Elite Dangerous is the Largest Empty Sandbox Ever Made

[Daffan]

Algomatic has said 1 thing ever that i agree with, and it is in this thread however...... he states the PvE side of the game is also lacking a bit.. and i agree with him/

so the question is, with resources being finite, do FD

1) throw all their energies into PvE content that every single player in the game does or has done at some point.

or do they

2) focus on content which a large portion of the player base have no interest in.

in some games, option 2 is definitely the way the devs have gone compare the battlefront reboot to the classic battlefront game, where they took a single player game with optional multiplayer and turned into a multiplayer arena shooter ***... but is it the right way for elite?

personally i say no. I think FD should add sand to the sand pit which everyone can use not just the special few.


*** not commenting on battlefront 2, where single player has made a bit of a comeback.

What Battlefront single player are you referring too?

Battlefront 1/2 (2005) were Battlefield clones, they had conquest maps with a overhead dialogue for the missions lmao. It was not the selling point and never was. In terms of skirmishes, it was conquest maps with bots because consoles couldn't use the internet that well back then, on PC it was a completely different story.

In terms of Elite, I don't think player structures are the way to go - but there is a lot of universal stuff that could be done. EVERYONE wants meaning, sense of reward and satistifaction, Elite barely gives that because the game has very little meaning or agency for anything, single or multi.

Would you like to link those metrics then?

Because if all you've got is the ones from Steam, they don't include XB1, PS4 or PC players who don't use Steam.
So Steam stats are as useful as asking Stevie Wonder to play I spy.

And as Frontier don't give out information (which is the only source of actual player stats), I think you prematurely "BZZZZZZZZT" that 2nd time.

Nah because he said "no" metrics.

I'm gonna take a short break now and let the same 5-6 people rep each other and pat on the back. Took an 8 month break from the forums, come back and the same White Knights are working the mines. Reminds me of SOTA and SC Forums.

 

[Robert Maynard]

A separate server, with a separate save. It was basically an idea that had no negatives for the anti-open playerbase. It would not affect them at all. It's not even hard for Frontier to setup, considering they have alpha and beta servers concurrently running all the time.

No negatives, other than the inevitable costs of running a permanent second galaxy state and curation of a divergent storyline.

The choice of which to play in would presumably have to be one time only at CMDR creation / reset - with no switching. Regarding separate saves, Frontier have resisted offering these, seemingly because players can (and do) simply buy a second copy of the game.

If Frontier were to go down that route, leaving the existing three game modes / single shared galaxy state as they are, I'd have no complaints.

.... except there'd likely be demands for at least one significant change that would incur additional costs - a change of network model from P2P to C/S for the new locked-in Open mode.

 

[Theodrid]

I remember asking for this 1-2 years ago.

A separate server, with a separate save. It was basically an idea that had no negatives for the anti-open playerbase. It would not affect them at all. It's not even hard for Frontier to setup, considering they have alpha and beta servers concurrently running all the time.

Out of the woodwork came all the Solo/PG players saying it was stupid or a dumb idea, or a waste of time.

? You literally cant get anything past these guys, mention "EvE" "Open "PvP" and they come down on you like a swarm of buzzing killbots. No It's fine if the entirety of PP and Minor Factions is controlled by Solo/PG hauling but dare Open get anything... eeeeeeeeeeeee

It is a dumb idea and a waste of time, what do Frontier do when the stories of each galaxy/server branch off different directions? Exactly how many narratives do you think Frontier should be running simultaneously, two?, but then you have XBox and PS, 4?, but then should solo and PG share a galaxy?, there are many PG's, all with differing rulesets, so, how many?

Mark H, (Rampant), put it beautifully and was duly repped, everyone, and I mean everyone consented to a shared BGS when they downloaded the game it really is as simple as that.

 

[babelfisch]

Nah because he said "no" metrics.

I'm gonna take a short break now and let the same 5-6 people rep each other and pat on the back. Took an 8 month break from the forums, come back and the same White Knights are working the mines. Reminds me of SOTA and SC Forums.

BZZZZZZZZT

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Took an 8 month break from the forums, come back and the same White Knights are working the mines. Reminds me of SOTA and SC Forums.

If that's your sentiment I am amazed why you'd come back. By all means, if you're going to be that generalizing and trollish, buzz off.

Now if you're willing to discuss ideas, by all means stay and have a conversation.

 

[Rampant]

agreed.... i get that things are always better in your head but every time i see comments like this i think of the guy painting red dwarf in the opening credits.

