you lack everything other than the bare minimum.

Suggestions
Form player clan/fleet and align with a faction, gain access to special ships and discounts
PVP events that are only players with bare minimum ai ships (assault defend colony or crippled capital ship)

Perhaps MMO-ers will get more tools eventually, further down the line.
This is a monstrously huge project and developing it takes time.

The universe is so huge that this can never be like the typical MMO's out there anyway.

Personally I have no interest whatsoever in the multiplayer/MMO aspect of Elite.
Therefore I do not care about tools. I would not use them.
I also would never become a member of any group, clan, guild or whatever.

I do feel that winging up with npc and npc crew members should be prioritized currently.
Being a soloist I would like to use those features too.
Currently they are only planned for multiplayer and I think that is a serious omission as there are a lot of soloists like me.