Storytelling is in your business. How to make Elite great again at low costs.

[Zaethrael]

Hi Commanders, hi Frontier.
What do you think about like any other good business nowadays creates storytelling experience and MVP of those features packed for now only in story mode? I mean a real story for 6-8 hours with cutscenes scripted encounters and heroes. To DIVE into lore. To introduce this great world. To create a feeling of something greater like Freespace. To help people become relevant until they become nonrelevant pilots. You basically have the necessary engine to create a plot that creates the user experience for us. Now you have a frame - you need material, but what about creating small test/fun environment and open doors for this epic trailers and promises now in more coherent but smallest scale. You will always have a lot of space to add and evolve but for now, the feeling of emptiness is greater than in any other games in the worst way. Not the space scale but waste scale.

The question about the status of the game will rise and eventually players will leave this game completely and the business will fall. Cause there is nothing that creates the impact on us. You need to deliver a load of random content that not many players are part of so this is wasted potential. Can you imagine how this may work currently with the current state of features? You can just make some nice Pilot Academy background with good narrative intro (using ingame footage). Show the differences and status of the galaxy with same routed tasks supported by little changes of UI that guide. Onboard us into this great galaxy. Show the conflict, made us part of the Alliance vs Federation high res battle objectives and expand this to some release trailer scripted battles.

After that progression, we can back to the empty galaxy with something worth remembering. Even Battlefield has some simple campaigns that create for a lot of players narrative feel. It's not great, it weak in my opinion but the way of creating immersion is something that also learns a lot of folks about WW1. This is social historical proof for users. Can you imagine that this can be baked entirely by the current engine with a lot of reusable elements? This opens also a door for better monetization. Maybe a team of scripters can create season like TV series and earn a little more money for future developments. You can highlight fitting and character customization sections. You can create small story sandboxes, sell them and fill this bad emptiness with not so much efforts. Just please use smarter approach for touching our emotions before 'end game'.

This may be also a way to DEGRIND this game (one of the biggest issue). Follow small stories, learn something, progress through the campaign, meet the lore, take epic actions, have goals if you can't create your own right now. And then let met together in adult no sorry open space This is something that I see from my expertise can greatly help Elite survive and scale. The ideas will stay the same but the INTRODUCTION will show a lot of people that supporting game is not so pointless during waiting for BIG features. Scale them down, please. Test in story mode. Give us a teaser of what we can get.

Let's create some titles to help imagination works:

Act 1: Live in Academy
- Basic Traning
- Into the Action
- Wingman
- Arms Dealers
- Securing Trade Routes
- All hands Aboard
- Conflict in Hel
- New Threat (teaser of aliens)
Act 2: Securing Outer Rims
- Fall of the Robigo
- Pirate Exodus
- Joining Bad Guys?
- Stealing the Case
- Unusual Alliance
- Smuggler
- Betrayed
Act 3: Story of Aisling Duval
- Homecoming
- Thriving Power
- Two Faces
- Slave Crisis
- Family Dispute
- PowerPlay
Act 4: Breaking Point
- Picking Sides
- Experimentals
- Losing the Leach
- Free Worlds
- Citadel
- Not your Concern
- Dance with the Shadows
- Beacon of Light
- Humanity Affliction

I bet you can match titles to in-game features, ideas, and solutions.
Now pack this up into storytelling mode with some classic sci-fi scenarios, cutscenes (or artwork with voiceacting) and you have your immersion and player hearts until you break the rules of space sims.

Best Regards!

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Are you sure you are familiar with Elite, Frontier, and how they do things?

 

[MottiKhan]

That sounds boring to an extreme. But it's fine as long as you leave it out of the game. I'd hate to have to wait through that drivel to play the actual game. If I want to watch a cartoon, I'll wake up early on Saturday. Yeah, not gonna happen unless I'm fishing.

0/10

 

[Kaocraft]

It's not a terrible idea. The biggest problem I see is that if the story mode were really well done, it would make the rest of the game look shallow and boring by comparison. And if the story mode were poorly done, then it ends up as another development dead-end and basically a glorified tutorial.

 

[5 Puppis]

The game you want is Freelancer 2. I don't blame you.

 

[Ninj]

You lost me at "make Elite great again"

Now where did I put that Trump smiley?

 

[Andovar]

I don't want one story, like so many games do. Everyone gets to save the same princess. yay!!! ....ugh [ugh]

I'm hoping that the mission system can be improved to the point of having multi-stage missions with branching decision trees, and some level of NPC persistence.
Then I can play a bunch of my very own "short stories".

 

[Kerrash]

The problem with introducing a story in the traditional sense is that the single galaxy is running in fixed time for all players.
You cannot have events that occur independently for one commander over the other.
Frontier is well aware of this, which is why they limit story telling and narrative to the interactions that we have. e.g. CG's and Galnet.

I do however like the idea of a set of mission threads that guide you through the available game mechanics.
Much like an extension of the existing tutorial scenarios.

 

[Jenner]

The problem with introducing a story in the traditional sense is that the single galaxy is running in fixed time for all players.
You cannot have events that occur independently for one commander over the other.
Frontier is well aware of this, which is why they limit story telling and narrative to the interactions that we have. e.g. CG's and Galnet.

I do however like the idea of a set of mission threads that guide you through the available game mechanics.
Much like an extension of the existing tutorial scenarios.

