"A mile wide but an inch deep."

[Eliza]

Seriously OP...if you need a story or something to lead you through a themepark, then Eilte is NOT the game for you. I honestly recommend, that other games, like X4 and other theme-park games, are more likely fit your taste of playing games.
Elite was, is and will always be a sandbox where you and you alone make up a story by yourself only.

 

[Tarman]

Ha! So many salty replies!

I'd heard this community had gotten toxic since I was a regular here, but to see it first hand is kinda sad.

Didn't realise questioning the depth of the content would trigger so many people.

For those saying "don't play it then" I'd advise brushing up on your comprehension skills. I clearly state in the OP that if I get bored I don't play. . . Common sense really.

For those moaning that its "this thread again"; those of us who don't visit the forums regularly aren't aware if this has been discussed before, or how frequently. But as you allude to it being a recurring topic, perhaps there is some depth to it (see what I did there?).

I appreciate the sensible, adult-like input from the rest of you. The BGS stuff sounds pretty interesting!

There's no depth to this topic. It comes up all the time because there are hundreds of wholly-different expectations of this game, some of which are diametrically opposed, and some which are just literally impossible. There is no way Elite can cater to everyone, because making EVElite Effect: Star Citizen X - NMS isn't doable by anyone. Maybe nextgen we can have the Game to Rule Them All.

 

[Fedora Master]

Do you really believe that? I've never been playing WoW and on the way to the raid thought to myself, hm...I'm glad they put mountains in the game that I have to fly my dragon around so I don't get bored, otherwise there'd be no game here at all!

In the case of exploration? Absolutely.
You can't do anything during transit because witch space is a hidden loading screen but you also can't divert your attention much because otherwise you'll fly into a star. It's the perfect method of cheating people out of their time.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

A quote I read somewhere about Elite Dangerous which, for me at least, hits the nail on the head. I really want to love this game. But there's just not enough to keep my interest. I pick the game back up for a few days, and already I'm bored with the repetition and seemingly nothing to work towards. No mysteries to solve, no breadcrumbs to follow. Just meaningless grind.

There needs to be something tangible to aim towards, else what's the point? I have enough credits to kit out my Conda, and I could grind for materials to get Guardian tech. But with no breadcrumbs out in the void to follow, there's no need to.

I had heaps of fun chasing the Formidine Rift mystery, even though there was only a small breadcrumb trail to follow, but it gave purpose to my play. Right now, there's no depth, and from how I understand it, no undiscovered content until the devs decide to implement it.

No, I'm not saying E: D needs to change. It is what it is and I will play other games if I am not enjoying Elite. But is it something that E: D devs need to assess at some point? Or will the players be endlessly content with the game the way it is?

All the tools.are there to make your own goals. There is all the depth you need, but it isn't handed to you on a plate. You need to find these things out yourself.

As to new things they havent been discovered, well we don't know. Less then 0.2% of the galaxy has been discovered so far.

Basically there is plenty of depth, there is plenty to find and there are plenty of goals put there if you want them. It could be you are just not interested in that kind of stuff.

That's fine by the way, not every game is for everyone.

 

[AlexAndTheDJ]

There's no depth to this topic. It comes up all the time because there are hundreds of wholly-different expectations of this game, some of which are diametrically opposed, and some which are just literally impossible. There is no way Elite can cater to everyone, because making EVElite Effect: Star Citizen X - NMS isn't doable by anyone. Maybe nextgen we can have the Game to Rule Them All.

Of course, but the question was asked whether it will always be enough, or will the devs have to add layers of depth to aspects of the game to keep people interested long term.

There's clearly room for discussion on the matter.

 

[Fedora Master]

How would you make mining 'deeper'?

ED styles itself as relatively hard on the science part of science fiction. Why, then, are all rings essentially the same? Why isn't the exact composition of asteroids tied to the wider system generation? Exotic metals and minerals should be rare but they aren't, at all. You can find anything you'd want effortlessly within the bubble instead of having to really look for it. There is no deeper understanding required to be effective when mining.

In an ideal scenario you'd have explorers go out and find exotic materials in some far-off system which in turn causes a gold rush for miners to go there and mine them which in turn would attract pirates which in turn would attract bounty hunters. A neat set of gameplay events, all caused by players and not any background simulation.

