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

[Mr Fad]

I think the Base game is 25 on xbox with the expansion 20 so it's a fiver cheaper to get them as a combined package

I guess the reasoning is some peeps will be more likely to drop 25 quid for a game they're not quite sure about especially as they can alway grab horizons at a latter date if they like it.

Makes sense tbh

 

[CMDR Lukas Vance]

Nope you're all wrong.

Elite Dangerous: £24.99
Horizons Expansion: £9.99
PS4-Guys-Have-Waited-A-Long-Time Special Edition: £49.99 (includes ED, Horizons, 10,000 Frontier Points and Special Edition Thargoid Mothership complete with 12 Thargoid Clone Ships)

You heard it here first.

 

[stormyuk]

I don't see any logic to running a non Horizons SKU.
Both the PC and Xbox communities launched before Horizons so already had an established product before the upgrade was released. PS4 doesn't have this heritage.
You also have an established price point for the online store at ~£40.

By splitting the game into Horizons and non-Horizons versions, you are also adding complexity of message to a new, potentially ignorant mass audience - typically a group you want to simplify any comms to.

My opinion: Elite Dangerous will launch as
1) a single, combined, product for £39.99 as per the original FAQ and
2) a 'Founders' pack for £49.99 containing the combined game, a couple of 1000 Frontier points to spend in the frontier store and possibly a special launch ship / skin

They are both true - the plan is to have a bundle which will contain the complete experience, and like the other platforms, be able to purchase the base game and expansions separately. It's also the reason the price is now TBC as we work up the pricing structure.

Plus they have been saying from day one, you get everything, the full package with horizons. To do such a u-turn at this stage. Bizarre.

 

[CMDR Lukas Vance]

Plus they have been saying from day one, you get everything, the full package with horizons. To do such a u-turn at this stage. Bizarre.

If they are doing it to the detriment of the previously stated price, that is indeed a little disappointing. However I can see plenty of logic for a change;

- cheaper entry point (i.e. £14.99/£19.99/£24.99 etc. for ED Vanilla)
- cheap expansion to Horizons (£4.99/£9.99/£14.99); the point here is that we are GETTING Horizons, i.e. it's not 'o.k. PS4 dudes, you've got ED but not Horizons
- you can download ED alone on PC and XBox, so you are kinda forcing things on PS4 players that you aren't on other platforms; there may be a lot of people who have ED without Horizons. By enforcing the pair you may be losing customers
- something may have arisen out of the deal with the company releasing the physical boxed version

My opinion: Elite Dangerous will launch as
1) a single, combined, product for £39.99 as per the original FAQ and
2) a 'Founders' pack for £49.99 containing the combined game, a couple of 1000 Frontier points to spend in the frontier store and possibly a special launch ship / skin

Just looked on the store now, and although ED is £19.99 and Horizons Season Pass is £19.99 so it looks like it's 1p cheaper to but separate the £39.99 has the 'Commander Pack' in as well. I think they will try to offer as close as they can to the other platforms. I know some of you guys want to be 'special snowflakes' and get something special for PS4 owners that the other guys don't have but I think that will be the retail box version. I'll go for £49.99, ED and Horizons Season Pass plus Commander Pack plus 1500 Frontier Points.

 

[Presto_NL79]

Plus they have been saying from day one, you get everything, the full package with horizons. To do such a u-turn at this stage. Bizarre.

Personally I wouldn't mind such a u-turn. Once it's available I would buy the complete pack for double the price if I had to. I'm ready to go! I'll pay triple if they release it this weekend!

 

[stormyuk]

If they are doing it to the detriment of the previously stated price, that is indeed a little disappointing. However I can see plenty of logic for a change;

- cheaper entry point (i.e. £14.99/£19.99/£24.99 etc. for ED Vanilla)
- cheap expansion to Horizons (£4.99/£9.99/£14.99); the point here is that we are GETTING Horizons, i.e. it's not 'o.k. PS4 dudes, you've got ED but not Horizons
- you can download ED alone on PC and XBox, so you are kinda forcing things on PS4 players that you aren't on other platforms; there may be a lot of people who have ED without Horizons. By enforcing the pair you may be losing customers
- something may have arisen out of the deal with the company releasing the physical boxed version

Its the bizarre sense of such disorganisation at FDev that worries me more Mr Monkey.

"We are releasing the full package, with horizons so the PS4 gets everything" Oh wait, "No, we are not doing that now". Why split the user base when this has been a massive complaint on the PC side. £39.99 is cheap enough anyway IMO.

Maybe its some legal thing because its "possible" on other platforms?

The price will be the price, I am probably buying it anyway and I want Horizons. I see no point whatsoever buying the base game. How many of us here are going to buy the base game? I would wager very few. It is just going to cause the same confusion on the PS4 side that exists on the PC/Xbox side and imo that's not a good thing.

There is also massive potentially to confuse the general PS4 population, will PS4 users just buy the stock version instead? It will be cheaper. It might be confusing for people who have not followed it like us. Especially since the PS Blogs carry the original article from announcement, you get everything post.

 

[CMDR Lukas Vance]

Its the bizarre sense of such disorganisation at FDev that worries me more Mr Monkey.