True, but something like OP suggests could be like an expanded offline tutorial.
It's basically creating a separate game, though. I'd rather FD spent effort at improving the storytelling within the existing framework and/or finding new and creative ways to do.

As we were discussing yesterday, actually, I'd really like a revamp of the basic mission system. That alone would really improve storytelling.

 

[Kerrash]

Absolutely. Which is why I would favour an incremental approach where the tutorial scenarios gradually bleed over into the main game.

 

[Ian Phillips]

You lost me here......

The question about the status of the game will rise and eventually players will leave this game completely and the business will fall. 

As for your ideas about storytelling - I'm a storyteller and I've been thinking a lot about Elite and The Story it tells. In my opinion you have missed the absolute main feature that Elite Dangerous has to consider in its storytelling.

It's a multiplayer experience and the way any story it has to tell has to cater for that. You aren't talking about the Elite Dangerous story, I think you are talking about scripted missions, which are essentially traditional stories to be experienced by the person reading/watching/doing the mission.

 

[Kerrash]

... I think you are talking about scripted missions...

I think there is obviously a desire for these. I guess because people have become accustomed to this kind of story telling after decades of FPS games doing so.
As long as these experiences can be integrated in such as way as to not break continuity, I see no harm.

The idea being to set someone up to realise that they are the one in control of their own narrative.
I just want the game to show them the tools with which to do so.

 

[Jenner]

I think there is obviously a desire for these. I guess because people have become accustomed to this kind of story telling after decades of FPS games doing so.
As long as these experiences can be integrated in such as way as to not break continuity, I see no harm.

The idea being to set someone up to realise that they are the one in control of their own narrative.
I just want the game to show them the tools with which to do so.

Well it's not just FPSes. People play open world games like Skyrim, Witcher, etc. and are enamored with the stoyrtelling therein. It's natural that people wish for the same in Elite (another open world game).

Obviously the comparison is limited, as they are vastly different games. Still, speaking for myself, I absolutely love being immersed in the world of Elite when I play but I would absolutely appreciate some personal narrative.

I really do think this can be accomplished with the mission system. It just needs a little rethink first.

 

[Kerrash]

Yes. The mission system needs to be the glue that binds other systems together.

I would just love to see a few more voice lines carried over from the tuts. E.g.
"Well you got that Sidey back in one piece. Why not check out the mission board so you can earn some creds to fix her up..."

 

[Andovar]

I really do think this can be accomplished with the mission system. It just needs a little rethink first.

Yes. The mission system needs to be the glue that binds other systems together.

yes, and yes!

Like i said, all it needs is multi-stage branching missions with npc persistence. easy, right?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Don't bother about other people telling stories.

Join the Résistance today and shape the tales of countless souls!

Make a difference today and give a meaning to your existence.

And one day, these stories will be told about YOU!

 

[andrak]

People need to stop using "make ... great again"

You just give the idiot more air time.

 

[Ian Phillips]

I think there is obviously a desire for these. I guess because people have become accustomed to this kind of story telling after decades of FPS games doing so.
As long as these experiences can be integrated in such as way as to not break continuity, I see no harm.

The idea being to set someone up to realise that they are the one in control of their own narrative.
I just want the game to show them the tools with which to do so.

I agree that that way of introducing the game to its players would be very immersive. I'm talking about the game as an ongoing experience, so probably a bit off topic to what the OP means.

 

[Zaethrael]

Guys. I am sorry if I wasn't to obvious with my post.
I don't want to offend your way of playing the game in any way. I feel that we need an extension for that. I played like 600h before steam and 400h with steam. I do my grind, I have load of money and i admire many parts of the game. My proposition is how to invite more people into great Elite universum with not so much ...efforts and money. Every one of us remember good story based space sims.

I am responsive for storytelling and UX on daily basis and I am sad that my beloved game have so big potential and how they waste it. Cause to be honest. We have every blocks right here and instead of doing story basted posts for 12% of players we can fix a lot of issues with idea of scenario based missions. From business and user perspective. We can do it solo, or multi within instances (like distress signals).

I truly respect your way of plaing! And I am happy that people find the best in it.

I suggest, recommend and hope to see some impact for people that looking for quick not to deep experience - YET.
In fact this approach should help us a lot also. With all do respect, Frontier spend a lot of time to improve some parts that will never be good without testing. Classic product cycle. Scenarios (not even Freespace type campain) can open posibilities for narrative experience and test new features. Instead of doing galaxy wide upgrade, we can go with smal scale solo/instance ecosystem. They can do it quick. They can improve sales and also have environment for big features.

Shipwalk? We can get it in scenario for quick check and feedback. Planet landing - same case. New experimental ship - part of scenario. If everything goes well then put it into next X.0 update. And i can buy story based scenario. Do target respec. and maybe we can find more people eager to buy it.

I am adult enough to support products with my own money and I am happy to do that. Elite is not for kids. Elite is for hard sci-fi, sim based, arcade style players. It is not mainstream but it is good pool of players that may looking for narrative style to dive into the lore.

You can buy Astra for as low as 9.99£ for ~42 hours of voiceover. With this you can be close to the mass effect

So Frontier. You have really great engine. Fill it with emotion instead of new hated anyway ship

 

[Zaethrael]

Btw. Yeah, excuse moi about "make xyz great again".
I was sure that I will deflect good ideas and meaningful dialogue cause of it and I do it anyway :*