 

[GunnerBill]

Yeah, it's bizarre how people who invested hundreds of quid into throbbing joysticks and digital gimp masks will tell you, endlessly and unprompted, how amazing this game is in VR.

Elite is amazing in VR. It's also quite clear when you play in VR that VR is the intended primary mode for the game.

If you're not playing in VR, you're doing it wrong[TM]

 

[Aashenfox]

In the case of exploration? Absolutely.
You can't do anything during transit because witch space is a hidden loading screen but you also can't divert your attention much because otherwise you'll fly into a star. It's the perfect method of cheating people out of their time.

I do wonder how explorers stay interested for so long. Fair comment. But there are those that enjoy that. The Bubble holds more interest for me, for sure. What could they add to jumping to make it better though? I could think of a few minor things but nothing that would change the fundamentals. Criticism really should be backed up with an alternative suggestion. Again the means of getting from a to b does not for me, really impact a game's depth.

 

[MottiKhan]

How.very.dare.you?! After four years of Frontier's inspirational creative development, that's patently a gross misrepresentation of the extant state of the game...

...it's at least TWO inches deep now!

So, the game has improved by 100%! But is it 2 inches deep only because it's now only a half mile wide?

I'll have to get my calculator.

 

[Tarman]

Of course, but the question was asked whether it will always be enough, or will the devs have to add layers of depth to aspects of the game to keep people interested long term.

There's clearly room for discussion on the matter.

There's always room to add things, and if you've been here since PB then you know for a fact the game has had tons of layering added since 2014. That doesn't mean the game will suddenly become fun for someone who hasn't enjoyed the recent and current iterations though. It's not going to be drastically altered on a conceptual or an execution level.

I highly doubt Elite will ever be in the same player-driven league as EVE for example; it's not built to play like that in almost any regard. There's room for elements of that gameplay, but straight-up "EVE-with-piloting" isn't gonna happen ever.

 

[Fedora Master]

I do wonder how explorers stay interested for so long. Fair comment. But there are those that enjoy that. The Bubble holds more interest for me, for sure. What could they add to jumping to make it better though? I could think of a few minor things but nothing that would change the fundamentals. Criticism really should be backed up with an alternative suggestion. Again the means of getting from a to b does not for me, really impact a game's depth.

Making exploration more engaging is a tough nut to crack, I'll admit that. Most of it would involve some sort of automation and I understand that that's a big no-no.
The LEAST they could do is automatically stop your ship after each jump, that would save one button press.

The endurance aspect of exploration comes down to how many jumps you can make before you get bored out of your mind. That's telling as far as the overall design of the game goes in my eyes.

 

[Bill Clement]

There's always room to add things, and if you've been here since PB then you know for a fact the game has had tons of layering added since 2014. That doesn't mean the game will suddenly become fun for someone who hasn't enjoyed the recent and current iterations though. It's not going to be drastically altered on a conceptual or an execution level.

I highly doubt Elite will ever be in the same player-driven league as EVE for example; it's not built to play like that in almost any regard. There's room for elements of that gameplay, but straight-up "EVE-with-piloting" isn't gonna happen ever.

[haha] I really hope so! There are other games for all that malarkey...

 

[Tarman]

[haha] I really hope so! There are other games for all that malarkey...

EVE is actually one of the best at what it does. There are small stories and epic galaxy-wide sagas and all the human interaction drama you could ever need, and it's all directed by players. Any given ship has had its resources mined, was built, and then sold by players. If you wanna sit in Jita like a Hutt and run a financial empire and never fly a ship for years on end, you can do that.

EVE was also built from the ground up to cater to this player-centric idea. Elite just isn't. Elite has room for some of that gameplay, but nothing about its economic model or even network arrangement make wholesale changes viable.

It's the same idea with Space Engineers. We're not going to have that granular level of control over our ship builds in Elite no matter how many iterative changes occur to the Elite process.

 

[AlexAndTheDJ]

There's always room to add things, and if you've been here since PB then you know for a fact the game has had tons of layering added since 2014. That doesn't mean the game will suddenly become fun for someone who hasn't enjoyed the recent and current iterations though. It's not going to be drastically altered on a conceptual or an execution level.

I highly doubt Elite will ever be in the same player-driven league as EVE for example; it's not built to play like that in almost any regard. There's room for elements of that gameplay, but straight-up "EVE-with-piloting" isn't gonna happen ever.

