"Beyond" free for Horizon owners - LEP musings

[Space Dandy]

There will be more expansions I think. This move looks more like a way to get everyone on the same iteration of the game, namely Horizons.

Meanwhile LEP people don't need to worry about monetization and whether it will be yearly seasons or expansion or w/e as everything that comes in the rest of the life of the game will be free for them, barring cosmetics from the store ofc.

 

[Slopey]

Do you really just made that up from le which is not even official name? They will keep Horizons numeration.

Beyond *is* the official name for the 2018 updates.

 

[lenna]

Free? Wow! That was unexpected. Perhaps with all the new ships coming, FD feels that they can fund on-going development with paintjobs for the new ships.

Don't forget the XB1 and PS4 sales too, they would be a contributory factor.

From an on-going sales perspective including more content under coverage of Horizons should make the Horizons more attractive for the diehards who are still running with just the base Elite Dangerous.

While individual license sales are a drop in the ocean compared with development costs it is pretty clear to me that Horizons is the ideal baseline for the future of ED and if FD can get all players on the Horizons baseline they can (in theory) shift to ED:H being the new baseline product.

 

[Space Dandy]

Don't forget the XB1 and PS4 sales too, they would be a contributory factor.

From an on-going sales perspective including more content under coverage of Horizons should make the Horizons more attractive for the diehards who are still running with just the base Elite Dangerous.

While individual license sales are a drop in the ocean compared with development costs it is pretty clear to me that Horizons is the ideal baseline for the future of ED and if FD can get all players on the Horizons baseline they can (in theory) shift to ED:H being the new baseline product.

Indeed. Now if they can only have a decent sale soonish!

 

[DaggerSnake]

2018 just seems to be Horizons Touch up and Polish. That’s fine.

Space legs has already been called basically a seperate game to add to Elite by Sandro. I’d be interested to know how far the team working on that has come? Will it be a new SKU?

I was more interested in what new paid expansions are planned.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

2018 just seems to be Horizons Touch up and Polish. That’s fine.

Space legs has already been called basically a seperate game to add to Elite by Sandro. I’d be interested to know how far the team working on that has come? Will it be a new SKU?

I was more interested in what new paid expansions are planned.

Most likely that's subject of reveals for Frontier Expo 2018.

 

[DoctorDanny]

Beyond *is* the official name for the 2018 updates.

[video=youtube;N-uyWAe0NhQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-uyWAe0NhQ[/video]

 

[Enderby]

LEP was a leap of faith - the same way as other game pre-orders or kickstarters. People have bought something that wasn't realized yet.

I think FDEV delivered as LEP owners did get ALL expansions free, even if ALL was only one expansion so far.

A LEP of faith.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Beyond *is* the official name for the 2018 updates.

Yes, they don't call it a season.

 

[DaggerSnake]

So will 2018 move us into 2.5? Until a 2019 paid expansion brings 3.0?

It was all lots of info, no specifics. If that’s possible.

I’m very excited for Galnet Audio. That one surprised me. The rest just seemed self evident that the game needed it.

 

[Belan]

I was sold on the premise that there would be a paid expansion a year, and through a short time I would eventually make my money back. See that's the trade off, we do them a favor by fronting them some money and in return we get the Expansions for free. So, in reality, it's supposed to be a business deal, not a gamble.

 

[WR3ND]

It might be a bit off topic but did the LEP owners get free ships and access to Cobra mkIV in their package or was it only for Backer/Premium Beta owners?

For the Horizons announcement, the LEPs perched then so far get the same content that the Horizon pre-sales get, which includes the Cobra Mk. IV and the Black Friday paint job. So no, they don't get these things extra, though they do get them. Hope that makes sense.

I had the base Elite: Dangerous game before getting the LEP as well, even though the LEP includes the base game, so for this I got something like 10 or 15 USD off the price of the LEP. So, that's basically 50 USD more that I spent on the game already just there, but then I did get to play it for the previous year, of course.

Anyway, so far, if I had just gotten the Horizons pre-sale for 1/3 of the price of the LEP at the same time instead, I would have access to the same exact content I have now.

More importantly, I bought subsequent expansions with the LEP and I'm awaiting their arrival, whenever that may be, so long as it is actually sometime. I don't want extras per se; I want what I paid for.

 

[MottiKhan]

I have 4 Horizons accounts. If the LEP was to resurface, I'd still be tempted to buy it. Maybe two of them. It's a leap of faith, but I think ED has many more years left in its life.

It was originally set up for an 8 year run. I'm not sure where this 10 year thing came from, but the official word from FD's financial report was and still is 8 years. It'll likely live beyond that. Or it'll be upgraded with a sequel. I'll likely buy that one as well.

 

[Rudal]

For the Horizons announcement, the LEPs perched then so far get the same content that the Horizon pre-sales get, which includes the Cobra Mk. IV and the Black Friday paint job. So no, they don't get these things extra, though they do get them. Hope that makes sense.

I had the base Elite: Dangerous game before getting the LEP as well, even though the LEP includes the base game, so for this I got something like 10 or 15 USD off the price of the LEP. So, that's basically 50 USD more that I spent on the game already just there, but then I did get to play it for the previous year, of course.

Anyway, so far, if I had just gotten the Horizons pre-sale for 1/3 of the price of the LEP at the same time instead, I would have access to the same exact content I have now.

More importantly, I bought subsequent expansions with the LEP and I'm awaiting their arrival, whenever that may be, so long as it is actually sometime. I don't want extras per se; I want what I paid for.

I'm a Premium Beta owner so not really bothered about what is, was or will be free and what won't. I was just curious.

 

[Kubicide]

I was sold on the premise that there would be a paid expansion a year, and through a short time I would eventually make my money back. See that's the trade off, we do them a favor by fronting them some money and in return we get the Expansions for free. So, in reality, it's supposed to be a business deal, not a gamble.

LEP buyers need to get some sort of fair compensation whether it be a refund or store credit - something. Those that paid extra for the pass have not received their goods as advertised at the time of sale which was an expansion per year as you have described. They need to release one more "free" paid expansion to at least allow LEP buyers to break even.

But for 2018 there's certainly not enough material being released to justify a price so it's no wonder FDev are giving these updates out at no charge. And to many, including myself, Horizon's 2.x didn't offer enough value considering what was paid so the additional updates help. Only concern now is that since it is free then there's no real pressure to release on time or at all for that matter. So we may see timelines shift to the right as we saw with 2.x. And this may become what remains of the fictitious 10-year plan!

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

I know one way to dispel uncertainty ..... FD release an all formats elite definitive edition for £100 with the LTP again and re rerelease the LTP for say £80. IF they did that I would shut up (about that, I will never give up on NPC wings and crew till FD admit they are abandoned and no longer coming

 

[VonBlade]

Didn't LTP peeps get all the skins and stuff? Because if that's the case £165 is a total bargain and I'd buy one tomorrow.

 

[Ignition]

I bought the Premium Beta in 2014 (LEP) and I think its ok for Beyond to be free for Horizon owners.

The game is so shallow and bad right now (since early 2015) that it needs a complete overhaul. It would be a real loss if they charged for the expansion.

In fact if Beyond is good my friends will pay for Horizons and we will play this game a lot.

 

[lysan]

Didn't LTP peeps get all the skins and stuff? Because if that's the case £165 is a total bargain and I'd buy one tomorrow.

Nope, we need to pay like everyone else

 

[VonBlade]

Nope, we need to pay like everyone else

Holy smokes. Okay then. Blimey. So not really a lifetime pass so much as a more expensive base game. Hey ho. I've not found a Season Pass/Whatever yet that provided value for money.