Yes indeed. Or, as we used to say in the old days, *plonk*.
It feels like someone is doing their job wrong
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People don't want to wait another 6 months.
But people want another 6 months of dev time put in.
Let's make an effort to not turn what is constructive criticism into a witch hunt against people who don't agree with people who take criticisms of Frontier into ad hominem.
Anyway...
I've often been confused with the directions FDev have taken all the way back to releases during 1.x.
Without understanding Braben and team's long-term vision, I find it difficult to honestly criticize things that have happened, so far.
I cannot deny the many improvements I've seen in the game over time. There was a time when AI were so simple, you could take down scores of Anacondas in a Viper. There was a time when planet surfaces looked like oil paint spilled on a surface. Missions used to be simpler, though I wish they would have improved more. Cargo scooping used to be the bane of many's existence but limpets helped with that. Galmap works leaps and bounds better than it used to. Networking has always been a struggle, but it is demonstrably better than it used to be. I personally appreciate the efforts to multi-crew to bring players together. I've made more friends since release than I have in the 2+ years I've been here.
That's not to say there aren't things I see as just not great. Powerplay, a horse so beaten it has more in common with a puddle, is without a doubt the thing I'd hoped would bring depth to the game but fell short. It still languishes with little improvement and little to go on from Frontier to suggest it will change. CQC, a great idea but ultimately lacking the options needed to keep people interested. Frontier's idea of trade route discovery leaves a lot to be desired. You have to realize that they want you to amble around to find good trades, but that just isn't consistent with how people want to play a trade game.
There are quite a few things that frustrate me, but I'm still having a lot of fun with the sort of things that existed at 1.0. That's just my opinion, and I don't really play many other games. As we follow Frontier on their path, there will be things we like and things we don't like. In the end, I don't know where Frontier is ultimately going with things. I don't know what they think of features implemented and whether they are confident in fixing/enhancing them. The best we can do is highlight things that just aren't working right or could be better. In the meantime, play the game for as long as you enjoy playing it.
Anyway...
I've often been confused with the directions FDev have taken all the way back to releases during 1.x.
Without understanding Braben and team's long-term vision, I find it difficult to honestly criticize things that have happened, so far.
I cannot deny the many improvements I've seen in the game over time. There was a time when AI were so simple, you could take down scores of Anacondas in a Viper. There was a time when planet surfaces looked like oil paint spilled on a surface. Missions used to be simpler, though I wish they would have improved more. Cargo scooping used to be the bane of many's existence but limpets helped with that. Galmap works leaps and bounds better than it used to. Networking has always been a struggle, but it is demonstrably better than it used to be. I personally appreciate the efforts to multi-crew to bring players together. I've made more friends since release than I have in the 2+ years I've been here.
That's not to say there aren't things I see as just not great. Powerplay, a horse so beaten it has more in common with a puddle, is without a doubt the thing I'd hoped would bring depth to the game but fell short. It still languishes with little improvement and little to go on from Frontier to suggest it will change. CQC, a great idea but ultimately lacking the options needed to keep people interested. Frontier's idea of trade route discovery leaves a lot to be desired. You have to realize that they want you to amble around to find good trades, but that just isn't consistent with how people want to play a trade game.
There are quite a few things that frustrate me, but I'm still having a lot of fun with the sort of things that existed at 1.0. That's just my opinion, and I don't really play many other games. As we follow Frontier on their path, there will be things we like and things we don't like. In the end, I don't know where Frontier is ultimately going with things. I don't know what they think of features implemented and whether they are confident in fixing/enhancing them. The best we can do is highlight things that just aren't working right or could be better. In the meantime, play the game for as long as you enjoy playing it.
BTW Please folks, use the Ignore feature. It really does make a HUGE difference to the forums. Even if you want to ignore me. Unfortunately it doesn't stop the quoted posts, but when you are able to read posts without the whiteknight stupidity, everything makes more sense - including those able to frame their disagreement to the OP's post in a constructive manner.
Such a shame we can't name them - I have a great list
Please give it a rest.
Just no need for it.
