This post is mainly for me and for the sentiment as I loved being here on the forums, arguing and nerding out with the CMDR's on here and feel this is the best way to go.
I've played this game for years and am finally done with the game. I have been in a push and pull relationship with Elite and didn't even know it. I would make up excuses saying "it will get better" "all it needs is Space Legs" "The next Update will be amazing!" and I've been disappointed with every single one. But I never understood: I love the updates when announced, but now that it's here, I'm not... What happened???
I didn't know what the issue really was... and after finally figuring it out, I realized nothing, not even Space Legs, can make this game playable for me. The issue lies in Elite's DNA and will never be changed.
It's the Forced Space Travel, but let me specify, SPACE TRAVEL ITSELF IS NOT AN ISSUE TO ANY DEGREE WHATSOEVER!
It can be nice to travel for long periods of time, experiencing and feeling the scale of the Milky Way.
Rather I'm saying that since it's forced, it became a wall in front of my own personal entertainment. A metaphorical beast I have to slay EVERY TIME I want to do something interesting, fun or outside my comfort zone. As of late, I found myself ITCHING TO PLAY, jump in, realize how long it's going to take to do the thing that excited me, lose my excitement, then log off and play a different game that would fill my time with the active gameplay I seek. Forced Space Travel is the reason I never went to the Beautiful Guardian Sites, or the spooky Thargoid Motherbases or to see the Space Pumpkins.
I've given Sea Of Thieves a hard time (AT LAUNCH) because the game had little to no content or things to build towards and would lean on the player bringing friends to have a good time. Elite became that game but in a different way, as I would want my friends to play not because of the lack of Content, as Elite has a BUNCH of content, but because of the long wait of traveling. That's not a good sign of value gameplay for me.
But after playing Fallout 76 by myself and with a friend, I wondered how these games were able to keep me entranced in its loop (even though it's not seen as a good game in the public eye). Then it clicked after I asked myself: "Could you play this game without a fast travel system?"... And I knew that I couldn't...
I took advantage of being able to go from one side of the map to the other, to go to the mission or quest the game set for me, or I set myself. I enjoyed being able to go to players, friends or stores in a few seconds. And sometimes, oddly, I would actually stop fast traveling and just walk... walk throughout the world and truly experience the sheer size of it all. And the reason why the Travel wasn't a Metaphorical Beast to Slay was because I
chose to experience the Travel, and did not
have to.
What I'm saying is, the best games
for me are the ones that give you a choice on how to play it, not the ones that force a playstyle on everyone. Alas, Forced Playstyles will see support because any playstyle can be liked. This Forced Playstyle will, in turn, be defended when criticized because the ones who like it will feel attacked, not knowing that others aren't like them or would even like the Forced Playstyle, if it wasn't forced.
Choice On Playstyles is what makes a game great for me and as Elite has an almost infinite amount, there is one forced playstyle that has become too much to bear.
To summarize: Elite Dangerous was great in the beginning due to its size, and cryptic nature, I would imagine all the things that would come from it, then when things started to be added, I realized how far out of reach it was then how far out of reach the rest of the game was.
Knowing that Forced Space Travel's not going to change has left me with a feeling of sadness as this game has everything I like and one HUGE thing that I don't, but I soon accepted that fact as any change will anger the fanbase, and the fanbase's happiness is what's most important to a game. And as I was a fan of the game, I realize that the direction it's going is not for me, so I can only be disappointed, but also happy as this will bring happiness to others that are playing.
Fly Safe CMDRs, Don't show your fear!
Also, let me know how you feel about Space Travel! would you like to see it changed or not?
