The financial argument for free, universal ship names

[mistohise]

This is a poor decision. I get the idea of paying for things like name visibility, but the intended implementation makes no sense.

Currently, I can set a ship name myself. I can also "see" ship names for NPC ships in the scanner. There's nothing to relate "seeing" PC names in the scanner to purchasing of nameplates. What's more, my buying a nameplate doesn't [appear to] improve my gaming experience by letting me see everyone else's ship names - instead, it improves other people's gaming experience by letting them see one more ship name.

This is a bonkers implementation. Why would the scanner be contingent upon a physical nameplate?

 

[Kaltern]

I see my earlier prediction of a few sticking up for Frontier no matter what, was correct...

I also notice the other thing I said would happen is here too - the word 'Free'. Some people want a free nameplate, which is not unreasonable, but isn't the actual point of the discussion. The issue people are having is putting a basic function of a ship name behind a paywall for no reason other than to make free money for Frontier.

I, personally, couldn't give a hoot if anyone can physically see some small lettering on the side of my hull - that IS vanity and in my own personal opinion, isn't hugely important. (I'm not suggesting it isn't to others, I'm just using myself as an example). If there was no actual shipname option, but you could still have a nameplate that people could see if they flew up to your ship... I wouuldn't bother with it - it's not very useful, noone would really see it unless your were filming yourself, and it wouldn't be part of the game mechanics.

However, let's look back at movies and games of the past. When I say Star Wars, what's the first space ship you immediately think of? Is it the Corellian YT-1300f light freighter? What about Star Trek? Is it the Constitution Class ship? (Or the Galaxy class.. ok, there's quite a lot!). What about the various frigates and other large ships in Babylon 5?

A ship name is something that is PART of the story for any pilot. Like horses. If you ride a horse from a to b (in the days before wheel of course), you didn't really bother naming it. But there was often that special horse, that horse that meant something... so you named it. It's no different to ships on the high seas, right? I'm pretty sure sea captains didn't have to actually pay someone to name their ship. Register it, perhaps, but then I don't think they used a special form of currency to pay God to name their ship - they used money that existed in the world. They paid someone to paint or stencil or attach a plate to the side of their ship with the name on it.

IT doesn't matter how you try and explain the idea of paying REAL money for something that is as functional as your commander's name. It's simply taking the yellow water. And it's not on.

 

[silence please]

As others have written before, I too do not care that much if the nameplate/decal only is for sale. Realistically I'd be he only one seeing that bit anyway and it would be for my viewing pleasure if anything. But I really dislike the fact that I will not be seeing other players' ship names on my HUD because they have not paid. I call foul play on that one - please re-think the approach.

 

[Winterwalker]

This is a bonkers implementation. Why would the scanner be contingent upon a physical nameplate?

The argument would go, that 'you bought a <registered> name (plate)' .. works similarly to private numberplate registration.
http://dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk/

 

[Muzz UK]

I'm sorry but no I'm not happy about that! Makes the feature pointless unless others can see it if I am honest.

Sorry Frontier but as someone who's paid for skins and merch in the store and gone lifetime I'm tempted not to give you anymore money now. I know it's literally only going to be £1 or something silly to put a name on my ship BUT come on!!!!!!!

 

[Jazzy]

+1 OP

Rather disappointing to read about it going this direction, Very sad indeed.................

 

[mistohise]

The argument would go, that 'you bought a <registered> name (plate)' .. works similarly to private numberplate registration.
http://dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk/

I guess. But then, we can see all number plates, not just vanity plates. The regular plates aren't somehow blurred out.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Goodness sleutelbos, you're usually a fierce FD defender (as am I as a general rule), what's happening? ;-)

I am more of an attacker of than a defender of FD, and this is A-grade . I kept posting about in beta forums, and response was usually "Nah, FD aint that stupid, dont worry they'll activate the free HUD thingy later." I said that this was gonna cause a crapstorm, and that it may very well overshadow all the actually good additions and improvements of the patch. And here we are: its been confirmed and within hours we already have half a dozen topics on it, both in DD and Beta forums.

Why the heck is this? First the e-mail spamming with the clickbait title (YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED -> to pay us money), then the trailer that explicitly shows one of the things we were hoping to do, cant do yet they stil advertise it for a commercial product, and now this garbage. Its obscene.

If I cant see others name on the HUD, only my one, why not just put a post-it on my monitor? It took over two years for this non-feature to arrive? Cant wait for spacelegs. "Oh, you wanted to move as well? For only 4,99 you can grab amazingly cool magboots..."

 

[drakhyr]

For me, the biggest concern is about ship names not showing up to other players on their HUD info unless you've paid for a nameplate.

For every other cosmetic item, what you see, and what is seen by other commanders you encounter, are the same thing. Ship skins, weapon colours, avatars, etc. This approach breaks that; if you haven't paid for a nameplate, the name shows up in your HUD and in your dealings with station services etc, but other players can't see it when they scan you (though they will see names on NPCs). That just feels wrong.

I'm OK with paying for the printing of the names on the hull, and again that becomes a case where what I see when I look at my ship, and what others see when they look at my ship, is consistent.

I'm normally one to be fairly favourable towards FD, and understanding of the requirements of running a business as well as a game. From a business perspective there have to be features to encourage customers to spend more (e.g. the elements of Horizons that are visible to non-Horizons players but can't be accessed until they upgrade), but it has to be a balance between doing so and making things so blatant they just annoy people. I'm sure there will be disagreements as to where that line is, but in my view the lack of HUD visibility of others' ship names is the wrong side of the line.