One man's disorganisation is another man's 'agile' strategy ;-) I much prefer a company to change things for the better rather than be held to previous thinking. Sure, it may not be a change for the better, we won't know until it drops. Glass half full for me.

The price will be the price, I am probably buying it anyway and I want Horizons. I see no point whatsoever buying the base game. How many of us here are going to buy the base game? I would wager very few. It is just going to cause the same confusion on the PS4 side that exists on the PC/Xbox side and imo that's not a good thing.

Oh I know you'll be buying it buddy ;-) I can see your point but we represent an infinitesimally small portion of the PS4 base. Anecdotally I've seen quite a few people saying they just have the base game. Yeah, we are going in full throttle and will be playing all we can. I imagine there is a number of people who may just want to 'pop in' and do a bit of 'pew-pew' now and again (and a lower price point facilitates that). Only Frontier know those numbers.

 

[CMDR Lukas Vance]

Personally I wouldn't mind such a u-turn. Once it's available I would buy the complete pack for double the price if I had to. I'm ready to go! I'll pay triple if they release it this weekend!

Oh no, don't start that guy off who gets upset with the whole 'shut up and take my money meme' ;-)

Personally though I am with you. FRONTIER SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

 

[stormyuk]

Oh no, don't start that guy off who gets upset with the whole 'shut up and take my money meme' ;-)

Personally though I am with you. FRONTIER SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

I am slightly annoyed by FDev and its marketing decisions at the moment (and the fact we get drip, drip information). However.

 

[acidburn2k20]

with it possibly being so close to release date, i have to say this is a weird decision. if anything instead of saying we can buy seperately or buy a bundle, you would think they would be hinting at promotional stuff to get us hyped like stormyuk said it makes little sense.

the longer we wait, the less news we get. but what news we do get is getting weirder and making less sense, so confusing:S

 

[Old Duck]

Here's my 2¢ (or better yet, £39.99) - I agree with the fellow who said it should be on parity with the Xbox version. I can't think of any examples where a non-exclusive game costs more on one platform other another, unless of course one platform is having a sale. Can you?

I do see the fact that Frontier is turning their attention to pricing as a good sign. It may imply the launch day is soon.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

Just a couple of other ideas why they might have changed their minds re pricing:

- Sony may have stuck their noses in (unlikely especially for a non-flagship game, but you never know, and I don't follow the PS platform close enough to know whether or not Sony approve all or any product pricing)
- David Braben/FD have said on previous livestreams that they might change the product structure (i.e. move away from seasons etc.) so perhaps they have recently made a decision and this has affected the PS4 pricing/product model

 

[Old Duck]

Oh no, don't start that guy off who gets upset with the whole 'shut up and take my money meme' ;-)

Personally though I am with you. FRONTIER SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

Wait a minute, we're all complaining that Frontier isn't talking, and yet here you are telling them to shut up... I blame you, Mr. Monkey, for all this silence. I blame YOOOOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!

Haha, just kidding

 

[CMDR Lukas Vance]

Wait a minute, we're all complaining that Frontier isn't talking, and yet here you are telling them to shut up... I blame you, Mr. Monkey, for all this silence. I blame YOOOOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!

Haha, just kidding

I know, I know. For the record though, I think you'll find I'm more of a Frontier apologist than a complainer ;-) No news is good news as far as I am concerned! 30th of June 23:59 is the date in my diary!

 

[Old Duck]

I know, I know. For the record though, I think you'll find I'm more of a Frontier apologist than a complainer ;-) No news is good news as far as I am concerned! 30th of June 23:59 is the date in my diary!

Today I'll be marking June 15th on my calendar. I've pretty much resigned myself to the high probability that ED will either be released or at least get a "In stores on _______" announcement at E3.

 

[Airwave]

I know, I know. For the record though, I think you'll find I'm more of a Frontier apologist than a complainer ;-) No news is good news as far as I am concerned! 30th of June 23:59 is the date in my diary!

Yup, that's what I said. That way as long as its in Q2 you will be correct or get a surprise early release if it comes out before that date. Being over hyped and expecting it the first day of Q2 did not work out to well for any of us!

 

[Mr Cynical]

Apart from the theory that some on the fence gamers may drop 20quid or so to try it (xbox also has a 1 hour demo), i can see other logic in selling the base game alone.

The base game is a deep game in its own right, and the learning curve is steep. Expecting more casual gamers to stick with the game longer term with all the Horizons content as well to get their head around from day one is a slight risk - they may get put off the game real early, and bad word of mouth could hurt sales long term.

However, if you can pull in more gamers with the cheaper base game option at the start, and offer a dlc path that adds a lot of extra content at a great price, while extending the learning curve, that can only be good. It's a better way to encourage longer term players, which will keep the galaxy alive.

And, if its not out before e3, expect the frontier presentation to be "welcome to e3, here is elite dangerous on ps4, which you can download from the psn store straight after this presentation by david braben".
And then keep an eye out for the braben bobblehead to make a limited comeback

 

[Lngjohnsilver1]

Frankly my good sirs, and ladies, I've given up expecting coherent sense.

This smells like SONY to be honest.

In any case...just tell me when I can buy whatever the heck it is I am going to buy!!!

 

[acidburn2k20]

same here though at the moment im undecided so my calander is late may - early june, for either release or a final release date