Not to sound ungrateful, but no love for LEP?

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Speaking of which, did you LEP guys ever get that cool 3D Anaconda model that's like a partially cutaway for the interior or something? I'm curious, I've always wanted to see an actual picture of that thing

It wasn't a LEP thing but from memory Frontier changed their mind on the cutaway Anaconda.

There were issues around forgotten promises on all the 3d printed models people had purchased.

I think it all got sorted out eventually but not without a bunch of forum posts wondering what was going on.

Left to their own devices Frontier have a habit of conveniently forgetting once they've taken the money.

edit: here's a post asking where it is, 1.5 years after it should have been delivered : https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/166712-When-Do-We-Get-Our-3D-Models?p=2551067
 
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I have no LEP and therefore am not really involved in the whole stuff, but I *would* be angry if I bought a lifetime expansion pass and then there would be one paid expansion only in three (?) years without compensation at all and on the other hand the store/cosmetics model seemingly replacing paid expansions.

That's why I never bought into season pass models.
 
Selective reading is a thing though - and different people may assume very different things based on the bits that they choose to read.

If you genuinely don't know much about it and are actually interested & not just trolling, it's worth looking into.

To give a simple example, you cancel an insurance policy mid-term (something you have paid for in advance but not used the full value of). When you ask how long it will take for the refund to be processed you'll be told something like 2 weeks and will be frustrated that it's going to take so long. The refund will actually arrive a week later and you will be pleased it arrived so early. If they had told you your refund would probably take a few days and it was delayed for some reason & actually took a week, you'd be disappointed. Same time to arrive, different customer response.

Hope this helps you to understand. If you are just trolling you can just ignore this because it won't help your argument.
 
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Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
If you genuinely don't know much about it and are actually interested & not just trolling, it's worth looking into.

To give a simple example, you cancel an insurance policy mid-term (something you have paid for in advance but not used the full value of). When you ask how long it will take for the refund to be processed you'll be told something like 2 weeks and will be frustrated by the delay. The refund will usually actually arrive a week later and you will be pleased it arrived so early. If they had told you your refund would probably take a few days and it was delayed for some reason & actually took a week, you'd be disappointed. Same time to arrive, different customer response.

Hope this helps you to understand. If you are just trolling you can just ignore this because it won't help your argument.

Taking this game as a pertinent example of current marketing, the following are two quotes taken from www.elitedangerous.com :

Help rebels overthrow an oppressive regime, put down a rebellion, or just hunt other Commanders. Your combat skills will keep you safe in a cutthroat galaxy.

In Solo play you can choose never meet another human player, yet the results of your actions still contribute to economy, politics and conflicts of the connected galaxy, and you experience the echoes of their activity.

.... then wonder why different players arrive with different expectations.

Given previous complaints from some players when Frontier *have* informed us regarding their scope of their planned additions to the game and associated expected delivery dates, it is perhaps unsurprising that they choose to now say little until they are more certain about the feasibliity of both the scope and delivery date. Even then we have seen Carriers removed from Beyond.
 
Taking this game as a pertinent example of current marketing, the following are two quotes taken from www.elitedangerous.com :





.... then wonder why different players arrive with different expectations.

Given previous complaints from some players when Frontier *have* informed us regarding their scope of their planned additions to the game and associated expected delivery dates, it is perhaps unsurprising that they choose to now say little until they are more certain about the feasibliity of both the scope and delivery date. Even then we have seen Carriers removed from Beyond.

The examples you give are Marketing - they want you to give them your money. You may not believe this but Marketing is actually different from customer service ;)

The point is that it requires effort and some skill, in a similar way to accountancy say, where there is a marked difference between a mediocre accountant and a good one, that may not be immediately apparent to someone who isn't an accountant.
 
I have no LEP and therefore am not really involved in the whole stuff, but I *would* be angry if I bought a lifetime expansion pass and then there would be one paid expansion only in three (?) years without compensation at all and on the other hand the store/cosmetics model seemingly replacing paid expansions.

That's why I never bought into season pass models.

Well I thought about buying the LEP just b4 launch, 4 years ago, & again when it was offered I think just before Horizons launched.

I decided to keep the LEP money in my pocket & purchase at full price any future expansions of the game.

Four years into this '10 year' project, I'm happy with the value for money to date. I will certainly be looking to purchase any further expansions as they are produced.

LEP owners, while they may be a bit miffed, that in 4 years they've only really got Horizons out of their Pass, there's still 6 years to go of this 'project'.

Spending money on stuff that's not yet left the development table is really a bit of a gamble!!
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
The examples you give are Marketing - they want you to give them your money. You may not believe this but Marketing is actually different from customer service ;)

Indeed - you mentioned that Marketing often works alongside Customer Service - which is why I used a marketing example.
 