Easily remedied by Frontier releasing the season roadmap up front, instead of one piece at a time. I think at pre-order for Horizons all we really were sure about was planetary landings... Some people would probably be less antsy if they knew everything their money was purchasing in the upcoming season.
I like to try to think of simple things they could implement to add depth.
Missions.
They have a decent start with mission stuff... I don't know why they don't put a HUGE amount of effort into expanding on this. This is where the game should be. No hanging around grinding RES (RES = cancer in my opinion. Like, in so many ways. I love the fact that you can just go find combat but, like... just... I could come up with 10 better ways to implement this than just... random waves of useless enemies you can point and shoot at with almost no risk)
ahem. Anyway, missions. They're slowly working on them, follow up missions are good, but... if I can think of one thing, one thing that would have the biggest change on the feeling of this game...
Wing missions. Just... have group missions. Just like wing bounties, wing missions. Just... allow missions to be duplicated through a wing. Then, raise the cap on difficulty of missions, and the payout.
Literally every mission could easily be modified to make it fit better with wings/multi-crew. They say they are technical issues... that's just a matter of priority. They can be solved. Generating and entire galaxy is also a technical issue.
Am I wrong here? I feel like this would be the #1 bang for the buck as far as making the game more interesting and exciting and social without having to add huge new features, and would and improve every feature currently in the game from planetary landings to multi-crew to passenger transport, even exploration.
Missions.
They have a decent start with mission stuff... I don't know why they don't put a HUGE amount of effort into expanding on this. This is where the game should be. No hanging around grinding RES (RES = cancer in my opinion. Like, in so many ways. I love the fact that you can just go find combat but, like... just... I could come up with 10 better ways to implement this than just... random waves of useless enemies you can point and shoot at with almost no risk)
ahem. Anyway, missions. They're slowly working on them, follow up missions are good, but... if I can think of one thing, one thing that would have the biggest change on the feeling of this game...
Wing missions. Just... have group missions. Just like wing bounties, wing missions. Just... allow missions to be duplicated through a wing. Then, raise the cap on difficulty of missions, and the payout.
- Assassination missions where you're going up against big wings of elite enemies with huge payout.
- Trading missions that require huge piles of cargo that, unless you have a Cutter, you have to split among ships, with huge payout (two type-9s and two escorts maybe?)
- Trading missions with huge risk, so you NEED a fighter escort because a single trading ship simple won't be able to a) carry all the cargo and b) survive. Multi-crew could also help, here!
- Salvage missions where you're racing against a clock and thus need multiple people to cover more ground.
- Mining missions with "special" deposits of mission specific materials with high risk that you'll probably need an escort for
- VIP and criminal transport missions with extremely high risk
- HIGH RISK EXPLORATION where you're going to scan some remote system and you're racing to get the data before others can, or perhaps even searching for pirate bases!
Literally every mission could easily be modified to make it fit better with wings/multi-crew. They say they are technical issues... that's just a matter of priority. They can be solved. Generating and entire galaxy is also a technical issue.
Am I wrong here? I feel like this would be the #1 bang for the buck as far as making the game more interesting and exciting and social without having to add huge new features, and would and improve every feature currently in the game from planetary landings to multi-crew to passenger transport, even exploration.
Problem is that FD themselves dont know, as they more or less admitted. They basically have different teams working on different larger features, and any one of them can have an unexpected blocker or lucky break at any time. They seem hesitant to start pre-selling feature X out of fear that maybe X will run of a problem. If that happens, customers get upset, even more so if they decide to meanwhile sell feature Y instead if it is ready sooner.
Things have certainly taken a turn over the past month; both here and on Reddit. People are getting angry and rightly so.
Not sure what you mean there.
Frontier did announce the 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 feature set up front didn't they?
Seem to remember it got a bit tweaked on the way but fundamentally it stayed the same.
2.4 was the only "mystery". Presumably because they just weren't quite sure at that point.
edit: This was how the season was described Feb 2016 : http://web.archive.org/web/20160208163110/http://www.elitedangerous.com/en/seasons/
Described as :
- Looting and Crafting
- Multicrew
- Commander Creation
- Ship Launched Fighters
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I agree. the first and best thing they can do from here that would add and satisfy alot of player's cry for depth in the game is to expand upon the mission system.
