Elite Dangerous, FDev and the PS4 - Serious question. :)

[stormyuk]

So, this is an honest serious question regarding Elite Dangerous on the PS4 and the FDev approach.

Why are FDev so guarded and tight lipped with respect to the PS4 port of this game? There are only 2 legit videos in circulation showing Elite Dangerous footage on the PS4.

FDevs own PAX Stream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp22S68HrHg&t=750s

GameSpot (assume this was also PAX):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx5J582DSvQ&t=1s

We have the FAQ which is kinda vague on lots of details, and was last updated on the 10th March (we are now in May).

We don't know a release date the mantra is "Still on track Q2, nothing to announce"

Why are we so light on information? We for example have not actually seen any "in-game" footage, just the two training sessions linked above. We are very light on technical details of the port, I don't think FDev have really discussed the technical aspect of the PS4 port at all "its going well" is about the crux of it. We don't know anything about what the Pro will bring to the party "Its enhanced, we'll let you know more later near launch".

Why is this? Is it because they don't want to upset the PC and Xbox community at being accused of losing focus there? I can't ever remember a PS4 game approaching launch where the developer has been so reticent to talk about PS4.

Theories? I honestly don't know. Maybe they don't want to overhype it, maybe they don't want to upset the rest of the community (which has its fair share of console detractors). I really am puzzled. We had the recent strike from the Third Party App sites, is it just FDev are really bad at communication? They are one of the companies who do lots of live streams (mainly lets plays, CQC etc etc) but when it comes to talking about the product its very, very light.

No. I don't get it.

 

[Ian Phillips]

They have learnt to say nothing until they are confident that are able to deliver what they talk about.

 

[navig8]

They have learnt to say nothing until they are confident that are able to deliver what they talk about.

Not quite true, they say they are still on track for Q2, there are no delays. They are just saying nothing else despite the fact that they promised more info on stuff like PS PRO and other features closer to release date.

 

[stormyuk]

They have learnt to say nothing until they are confident that are able to deliver what they talk about.

They certainly are good at saying nothing, I will give them that.

Even with the 2.3 launch, things went wrong. That's life. Things do go wrong. To simply not talk about anything until the 11th hour does them no favours in my opinion. As I said I can't remember a PS4 title launch like this at all. Part of me almost wished they had not announced so early in December only to kinda let it all fizzle out.

 

[Mr Cynical]

Maybe it is looking so good, they don't want to lose any xbox sales by showing loads of ps4 footage.

/he hopes, as he eyes the hotas and psvr in the corner

Soon. All I need to know.

 

[Lngjohnsilver1]

I think in all reality there are a potential number of reasons why Frontier are so 'tight lipped'. In analysing why, you need to understand that Frontier - like any company - is made up of humans and humans have issues. No Company - no matter how large is not without problems.

1) They don't know. The simple answer is they just don't know when it will be ready. They have a 'goal' for delivery they believe they are 'on-track' to deliver but this is not the same as having a concrete delivery date. A little bit like delivering a new ring-road. March 2017 - can easily become June 2017 regardless of on-track or not.
2) They know, but they don't want to tell. For some reason (market advantage (Hype) would be usual) they don't want to let the 'market' know because another competitor might steal their thunder. Lots of stuff coming out at E3 - perhaps this is a factor.
3) They know, but they are not ALLOWED to tell. A third party (legal, partner etc.) will not allow them to reveal the date. Possible reasons - many.
4) They know, but they are too busy to tell. Other issues has delayed a formal marketing campaign. This could be internal managerial reshuffles to redundancies, to other priorities such as server breakdowns, annual leave, conferences etc. that all prevent the marketing team from delivering the function of a release date.
5) They know but they are hoping to release a sub-item at the same time and are stuck in either issue mentioned above, with the sub-item e.g. PSVR.
6) They are really bad at marketing strategy and or community communication. Not to be ruled out is that the marketing team is simply not well organized. Lack of additional content review or demonstration, lack of details that were allegedly to come along, general lack of additional Frontier developed marketing material since December release and PAX may simply be because the marketing team is disorganised and has failed to allocate time and resources to the marketing budget.
7) They lied. Unlikely but it has happened before - though not necessarily to Frontier.

