There were a number of games where you had all that freedom. I think the oldest one would be Descent from '95 or so. Then there was the X-series or things like Independence Wars. And yes, none of them ever was utterly mainstream. Neither is ED.
These control options come with the price of complexity. The more options you provide, the more likely you will overburden some people, reducing your player base. But based on that, a mere button clicker game should be the most successful of them all. Which it isn't, as going too low means you loose the part of the player base who enjoys complexity.
All in all, I think that the quote from RGO's page is more honest that they intended it to be. For me it reads a lot like "we aim for simplicity and want to cater to the stupid". Time will tell how it turns out. I guess it can be a very fun action based game. It intentionally gets rid of any simulation aspect and thus can eliminate one of ED biggest problems: the steep learning curve. But in turn it also won't scratch the same itch as ED does.
They'll be very different games. The only connection is that in both you have the ability to shoot at things in space. I wouldn't see them as rivals and if RGO feels the need to take cheap shots at quite different games, I wonder what confidence they have in their own product. (And if they really think that it's a smart idea to not only take cheap shots at other games, but even their player base. Insulting people is not exactly how you make people like your product. )
These control options come with the price of complexity. The more options you provide, the more likely you will overburden some people, reducing your player base. But based on that, a mere button clicker game should be the most successful of them all. Which it isn't, as going too low means you loose the part of the player base who enjoys complexity.
All in all, I think that the quote from RGO's page is more honest that they intended it to be. For me it reads a lot like "we aim for simplicity and want to cater to the stupid". Time will tell how it turns out. I guess it can be a very fun action based game. It intentionally gets rid of any simulation aspect and thus can eliminate one of ED biggest problems: the steep learning curve. But in turn it also won't scratch the same itch as ED does.
They'll be very different games. The only connection is that in both you have the ability to shoot at things in space. I wouldn't see them as rivals and if RGO feels the need to take cheap shots at quite different games, I wonder what confidence they have in their own product. (And if they really think that it's a smart idea to not only take cheap shots at other games, but even their player base. Insulting people is not exactly how you make people like your product. )