I hadn't heard that, but if it is so, its perhaps another argument in favor of moving from prepaid seasons to a paid DLC model. Horizons could have been one, SLF's and multicrew lumped together for another, etc..
Minonian
Banned
Sooooooo We have a holier than thou it's good even if it's wrong knighty?
Yu knuv wut im sayeth?
Ye shall not pazz
-Gundalf da gray!
I don't rule out that I misremember. Even so, mysterious 2.4 still kinda illustrates my point.
I do think that the early beta access system creates problems. It is generally regarded as the new content so by the time the release comes out everyone has played it, got fed up with it, can see its faults in it and is eagerly looking forward to the next big thing.
Perhaps my expectations are lower than some but ive been pretty happy with 2.3.
Ignore lists are not really an answer. I have loads on mine but its hard to follow what threads are about and you still get to see what they are posting when it gets quoted. I only have the bonkers ones on mine now. I would really welcome an ignore thread option though!
Perhaps my expectations are lower than some but ive been pretty happy with 2.3.
Ignore lists are not really an answer. I have loads on mine but its hard to follow what threads are about and you still get to see what they are posting when it gets quoted. I only have the bonkers ones on mine now. I would really welcome an ignore thread option though!
You already have... it's otherwise known as 'Don't click on the clickbait'
It's a bit like picking scabs... you just know it's going to hurt and bleed all over again, but you still do it...
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Pretty sure 2.4 is at least partially a buffer-patch. Stuff that was supposed to drop earlier but didnt gets collected before the season ends.
I think it's literally they didn't know.
Planning a year in advance is difficult, plans change and I mean you can see how it all worked out.
Adding the last one as a "mystery" allows a bit of flexibility.
For me I think it illustrates that announcing features is not really the issue, because they did exactly that.
As I was saying above I think (at least partially) it's the notion of paying up front, unfortunately even the best laid development plans won't survive contact with the enemy. And customers just won't appreciate or be very forgiving of that if money's already been put down.
The notion of "you owe me X" comes into play.
You put money down, you had a long time to imagine how it would be, you expected 1st person turrets and you didn't get that. With a pay after model you know what the deal is.
I do think a pay after deal is more likely to result in more of the "game iz pay to win" complaints though so we will see.
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I think Elite could benefit greatly from the Star Citizen method of player engagement. Around the Verse is fantastic. Every week they tell us what they are working on, we get pictures and videos, they talk about the challenges they face, they provide a rough schedule of what they are working on and when the next patch will be, etc. It's very engaging, shuts up a lot of the nay-sayers, and promotes trust in the community.
Elite nailed the flight model, Stellar Forge, and the cockpit immersion (and VR) so hard, and I think that's the only reason I've stuck around so long. It's just the FEELING I get when I'm cruising the black in VR with my HOTAS and buttkicker that keeps me coming back. I've got 1600+ hours in the game, and I love it, but if I'm being perfectly honest, there just isn't that much to do. Some days I will log on, put on my Rift, look around my cockpit and think "Eff yeah! This is so cool!...... Now what? Trading? Boring... Mining? Boring and makes no money.... Bounty Hunting? Kinda burnt out... Meh. Maybe I'll play a different game."
Elite nailed the flight model, Stellar Forge, and the cockpit immersion (and VR) so hard, and I think that's the only reason I've stuck around so long. It's just the FEELING I get when I'm cruising the black in VR with my HOTAS and buttkicker that keeps me coming back. I've got 1600+ hours in the game, and I love it, but if I'm being perfectly honest, there just isn't that much to do. Some days I will log on, put on my Rift, look around my cockpit and think "Eff yeah! This is so cool!...... Now what? Trading? Boring... Mining? Boring and makes no money.... Bounty Hunting? Kinda burnt out... Meh. Maybe I'll play a different game."
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I'd pen a ringing endorsement for store merchandise. Just sayin. If anyone's listening.
Trust me, dont bother. They give the choice between the Asp Scout synth pack or all mechandise for the iEagle.
He didn't "prove your point though". Still, you're one of the whiny cry-babies babelfish was talking about....so no wonder you seek to claim vindication when none was given.
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