The 'say nothing' approach is not a marketing strategy, that's what happens when you don't have a strategy and it can, and has been disastrous for governments and product suppliers alike. It engenders several negative responses and few positives:

1) they lied
2) they don't know
3) they don't know what they are doing
4) Why won't they tell us - whats wrong with it?
5) I am frustrated i keep asking and non-one is giving me an answer.
6) the stock answer - it will be out when it is ready - is patronising and not helpful.
7) Surely they know, its a big deal right? Why can't they just give us an idea
8) it's broken

and so on...

I have regular contact with my clients even when i have nothing to say, just to let them know i have nothing new to say. A waste of time? Not at all. Humans value information, and the exchange of information. A 'black hole' does not demonstrate capability and professionalism - rather the opposite. I would have thought by first week of Q2 Frontier would have said, we expect release mid- late Q2. By the end of early Q2 - we are on-track for release in mid June. By Late may - We are on-track for release in week beginning 12 June. By 5 June - we will be releasing on 15 June.

And at each stage release a new promotional video, highlight some content, add in some 'bonus' purchase options e.g. first 100 buyers get 500 Frontier points, or a ship skin pack etc.

it's all a bit thin really....

 

[Old Duck]

They have learnt to say nothing until they are confident that are able to deliver what they talk about.

I agree with this answer. I think their teacher was Sean Murray of No Man's Sky. ED and NMS are very similar genre's with very similar fans. When NMS promised one thing and delivered something else, it was a catastrophic failure that really shook the industry. It's in Frontier's best interest to under-promise and over-deliver rather than the other way around.

I don't like this approach, but I understand it. Personally I wish they would do what they did in the early kickstarter days and have a diary of all they are exploring and experimenting with. But then again, I'm kinda forgiving compared to many on this forum. Oh, and let's face it, there's maybe 20 of us begging for a release date. We're vocal, but we're definitely a minority.

 

[Tiny_Rick]

there's maybe 20 of us begging for a release date. We're vocal, but we're definitely a minority.

I see our gentle pestering as a expression of appreciation and admiration for FD's work. I also see it as an opportunity to gently pester someone. So, you know, win/win.

 

[Hooplah]

Given we are less than 9 weeks before the end of Q2 2017 one would think the console PlayStation Store and website would have a coming soon promotion. You know, one of those HD Surround Sound videos and writeup that looks awesome without revealing anything! Maybe Sony prefers an actual release date versus a generality.

It appears that Frontier is not wanting to do that. With any other gaming company that would worry me. But Frontier NEVER does business like any other gaming company so "Still on track Q2, nothing to announce" is a positive!

 

[Presto_NL79]

I agree with this answer. I think their teacher was Sean Murray of No Man's Sky. ED and NMS are very similar genre's with very similar fans. When NMS promised one thing and delivered something else, it was a catastrophic failure that really shook the industry.

A huge difference with the current situation is that Elite Dangerous and its gameplay are already established. There are no secrets or surprises for what we can expect in a PS4 version.

 

[DoxViper]

Patience is a virtue, unless we're talking about ED on PS4.

 

[Airwave]

FD is not EA or Activision they are independent, They march to the beat of their own drum. They carry plans and surprises in silence many I am sure they love to share with their fans. Saying the wrong thing and finding out it cant be done or will take longer than expected can cause a toxic storms. Look at no mans sky I feel they feel prey to the reality that they could not produce everything in what they wanted to create. Then Boom the storm hit, Even so they are still working on the game the storm did not care it was to late.

So what if FD gave the month would that make it come sooner, No. Would anyone be angry you did not know if it was closer to the 1st of the month or Last of the month. Would we see we know the month why not give the day asked. Would a week delay make anyone angry?

Elite will be digital only, Sony updates the store on Tuesdays so Elite will launch on a Tuesday. We only have 8 more Tuesdays till the end of June Be Happy Don't Worry. It's very soon now

 

[IxianD]

I agree with Stormy. We are so close to release yet we see or hear nothing. No press, no preorder drive, no excitement or hype for it from FD. Can't help thinking that something has gone very wrong and no one wants to admit it.

