ANNOUNCEMENT Community Update (22/10)

[Skip Rockbounder]

Video games are fun entertainment to me so belief isn't really relevant.

So, you're not up for all that 'murshun' then,

Do you have any new arguments to present?

'That's not how real life works' seems a bit vague.

Well, I'd guess NO! but he is making a good case to FDev to go on their 'friends' list

 

[Riverside]

Well, I'd guess NO!

I'm not being persuaded to change my mind, I am not trying to change anyone's mind. But I do feel it's necessary to clarify misconceptions about my stance when I spot them.

 

[Riverside]

Dunno why this sounds to me like the right question from the wrong person. The grandmaster of repetition...

I don't really want to have to keep clarifying my position either. I don't think it's that hard to understand but that's not how real life works I guess, so here I am, once again having to spend time politely clarifying.

 

[sollisb]

I don't imply anything. Don't try to put words in my mouth or try to twist around what I might have written. English is not my native language, nevertheless I recognize clumsy attemps to do so.

You stated the engine was not the problem. There's not a lot left to blame now is there? The fault lies with either the engine or those using that engine to create the game. As you claimed it's not the engine....

 

[Stigbob]

So, you're not up for all that 'murshun' then,

Within reason, depends on the game. I don't like the look of cartoon games like NMS but I'm not bothered by things like remote presence.

Dunno why this sounds to me like the right question from the wrong person. The grandmaster of repetition...

That would be Rafe Zetter, he spent six years groaning that ED wasn't made to his personal specifications.

 

[Stigbob]

You stated the engine was not the problem. There's not a lot left to blame now is there? The fault lies with either the engine or those using that engine to create the game. As you claimed it's not the engine....

Are you Ian Bell ?.

Exactly. And that's your good right of course. We all have opinions and we all make the sometimes bitter experience that this opinion won't be accepted. But up to now I've yet to make the experience that a frequently expressed opinion would have gone to anywhere. That is, as you already so wisely stated, not how real life works. There is a fine line that distinct clarifying from repetition.

Its the "are we there yet" approach.

 

[Eliza]

You stated the engine was not the problem. There's not a lot left to blame now is there? The fault lies with either the engine or those using that engine to create the game. As you claimed it's not the engine....

Hey...that's correct. But does this automatically imply that's a team's fault? Maybe it's the mashine one is running? or some borked drivers (yes, not only Elite is borked, imagine), or there're simply to many threads running or browsertabs open with forums where one can be salty, or WHATEVER!!!

But it's understandable that it's convinient to blame the teams...sure...

 

[Diagbar]

Greetings Commanders,

Following the launch of the September Update last month, we’d like to provide you all with an update on our plans for Elite Dangerous.

Firstly, thank you for all of your feedback on the September Update, which you've shared with us on the forums, across social media, on livestreams and through the Issue Tracker. There is no doubt that, in addition to the new features, the September Update introduced a number of issues and bugs which caused a lot of frustration. We are really sorry for these issues. We realise that some of the issues had an impact on your ability to enjoy Elite Dangerous. The team have been working hard to address the most critical issues and have already released a series of patches and updates to bring those fixes in as quickly as possible.

However, we know there's more to be done. You've asked for more focus on existing bug/fixes and issues, and for the community to be better integrated into the development process and testing for these upcoming updates.

In order to improve your overall experience, we have decided to refocus our efforts on addressing key issues and bugs. Since the launch of the September Update, we've been taking a deeper look at our internal development roadmap, the way in which we utilise public betas, and the content of our next updates.

Here is a summary of our plans:

• From now and into next year (2020), the updates will focus almost exclusively on addressing recent and longstanding issues, including those reported in the Issue Tracker, ultimately making the game better.
• We are expecting to have a series of these updates, which will be rolled out (approximately) every three to four months.
• Each update will also include a public beta that will run prior to the update's release, with a dedicated time to address major issues that appear.
• The first of these updates will have its public beta in December, with an expectation that the launch will be early in 2020.

As a result of our updated plans, we have made the difficult decision to defer the release of Fleet Carriers. We are now planning for Fleet Carriers to be released in an update in the second quarter of 2020, rather than in December 2019 as previously stated. This will grant us additional time to refine the feature as well as focusing time on addressing existing reported issues. It will also ensure the state of the game is in a better position to introduce Fleet Carriers, that will provide Commanders even more opportunities to interact with the Milky Way. We understand that this delay will be disappointing for some players, but do know that this decision is one that we do not take lightly, and is made with the best interests of the community and game at heart.

Ultimately, we are confident that this will improve the Elite Dangerous experience for all our players.

The team have been hard at work on the next major milestone, which you may remember we mentioned back in March as our next major paid addition to the game. They’re making fantastic progress and on schedule for release by the end of next year. We are very excited to show you what we’ve been working on. However, we can only announce the content when it’s at the right stage of development, we estimate this will be ready to talk about at some time in summer 2020, after the Fleet Carriers update. We appreciate there is a bit of a wait, but we want to make sure it is ready to be shown before making our full official announcement to the world.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing and continued support and for helping give us the feedback, steer and insight to make decisions that will benefit the entire community and for your continued passion and dedication.

you know, I looked at this awesome performance that the guys from Blizzard prepared (you probably too),
all these announcements, wow - shadowlands, Diablo 4, overwatch 2 and so on and admired that they are not afraid to talk about their projects a year or more before the release and I really see that Blizzard is working on its projects.
on the other hand, you are starving the community with information hunger, so it’s not very easy to believe that you at least have begun to develop your mythical “new era”.
you know, now I have only one question in my head.
if they can do that, why not you?

