The day you stop playing Elite Dangerous

[Miko]

I'm only semi OK with FDev and their policy on cosmetics. I don't mind Black Friday, Nation Flag paints etc or Braben bobble heads etc. But giving the gamers who paid for the FULL price game no choice of changing their basic colours on their ship or displaying their ship name etc without having to splash even more cash to do so in a game where basic entitlement to some basic customisations should be awarded as part of the base game!

Knowing how when FD roll out a new ship, they know fine that should a player snap it up, they may effectively pay £10 or much more for the kits and some paints for it. And that's just one ship.

What actually really annoys me is the paint packs not being universally unlocked for any ships that support them. For example, the military paint pack. Why must it be purchased per ship?

And since the cosmetics are charged for, they should at least allow name tags and so on to be moveable because some of them clip or aren't well placed by default.

FDev need to pay their staff and their Office bills, fair enough, but there's ways of doing it and I'm not so sure I'm on board with this one method.

 

[Jenner]

When I stop having fun, I'll stop playing.

FD could hasten that day with poor choices like loot boxes and such, but it's not like there is some particular red line for me.

 

[Mangal Oemie]

1. Thargoids taking over the bubble and invalidating the work CMDRs and player groups have invested into their chosen factions. (possible)
2. BGS reset in whatever way for similar reasons (not possible, but actually suggested by a certain busy forum user here)
3. FD going belly up or abandoning the game and shutting down the servers (possible but improbable)
4. The player group I am in somehow falling apart (unlikely, since it's been going for 4 years and thriving)

 

[Gut Rumble]

"With the video game industry basically being in complete ruin at the moment due to various tactics that take a huge dump on the player base"....Never heard or seen this , where is this happening?

 

[PiLhEaD]

......My breaking point would be if they suddenly decided to over monetize the game. I'm thinking of garbage like money boosters and paywalling already existing content bungie style....

It is possible to argue that with engineers FDEV has already monitised the game, as the engineers give Horizon players an undeniable advantage.

It is therefore reasonable to believe that the next 'paywalled' expansion might bring other benefits to those who buy in.

But I kind of feel that this is all missing the point. I want the game to continue to grow and I accept that I need to pay for that. So I don't view the next installment as a pay-wall, more an entry gate to fresh fields.

 

[Cmdr Eratosthenes]

Haven't played for months. Who wants my stuffs ?

 

[krylite]

Frontier has done an outstanding job so far running itself as a traditional and professional game dev company. I think it's fairly easy to see what pitfalls FD have avoided that have soured reputations of other major publishers discussed in this thread. And it's probably a good bet that FD are conscious of these issues and have made steps to not have to stoop to these p2w & marketing shenanigans. They've succeeded as a financially independent publisher and by having multiple franchises outside of Elite which has probably helped them avoid having to put ED on a monthly rate. More than a couple of hedge and venture funds have invested directly in Frontier, so there is likely confidence in Frontier's current business model into the future. Plus there are the announcement and signs that ED development is continuing to ramp up past Beyond of the game's next new "milestones" for the next few years. I'd wager the "ten year" plan was also business minded where Frontier could sustain itself as an independent publisher which would require patience since no other major publisher would ever do ED's groundbreaking scope in such a niche direction.

 

[Hooplah]

Greetings,

After 34 years playing the Elite series of games what could possibly stop me from playing? Well nuclear war, death, loss of an internet connection, losing vision (one eye has issues so I won't be going VR), and the worse going politically correct to the far left. This thread is more about the frustrations of players since the first Beta or just recently purchasing ED looking for a game that is similar to all the other games that they have played. Then in their comparison they are frustrated with this one. It won't get any better because Elite Dangerous is a totally new approach to playing online games. No one has ever done this before.

The real issue is that it is a complicated game without any decent manual how to play it. Add upgrades with more changes makes it more complicated. Watching live streams Devs answering player questions I'm not sure that Frontier could write one or keep it up to date. What does work is a community on the Forum, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, tons of "how to" YouTube videos, 3rd party websites supporting the game and an internet support for ED other game companies could learn from. I suspect that they are paying attention.

Monthy Fee/Pay-to-Play.

Can't/won't support it. It's a violation of my fundamental beliefs.

I agreed. I NEVER played Eve because of this. Then looking at my cable bill per Internet/TV/international phone combination I pay 15 times more monthly versus a game. Maybe I should look at how I am wasting my money. Meanwhile spending in the Frontier store with three accounts is a lot more expensive. No, ED going to a monthly subscription would offend me but then they are never going to do that. I'll bet on that. Any takers?

Elite Dangerous is a different way to play an online game. They invented a new direction. Maybe it will or not work. We'll see. But the gaming companies are seriously watching the financial quarterly reports from Frontier and are adjusting to the market.