DB once answered a question about damaged stations and cosmetic wear and tear , and he laughed it off stating not possible, every station would end up ruined by people shooting them....... to me this was incredibly blinkered.

this is why shooting at a station should be a huge no no and persistant offences had massive lasting pushback from the station. If need be give the station a shield, and make it so we cant get through it in our small ships..... you would need a cap ship (that we cant fly) for station cracking.

but not allowing people to be on the surface of the station repairing it because players would kill them just sounds to me like "you cant have nice things because of the players".... well, i would rather lose the players rather than the nice things to be honest..... personally i do not think FD need to do either, just make shooting at or colliding with a work person fixing the station mean that the station opens fire

This is the absolute truth - we really can't have nice things because of (some of) the players.
Witness the cap on Player bounties: someone else in this very thread has commented on, saying that the cap doesn't make it worthwhile to bounty-hunt other wanted CMDRs. Thanks to the exploitation of player-mates who gather as much bounty as is possible by doing as much crime as possible and then shooting each other in sidewinders. We can't have nice things because of some of the players who ruin things for the majority of game-players.

I really would love to see much more variety in stations - and to be fair we do have a bit of variety as it is - but seeing stations as *individual* with damage/repair etc as a suggestion to create that individuality is an opportunity that should really be an easy win. I'm not necessarily even talking about *player* created damage. A station in system with state of war could have damage crews present. As with more individual holographic projections as was listed earlier to create more of an individual feel that reflects the back-drop. A station in famine for instance might have projected "adverts" of starving people appealing for food donations and tannoy announcements doing similar/ a station in outbreak similarly appealing for medical supplies/ etc/ etc/

Cheerz

Mark H

 

[Darkfyre99]

not sure i am hardcore enough to wipe potentially 1000 hrs+ gameplay but hell as an option, definitely, esp as it WAS in the KSer as well.....

I would say tho it would need a bit more work, with introduction of optional escape pods which would take a small slot (and dare i say these were meant to be in the game given we get a few seconds of "eject" warnings before we are spaced.)

generally speaking the way i see it, IF it was in the KSer / dev diaries or DDF then as far as i am concerned it is fair game to be included, which is not to say every part of them HAVE to be included, but if they are then, well they are the features we knowingly signed up for so should not moan if they come in.

The main reason why I play with pilot ejection rules in Open, as opposed to full on Ironman mode, is that I refuse to play with GSPies who aren't playing by the same rules I am. I would have no problem with doing that in Ironman mode, because they're subject to the same rules I am.

Many of us who enjoy playing Ironman do so because we consider the early part of the game the most fun. You have limited resources, and so the game plays differently than when you're established. Toss in the spectre of permadeath, and you get a completely different game experience than one that allows you to reload or respawn.

I've "lost" who knows many hours of playtime in Minecraft due to playing hardcore mode (with no health regeneration), and I just lost my 70 hour Subnautica save because I decided to do "one more room" in a wreck, and didn't head back when I should've. C'est la vie. I'll start a new save with the next update, just like I've done every single previous one.

 

[Jockey79]

I'm gonna take a short break now .....

First Golden Buzzer moment on the forums.
Glad I was here to see it.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I have fundamental question - why there's such almost mandatory requirement for people who vocally don't like things on internet - to find out justification that most of other people don't like it too?

I will guess on personal opinion alone - no one cares.

And as such - really, no one does.

 

[tomalus]

Ive been playing on and off since gamma.Dont expect much added to the game,the development has ended.Its the sad truth.They just dont consider making a proper expansion profitable.

 

[verminstar]

I have fundamental question - why there's such almost mandatory requirement for people who vocally don't like things on internet - to find out justification that most of other people don't like it too?

I will guess on personal opinion alone - no one cares.

And as such - really, no one does.

83 pages in less than 24 hours contradicts that and does it in spades...besides ye cared enough to write a reply...gotta love irony hmm?

 

[Jockey79]

I have fundamental question - why there's such almost mandatory requirement for people who vocally don't like things on internet - to find out justification that most of other people don't like it too?

They seem to think the development of the game is by democracy, so by finding like mind folks and proclaiming they are the "majority" (even when they are not) that they will get their own way.
They forget the game and its services are owned by a company who don't answer to the players.
Frontier answer to the shareholders, so no amount of "mah openz modez iz da best" will get Frontier to budge as long as the shareholders are happy with the status quo.

And as Frontier keep developing content and adding stuff for free to the game, I'd guess they are not worried over a small minority group making some noise.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

They seem to think the development of the game is by democracy, so by finding like mind folks and proclaiming they are the "majority" (even when they are not) that they will get their own way.
They forget the game and its services are owned by a company who don't answer to the players.
Frontier answer to the shareholders, so no amount of "mah openz modez iz da best" will get Frontier to budge as long as the shareholders are happy with the status quo.

And as Frontier keep developing content and adding stuff for free to the game, I'd guess they are not worried over a small minority group making some noise.

Problem is they flood official forums with this nonsense and drown out discussion about games and low key criticism.

That said, FD seems to have kick community team which keep it at bay so far.

83 pages in less than 24 hours contradicts that and does it in spades...besides ye cared enough to write a reply...gotta love irony hmm?