 

[Stigbob]

you know, I looked at this awesome performance that the guys from Blizzard prepared (you probably too),
all these announcements, wow - shadowlands, Diablo 4, overwatch 2 and so on and admired that they are not afraid to talk about their projects a year or more before the release and I really see that Blizzard is working on its projects.
on the other hand, you are starving the community with information hunger, so it’s not very easy to believe that you at least have begun to develop your mythical “new era”.
you know, now I have only one question in my head.
if they can do that, why not you?

Blizzards a behemoth.

Also one of the defining characteristics of a lot of the ED fanbase is a near total inability to cope with any change or delay. Its not so much the mushroom treatment as it is keeping the sharp knives out of reach.

 

[Stigbob]

Do you have any new arguments to present?

'That's not how real life works' seems a bit vague.

You don't understand what an LEP is, so its a bit pointless.

 

[Diagbar]

Blizzards a behemoth.

Also one of the defining characteristics of a lot of the ED fanbase is a near total inability to cope with any change or delay. Its not so much the mushroom treatment as it is keeping the sharp knives out of reach.

well, my bewilderment is not due to the fact that blizzard can announce several projects at a time, but fd doesn’t, that’s all clear. What surprises me more is why FD cannot announce anything even for the same elite. it’s only a year before the expected release (12 months, 365 days) and they still have nothing to say ?. I do not understand this.

 

[Skip Rockbounder]

Within reason, depends on the game. I don't like the look of cartoon games like NMS but I'm not bothered by things like remote presence.

NMS is one of those things I've avoided because of the cartoon look, but on the other hand I have tons of hours on TF2, so I guess it's the gameplay that comes with it for me!

 

[Eliza]

well, my bewilderment is not due to the fact that blizzard can announce several projects at a time, but fd doesn’t, that’s all clear. What surprises me more is why FD cannot announce anything even for the same elite. it’s only a year before the expected release (12 months, 365 days) and they still have nothing to say ?. I do not understand this.

Quite simple (but a bit of speculation though), FDev learned from the past. They announced something (e.g. Ice Planets, FC) and than the community went crazy about that, speculating the blue out of the sky and then went to riot, when the delay was announced. THAT's why they keep silent unless they're ABSOLUTLY sure, they can deliver.

Again...the community is like a wife (not me though ): If you say something, it's wrong. If you remain silent, it's wrong. So where's the point?

 

[Stigbob]

well, my bewilderment is not due to the fact that blizzard can announce several projects at a time, but fd doesn’t, that’s all clear. What surprises me more is why FD cannot announce anything even for the same elite. it’s only a year before the expected release (12 months, 365 days) and they still have nothing to say ?. I do not understand this.

Zack explained it somewhere. They don't charge a sub so unit sales are how they make cash from ED. The new expansion is a really big deal for them with a lot of cash/time invested so they'll follow a very careful marketing plan.

Based on what they've done in the past I'm expecting a cinematic trailer before a Christmas blockbuster movie in winter 2020 coupled with a lot of gaming press coverage.

If they tell us what's coming they'll get less bang for their marketing buck as no reason to publicize it in the gaming press, plus a load of grief if they need to jiggle dates or content or both.

They have nothing to gain at all by telling us and very convincing reasons not to, the primary one being ED's profitability.

 

[Diagbar]

Quite simple (but a bit of speculation though), FDev learned from the past. They announced something (e.g. Ice Planets, FC) and than the community went crazy about that, speculating the blue out of the sky and then went to riot, when the delay was announced. THAT's why they keep silent unless they're ABSOLUTLY sure, they can deliver.

Again...the community is like a wife (not me though ): If you say something, it's wrong. If you remain silent, it's wrong. So where's the point?

right? hmm ... according to the experience of other companies, it would be most correct to say "look, we are working on this, this, this and this, but, keep in mind everything can change."

 

[Eliza]

right? hmm ... according to the experience of other companies, it would be most correct to say "look, we are working on this, this, this and this, but, keep in mind everything can change."

Yeah! I can clearly see into the future:

FDev: "Hey...for "New Era" we're PLANNING Spacelegs and Athmospheric planets..."
After "New Era"-Release the community: "But you PROMISED SpaceLegs and Athmo-Planets!!!1eleven!"

Simply great.

 

[Diagbar]

the primary one being ED's profitability.

I basically agree, perhaps, not so much with ED as the sale of in-game cosmetic items at the frontierstore, but this is actually not the same

 

[Diagbar]

Yeah! I can clearly see into the future:

FDev: "Hey...for "New Era" we're PLANNING Spacelegs and Athomospheric planets..."
After "New Era"-Release the community: "But you PROMISED SpaceLegs and Athmo-Planets!!!1eleven!"

Simply great.

a bit wrong, see how it works. I will demonstrate now.
Fdev - hey, look, we want to release space legs and atmosphere in the "new era", yes! look, this is what we get (provide a few screenshots) but note, we are not sure that everything will turn out the way we want.
community after release - hey, you promised us !!!
Fdev - Nope, we warned you, you had to read carefully

 

[Eliza]

a bit wrong, see how it works. I will demonstrate now.
Fdev - hey, look, we want to release space legs and atmosphere in the "new era", yes! look, this is what we get (provide a few screenshots) but note, we are not sure that everything will turn out the way we want.
community after release - hey, you promised us !!!
Fdev - Nope, we warned you, you had to read carefully

Would be great if it would conclude to this. But communication is hard. "We", the community, will ALWAYS ignore the last statement.
Best proof is THIS thread.

 

[Diagbar]

Would be great if it would come conclude to this. But communication is hard. "We", the community, will ALWAYS ignore the last statement.
Best proof is THIS thread.

Well, as I said, you can always say "we warned, go read it carefully." I'm eagerly looking for any new information both on the forum and on reddit and on Twitter, and its absence (with the exception of similar community update, in which there is zero useful information) is frustrating.