Regards

 

[uliando]

I think they're keeping it reasonable. But we need another big paid DLC, to spark interrest once again.

 

[[VR] Frank_G]

The number of game sessions i did not enjoy while playing Elite can be counted with one hand. And Frontier did an excellent job on this ambitious and gigantic project. I love their mixture of science and fiction and their healthy approach to make their games look and play good on a wide variety of hardware. Of course there were downsteps and even disappointment at some point, but in the end, Elite shines and delivers on many ends and 3.3 did a lot in the right direction.

I can't see a reason at the moment to stop. A monthly fee might throw me on the unsure side, but all i see is Elite moving forward to become an even more awesome game than it already is - that includes the VR end.
Honestly, if i count all Elite titles together, i could easily say, that this is the game, i played over the longest period (1985 - 2018) and for the longest amount of net playtime. So far, only Skyrim and KSP kept me playing for more than a 1.000 hours on a single title. Elite beats that with ease...

 

[Bigmaec]

Yea. The deciding criteria is: do i have fun?

As long as i enjoy playing, i hang around. If i don't any more, i move on.

That [up]

And I usually only play games I really like, like Stellaris, Subnautica or Elite of course.
So all the crap described in OP didn't really bother me.

 

[Bigmaec]

Gotta say, I've never really understood the hostility toward ad's in a game like ED.

I mean, why would it be a big deal if the holo-adverts in ED were advertising, say, Thrustmaster joysticks or Alienware PCs?

I suppose some people might find it conflicts with their suspension of disbelief but, I dunno.
Personally, it'd actually reinforce it cos I think it'd fel like a link between the ED universe and the real one.

As long as the ad's fitted into the style of the game, it seems like it could be a nice little earner for FDev.... especially if the revenue might bankroll server upgrades etc.

I'd love that, especially if the marketing guys would come up with something innovative like Thrustmaster making "advertising" for a customized flight control system for your Cobra. Sadly the industry isn't as far as the people in this game (Fuel rats ad I'm looking at you in awe...)


edit: ups sorry for double posting

 

[lokvette]

Well I just splashed out 80 quid for the collectors version of X4 so there's that..

Stopped playing or rather buying EA games after the final nail in the coffin that was ME-4, I know I wont be buying anything from another studio as the game they advertised wasn't the game that we got, as you can see its when games dev's or more to the point the publishers pull a fast one that makes me lose any faith in them that I stop playing/buying the games they make.

I dont mind if games have micro transitions up to the point where those MT's give an advantage and become pay to win, dont mind paying a sub if the game is worth it, over 6 years playing Eve and near on 5 playing SWTOR.

ED is not worth a sub so if it ever went that way that would be it for me.

 

[Han Zulu]

The company yes, but because they make movies which are inherently topical, it makes a lot less sense to have their advertising in Elite. Having ads for the latest princess/superhero/whatever movie would definitely break my immersion.

Maybe we'll see a Mickey shaped coriolis? Reminds me, that I managed to make a mickey shaped silhouette with the planet scan drones once.

 

[lokvette]

"With the video game industry basically being in complete ruin at the moment due to various tactics that take a huge dump on the player base"....Never heard or seen this , where is this happening?

I take it you missed all the BF V and Fallout76 fiasco's ..youtube is awash with it.

 

[Myou]

I mean, why would it be a big deal if the holo-adverts in ED were advertising, say, Thrustmaster joysticks or Alienware PCs?

Because advertising tends to escalate the more its being ignored by the targets. I played a game with ads. First it was on billboards. Then built into the HUD. And then... we got popups.

Big honking NO. If it'd stay for those holobots outside of stations i wouldnt mind but the cynicism the videogame industry instilled into me... says they wont stay there. Anything to make more money, they'll push as far as they can.

 

[Han Zulu]

So... no.. Spiderman 3305?

I think Spiderman is own by Sony or Universal still if I'm not mistaken... but Disney probably have bought them up too anyway by 3305.

 

[Han Zulu]

By 3304 they'll have revived Walt and put him in charge again

Only his head though.

/TOTALLY NINJA'D!!!

 

[Weps]

With the video game industry basically being in complete ruin at the moment due to various tactics that take a huge dump on the player base, i'm wondering what would be your breaking point where you say no to elite.

That's easy: telepresence.

But in all seriousness, the reason I stopped playing is the fact that the overall gaming experience is no longer fulfilling. For me and me alone. And I blame most of that on questionable game mechanics released during the Horizons season.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Monthy Fee/Pay-to-Play.

Can't/won't support it. It's a violation of my fundamental beliefs.

This^

Although I wouldn't care if it was an option as a way to keep the server's going later in life, and say have all cosmetics and DLC available.
But you can still play the game as is too.