Given previous complaints from some players when Frontier *have* informed us regarding their scope of their planned additions to the game and associated expected delivery dates, it is perhaps unsurprising that they choose to now say little until they are more certain about the feasibliity of both the scope and delivery date. Even then we have seen Carriers removed from Beyond.

Some players complain when they are informed and there are changes, some players complain when they are not told what's coming, some players just go looking for something to complain about.

The vast majority don't fall into any of these groups, why should they be punished for the actions of a few?

I'm hoping that the newsletter survey suggests that Frontier may be prepared to re-engage with limited development news (obviously only when they get shot of those pesky macOS users).
 
This thread got spicy!

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Wasn't the OP answered? I'm not sure what the topic is anymore - arguing over subjective expectations?
 
Some players complain when they are informed and there are changes, some players complain when they are not told what's coming, some players just go looking for something to complain about.

The vast majority don't fall into any of these groups, why should they be punished for the actions of a few?

I'm hoping that the newsletter survey suggests that Frontier may be prepared to re-engage with limited development news (obviously only when they get shot of those pesky macOS users).

I can see that the pages & pages of persistent whining & moaning on the forums at whatever Frontier release, make them even less determined to communicate with their player base.
 
Spending money on stuff that's not yet left the development table is really a bit of a gamble!!

The gambling analogy always makes me laugh, sure it's true in respect to there being a level of risk. But if it's gambling then it's Frontier that won the bet and it's LEP owners that lost. Here Frontier were holding all the cards.

Usually with something like an expansion pass both parties get what they want and it doesn't really turn into a winner/loser thing.
 
The gambling analogy always makes me laugh, sure it's true in respect to there being a level of risk. But if it's gambling then it's Frontier that won the bet and it's LEP owners that lost. Here Frontier were holding all the cards.

Usually with something like an expansion pass both parties get what they want and it doesn't really turn into a winner/loser thing.

And that's the risk (gamble) that's taken. Frontier have a very good idea what's to come in the next 4-6 years.....we don't.

In the next 4 years, I may have to pay for 3, 4, 5 expansion packs, which LEPer's get for free..............then again there may only be 1 or even none!
 
Yep, but is it the usual suspects fighting for page, after page, after page?

Just on this...

Do you think Zac Antonacci's sitting in his chair at work right now looking at this thread and thinking :

"Oh crap yeah we promised a bunch of free store content to the LEP owners didn't we, I completely forgot about that!!"​

I do.

I honestly beleive if there were no mention at all of the LEP between September and end of year then any "commitments" from Frontier's side would be conveniently forgotten about, as often seems to happen.
 
Indeed - you mentioned that Marketing often works alongside Customer Service - which is why I used a marketing example.

They are two sides of a coin I suppose. Marketing is a tool that is useful no matter how long the chain from manufacturer to end user - you didn't buy your Dyson vacuum cleaner from the factory, you bought it from Argos but the Marketing that persuaded you to buy it came from Dyson, Argos just persuaded you to buy it from them instead of some other distributor.

Customer service is usually handled by whichever company you bought the product from, although not always. If your Dyson was broken you would return it to Argos, not to the factory (usually).

Frontier is pretty good at marketing imo. They tend to exaggerate more than I like but no more than most companies really, they are selling dreams & as you say, it's easy for customers to get over-hyped about that. I don't think the issue here is with customers being over-hyped though, I think it's a fundamental problem with being afraid to tackle the more difficult problems. They just get ignored in the hope that they will go away and are only reactively tackled when it becomes clear that they won't.

Instead of managing expectations Fdev seem to just hope they will quiet down so they can be shrugged off. It makes me reluctant to care about them or recommend their products despite being a big fan of the Elite series.
 
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And that's the risk (gamble) that's taken. Frontier have a very good idea what's to come in the next 4-6 years.....we don't.

In the next 4 years, I may have to pay for 3, 4, 5 expansion packs, which LEPer's get for free..............then again there may only be 1 or even none!

They don't know what's coming in 4-6 years.

Frontier's statement back in Sept shows they've only just settled on what they're doing in 2019.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6966016&viewfull=1#post6966016
 
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They don't know what's coming in 4-6 years.

Frontier's statement back in Sept shows they've only just settled on what they're doing in 2019. Nevermind beyond that.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6966016&viewfull=1#post6966016

That's management spiel.

Frontier know damn well what idea's they have for the next few years be it 2, 4, 6, 8 years & beyond.

I doubt we would have got this far without some management plan. It's just that they are reluctant to tell us anything until the last second.

I believe that Atmospheric Landings & Space Legs are still coming, maybe not for acouple more years, but still coming.
 
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