 

[Cadw]

Smart move by FD. Penny pinch a basic feature in a paid for expansion delivered six months late in a bare bones manner tgat doesnt even work for many. Way to go marketing, didnt even know it was possible to mess this up with the competition being so distant.

Exactly, it is difficult to understand Frontier's reasoning on this. Surely, We have already paid for this season's content and ship naming has been promised since the beginning!

 

[Fost]

-1 I am not remotely bothered by this.

 

[Nerwan]

I am more of an attacker of than a defender of FD, and this is A-grade . I kept posting about in beta forums, and response was usually "Nah, FD aint that stupid, dont worry they'll activate the free HUD thingy later." I said that this was gonna cause a crapstorm, and that it may very well overshadow all the actually good additions and improvements of the patch. And here we are: its been confirmed and within hours we already have half a dozen topics on it, both in DD and Beta forums.

Why the heck is this? First the e-mail spamming with the clickbait title (YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED -> to pay us money), then the trailer that explicitly shows one of the things we were hoping to do, cant do yet they stil advertise it for a commercial product, and now this garbage. Its obscene.

If I cant see others name on the HUD, only my one, why not just put a post-it on my monitor? It took over two years for this non-feature to arrive? Cant wait for spacelegs. "Oh, you wanted to move as well? For only 4,99 you can grab amazingly cool magboots..."

Completely agree, I'm generally prepared to give FDev a lot of slack but this has raised my ire.. And you're right, there's something distinctly icky about promising a feature and then allowing it to turn up as a paywall feature in an already paid for expansion...

 

[Kaltern]

Even the oddity known as Star Trek Online has ship naming for free... *shakes head sadly*

 

[Alec Turner]

Hi EZ (kerching!), Alec (kerching!) here. Really hoping Sandro (kerching!) or Ed (kerching!) sees this thread 'cos it's the Braben's (kerching!) balls.

I've added this to my sticky "Alec's (kerching!) best of the forum thread".

[video=youtube_share;-0kcet4aPpQ]https://youtu.be/-0kcet4aPpQ[/video]

P.S. Denton (kerching!) Patreus (kerching!) can suck it.

 

[Edd Jordan]

how much will it be ? the cost of a pint of beer or the cost of a round? if its pint then i think its not a big deal and its as vain as wanting personal plates on your car and they cost a fortune in some cases.

 

[Titus Balls]

I also notice the other thing I said would happen is here too - the word 'Free'. Some people want a free nameplate, which is not unreasonable, but isn't the actual point of the discussion. The issue people are having is putting a basic function of a ship name behind a paywall for no reason other than to make free money for Frontier.

The only reason I mentioned "Free" is because FDEV have clearly tied the *feature* of displaying ship names in scans to the requirement of having the decal attached to the ship. If they can decouple that logic then no need to give away anything for free.

Another thing people haven't brought up - this creates a two-tier system of players.

Vanity items (skins, lasers, etc) don't because they have zero effect on the game, they have no effect how I play with other people in this game.

With ship naming - while it's essentially vanity, it has a real effect on my HUD when scanning. Players can use ship names to create intent (i.e. The Good Ship Lollypop sounds way more scary than DEATH SLAYER 1) but by locking this as a paid feature it creates two levels of users - those who can project intent, and those who cannot.

 

[MuldWarp]

Just to be clear, I am against ship name visibility being blocked behind a paywall, I think they are going to far on this.

But just to play the devil's advocate: We will be able to name our ships without payment and it will show up on our own HUDs, but for it to be visible by others we need to pay. I assume the reasoning is fairly simple on their part, they want/need to increase cashflow from microtransactions to keep funding game development, but are still delivering promised features - albeit in a very basic form.

 

[Winterwalker]

I guess. But then, we can see all number plates, not just vanity plates. The regular plates aren't somehow blurred out.

Except even 'random' car reg number registration still happens, it's just hidden, in the cost of buying that particular vehicle; the dealer will usually reg a new vehicle for you (if they do, you’ll get a V5C registration certificate, log book etc.) however you still pay for that, and the actual physical number plate.
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/new-and-used-vehicles

Was ship naming advertised as a feature coming in (as part of) Horizons? I don't think it was?? But in any case 'you' can name 'your' ship for nowt, in the HUD, so still haven't heard any real reason other than outrage and wish not to pay it, from anyone who already gets a free identifier with their Commander name, as to why registration/broadcast of a ship name across the galaxy is, a fundamental right? Would it be nice? Of course, free stuff always is, but vanity item sales have been a thing <and a part of ED's funding model> for quite a while now.

 

[SheepDip82]

Just to be clear, I am against ship name visibility being blocked behind a paywall, I think they are going to far on this.

But just to play the devil's advocate: We will be able to name our ships without payment and it will show up on our own HUDs, but for it to be visible by others we need to pay. I assume the reasoning is fairly simple on their part, they want/need to increase cashflow from microtransactions to keep funding game development, but are still delivering promised features - albeit in a very basic form.

Have you been keeping an eye on Frontier's annual financial reports? They certainly don't seem to need extra cash-flow from micro-transactions...

 

[Winterwalker]

Have you been keeping an eye on Frontier's annual financial reports? They certainly don't seem to need extra cash-flow from micro-transactions...

There's no such thing as too much 'room to maneuver' when it comes to financials. Frontier are a small house publishing company, they don't have masses of huge selling titles to fund (and defend against unforseen development delays in) developing titles, which is the way publishing houses tend to operate. Having a pool of money behind them is a good idea! But even that runs out pretty quickly, if problems in development delay a new season by even a couple of weeks. Don't take ED for granted, I wouldn't.