It does not contradict that. In fact, it is so boring and predictable that I don't even care now.

I just raised question, not expecting any kind of answer.

You seem to feel entitled to go on and on and on and I don't stop you.

 

[CMDR Carbo]

What really baffles me, why are we discussing the design concept of a game that was released 3 years ago?

Discussing the 3 modes or the instancing system is pointless, nothing is gonna change unless they fund, market and develop a new version of Elite with a new server architecture.

This thread is about what content do you want to see added into the game.

Content that fits into this game, not content that would require a different game.

 

[babelfisch]

They seem to think the development of the game is by democracy, so by finding like mind folks and proclaiming they are the "majority" (even when they are not) that they will get their own way.
They forget the game and its services are owned by a company who don't answer to the players.
Frontier answer to the shareholders, so no amount of "mah openz modez iz da best" will get Frontier to budge as long as the shareholders are happy with the status quo.

And as Frontier keep developing content and adding stuff for free to the game, I'd guess they are not worried over a small minority group making some noise.

I think everyone is just as entitled to ask for features as I am. If Cosmo wants more base building and guild features that's fine, I want NPC crew and improvements to the game first (like more persistent NPCs, better visual representations of the different states, better missions, USS, CZ and RES mechanics, more tools for explorers, less beige planets, etc.) and I think that's fine too. What gets problematic is when people say "do this or that or the game will die!". I think that's a pretty bad argument and one I've heard from many people with many different opinions which all contradict each other. How do I know who is right when he says "do this or the game will die" when they all claim to be to one and only saviour?

 

[verminstar]

You seem to feel entitled to go on and on and on and I don't stop you.

Yes I do and yes I can and no ye cant...so instead of trying to sound smart, why not try just ignoring threads ye claim not to care about? A novel approach very experimental but I hear it yeilds good results ^

 

[punkerich]

Just skipped like 20 pages...
Asking me what's so deliberately wrong with just everyone playing just the way they like?
I don't care at all what others think about the way i play...

Despite me having some K hours logged i wouldn't even dare to call me a pro player. Zero pvp exp., never searched for it, never got ganked either.
I wouldn't log though. If not in the mood or having a fear of danger, like visiting an engineer base in a fresh, unequipped ship i just go solo.
When running missions i mostly go open.

If FD wouldn't have gone this way, but would be forcing everyone in open and i'd be getting ganked multiple times in a row while trying to visit an engineer or such...
Well, nay. Would be outta game for sure.

I never played competetive MP games at all, always went for Coop games instead.

So, let just everyone blaze his own trail and be good with it.
Not everyone wants to be a fighter. No need to git gud.

 

[Robert Maynard]

What gets problematic is when people say "do this or that or the game will die!".

Also when the proposal would require existing content to be placed under an arbitrary restriction that just happens to mean that it would require the player to play in Open to continue to participate in it - in a game where direct PvP has always been optional and no permanent content is limited to a single game mode.

 

[babelfisch]

What really baffles me, why are we discussing the design concept of a game that was released 3 years ago?

Discussing the 3 modes or the instancing system is pointless, nothing is gonna change unless they fund, market and develop a new version of Elite with a new server architecture.

This thread is about what content do you want to see added into the game.

Content that fits into this game, not content that would require a different game.

It's a very special mindset of a very special player group.

Here are some other brilliant examples of their logic:

If you say that griefing and ganking is stupid they always act like you want to take their Peen Vs Peen away and call you a carebear who shouldn't be allowed to affect the same universe because you aren't good enough. But when you ask them why they find it fun to destroy explorers coming back from trips or sitting defenseless at alien ruins they always say "I don't do such things". Apparantly nobody does and yet it happens and gets justified all the time. If you say ganking is not a good way to get players into Open they ask you why you want to destroy piracy.
There is no logic involved.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I think everyone is just as entitled to ask for features as I am. If Cosmo wants more base building and guild features that's fine, I want NPC crew and improvements to the game first (like more persistent NPCs, better visual representations of the different states, better missions, USS, CZ and RES mechanics, more tools for explorers, less beige planets, etc.) and I think that's fine too. What gets problematic is when people say "do this or that or the game will die!". I think that's a pretty bad argument and one I've heard from many people with many different opinions which all contradict each other. How do I know who is right when he says "do this or the game will die" when they all claim to be to one and only saviour?

Pretty much this. We all want something new from ED, no doubt about that. And that something new will come. Will it satisfy you or not that's separate question.

But game will go and will keep going in certain direction. Sometimes FD listens, and even agrees they have screwed up and will correct ship accordingly. But overall...let's be frank, base building is not a thing majority of us would imagine ED is missing. We think more of existing gameplay but with detailed interactions. We think more of world full of NPC avatars.

Game might be done for you if you don't get what you want, and that's fine. But it won't die.