 

[Whitehair]

You don't know how FD works then

 

[stormyuk]

I agree with this answer. I think their teacher was Sean Murray of No Man's Sky. ED and NMS are very similar genre's with very similar fans. When NMS promised one thing and delivered something else, it was a catastrophic failure that really shook the industry. It's in Frontier's best interest to under-promise and over-deliver rather than the other way around.

I don't buy this NMS cop out, as has been pointed out its totally different. NMS and Sean Murray basically promised a load of stuff that he could not deliver (or never planned to deliver). With Elite Dangerous the game is there, giving some technical details about PS4 release is not beyond the wit of man. To just hid behind NMS and say well developers don't like to talk now or promise stuff because of NMS. Ridiculous. You can still talk, other games companies are merrily developing on PS4 and informing their respective communities what is going on. NMS's problem was basically Sean Murray.

I can't actually say I am that fussed for an "exact release date". Some information, some gameplay, some technical detail, some something on PS4 would be nice for this community.

Why can't they just release some (PS4) video on their Youtube channel? Why can't they release some (PS4) screenshots on their webpage? Why can't they talk about some technical aspects of resolution, frame rate, pros and cons of how the PS4 is to work with? What benefit Pro gives them? What challenges they face with PS4?

None of this is actually rocket science.

I agree with Stormy. We are so close to release yet we see or hear nothing. No press, no preorder drive, no excitement or hype for it from FD. Can't help thinking that something has gone very wrong and no one wants to admit it.

I am not even convinced anything has gone wrong, I think FDev are just exceptionally bad at communication.

They have scope to give more than "Its on track" and "It's going well". For some reason, whatever it is they don't want to engage.

 

[Old Duck]

Elite will be digital only, Sony updates the store on Tuesdays so Elite will launch on a Tuesday. We only have 8 more Tuesdays till the end of June Be Happy Don't Worry. It's very soon now

I did not know this about Tuesday. Thank you for that golden nugget!

 

[acidburn2k20]

well we don't have long to wait and hope fully it comes sooner rather than later, all i know is that when it finally release i will be one of the few day one commanders to be thankful to get out in to the black and start my rise to fame and fortune

 

[Blight]

They are currently working on this and another new IP in addition to Planet Coaster (as per their annual shareholder report).

Who knows. I dont think they care tbh, I mean its still a mystery as to why they dissed the PS4 players for years as it was (yes we are comming out... 2 years later it finally give a *rough* date).

If you want to be scientific, on 23 April they announced the in store copies of Planet Coaster for 23 May release. We are supposedly getting a boxed copy called Legendary Edition, but they just said TBA. If we don't get an announcement by the end of this month, then its missing June I would say. And if it misses June, then there is a good chance it will be delayed at least another month, perhaps 3.

 

[Blight]

FD is not EA or Activision they are independent, They march to the beat of their own drum. They carry plans and surprises in silence many I am sure they love to share with their fans. Saying the wrong thing and finding out it cant be done or will take longer than expected can cause a toxic storms. Look at no mans sky I feel they feel prey to the reality that they could not produce everything in what they wanted to create. Then Boom the storm hit, Even so they are still working on the game the storm did not care it was to late.

So what if FD gave the month would that make it come sooner, No. Would anyone be angry you did not know if it was closer to the 1st of the month or Last of the month. Would we see we know the month why not give the day asked. Would a week delay make anyone angry?

Elite will be digital only, Sony updates the store on Tuesdays so Elite will launch on a Tuesday. We only have 8 more Tuesdays till the end of June Be Happy Don't Worry. It's very soon now

No, its getting retail release.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/4/24/15407666/elite-dangerous-retail-release-xbox-one-ps4

 

[Blight]

I'm not even sure I'll get it now. (not trolling)

I saw a re-review of no mans sky, and I actually bought it (on sale of course ). Right now its scratching my itch when I'm on the couch. Got the PC for Elite (beta backers, so free for life for me), so don't think its quite so critical (unlike GT sport - humunah humunah).