There's been improvements, yes. But depth? Not so much. Community goals are largely rinse and repeat regurgitations of previous CG's. Missions are more of the same. There are 100's of things to do, but once you've done them for a short while, you've experienced all there is to experience in that aspect (with combat perhaps being an exception due to different ships performances).

For me, it seems like I get that moment of "Wow, this is really cool!" But then 2 days later its "Oh look, more of the same".

Someone mentioned about Raxxla not being found yet, and I'm if they were being sarcastic, but without any hint of what it even is we're looking for. . .

People are under the impression I don't like the game. I do like it. I just think it gets tiresome pretty quick once you've earned enough credits.

 

[Brrokk]

It's thin in places but if it really was completely lacking in depth I don't believe I would have played it for so long.

 

[AlexAndTheDJ]

Making exploration more engaging is a tough nut to crack, I'll admit that. Most of it would involve some sort of automation and I understand that that's a big no-no.
The LEAST they could do is automatically stop your ship after each jump, that would save one button press.

The endurance aspect of exploration comes down to how many jumps you can make before you get bored out of your mind. That's telling as far as the overall design of the game goes in my eyes.

If there was more out there to discover, that would be a start. What's the point of having an infinitely large game with not much to find?

I'd also like to see mis-jumps, system malfunctions, stuff like that. Even getting too close to a star isn't very dangerous. Sure your ship may overheat for 5 seconds while you line up with the escape vector, but stuff like that should be more of a danger.

 

[Tarman]

There's been improvements, yes. But depth? Not so much. Community goals are largely rinse and repeat regurgitations of previous CG's. Missions are more of the same. There are 100's of things to do, but once you've done them for a short while, you've experienced all there is to experience in that aspect (with combat perhaps being an exception due to different ships performances).

For me, it seems like I get that moment of "Wow, this is really cool!" But then 2 days later its "Oh look, more of the same".

Someone mentioned about Raxxla not being found yet, and I'm if they were being sarcastic, but without any hint of what it even is we're looking for. . .

People are under the impression I don't like the game. I do like it. I just think it gets tiresome pretty quick once you've earned enough credits.

I've been here since 2014 myself, and I don't find that at all; and that's having avoided huge swathes of gameplay like the Thargoids and PP. Since we're playing the exact same bits of code, I can't pin that on the game so much as I can pin it on the players. Elite is a "find your own fun" kind of thing, and not everyone can do that all the time. That's not a failing, that's just life.

Right now I'm playing a STALKER mod that sandboxes the whole set of maps from all the games. There is absolutely no direction; just go try to survive in the Zone however you see fit after signing on to one of the factions. That's great for me, but probably anathema to anyone looking for a directed storyline of even a minor sort.

The BGS asploed has been kind of disruptive, because right now I'm not sure what's newly-intended, broken, or completely changed. It needs to settle down before I can get back to it. When it's working though, there's tons of "depth" to the gameplay. There are a lot of factors involved, plus you can exercise your fave type of piloting depending on what you're achieving and how.

At least you're not one of our resident hangers-on, who actually do dislike the game, and figure if they just stay on the forums being bitter until the end of time, somehow they will start liking the game.

 

[Fedora Master]

If there was more out there to discover, that would be a start. What's the point of having an infinitely large game with not much to find?

I'd also like to see mis-jumps, system malfunctions, stuff like that. Even getting too close to a star isn't very dangerous. Sure your ship may overheat for 5 seconds while you line up with the escape vector, but stuff like that should be more of a danger.

Simply throwing in more "stuff" to honk at won't really solve the problem though.

 

[Vedmo]

Well OP, for me it all boils down to one thing, I often find myself thinking how much I want to go fly one of my spaceships. If that isn't enough to keep me interested, then it will be time for a break. No depth, goal or story line ever added could trump this one simple thing, the desire to fly a spaceship, and I know of no other game that givers a better platform to do it.

 

[AlexAndTheDJ]

Simply throwing in more "stuff" to honk at won't really solve the problem though.

No, but rolling around in an SRV knowing that you're not going to stumble across anything of note is a bit of a miss. Perhaps adding cave systems to planets and moons, with hard to find minerals ore veins etc.

I'm no game developer, I don't know the answers. All I can do is ask the question.