Frontier's release plan is genius

znôrt

znôrt
Quantis Trap said:
Not sure what you mean by "will be 30% of horizons".
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i boldly predict that sales of oddyssey during the whole launch window will be a third of the sales of horizons, which were a third of the sales of the base game.

my rationale is that horizons was a huge leap from base with huge promise but still sold bad compared to the base game (which sold splendidly), and oddyssey is nowhere near such a paradigm shift nor has it as much value as horizons had. even if they had done really outstanding work on planetary tech (which i hope), i don't think that will attract the masses like the initial hype did.

also both releases are 'incomplete' and this time around frontier already has a reputation in that regard that is far from good, so this will have an additional toll on sales.

finally, it appears frontier strategy plays on foot fps being a popular genre yet fails to take into account the huge competition in that field, which simply blows oddyssey out of the water in every aspect. only a hardcore elite fan will look at oddyssey with the indulgence we have seen here on the forum, the only thing that oddyssey has really going for itself is the "elite" fandom loyalty.

of course i might be totally wrong ;-) time will tell!
 

Deleted member 38366

D
If anything, Horizons Players and Consoles get to keep functional User Interfaces - whereas for Odyssey Players..... well, a proverbial Odyssey of fighting some of the new UIs will begin.

Just looking at the System Map in Odyssey.... lol OMG. During Alpha, I thought the Galaxy Map was bad - but then the System Map easily took the cake for "worst UI design award".
(seeing Carrier Pearl strings infesting the new System Maps just like the old ones just added bitter irony to it all :D )

Anyway, looking forward with mixed feelings to "PC Beta 1.0" that'll commence on 19th.
But as others said, having several months of PC Beta Testing should provide invaluable feedback for the actual Release 1.0 down the line when all platforms get the real thing.
 

lysan

lysan
Chrystoph said:
You forgot that the current "release" let them cash grab right before fiscal year end...
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I really don't see that as a bad thing? as long as the game is good and you can enjoy your time spend there, who cares if they profit from it, it's a business not a philanthropical experiment.
 

LKx

L
m0rl0ck said:
It really is genius. Splitting the player base to increase want for Odyssey. Marketing hype for three releases of the same product. Getting players to pay to do alpha testing for them and a paid PC beta.
I thought about it for a minute and i cant think of any way they could have squeezed more profit out of the Odyssey release. Im no marketing expert, but i cant think of a single trick they missed.

With marketing genius like this, im not really sure that you need a good product, almost makes me want to buy some Frontier stock.
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I'd say that it's more damage control than marketing, and they are quite good at it.
 

[VR] Bac Ho

[VR] Bac Ho
znôrt said:
i boldly predict that sales of oddyssey during the whole launch window will be a third of the sales of horizons, which were a third of the sales of the base game.

my rationale is that horizons was a huge leap from base with huge promise but still sold bad compared to the base game (which sold splendidly), and oddyssey is nowhere near such a paradigm shift nor has it as much value as horizons had. even if they had done really outstanding work on planetary tech (which i hope), i don't think that will attract the masses like the initial hype did.

also both releases are 'incomplete' and this time around frontier already has a reputation in that regard that is far from good, so this will have an additional toll on sales.

finally, it appears frontier strategy plays on foot fps being a popular genre yet fails to take into account the huge competition in that field, which simply blows oddyssey out of the water in every aspect. only a hardcore elite fan will look at oddyssey with the indulgence we have seen here on the forum, the only thing that oddyssey has really going for itself is the "elite" fandom loyalty.

of course i might be totally wrong ;-) time will tell!
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What he said above, especially this "finally, it appears frontier strategy plays on foot fps being a popular genre yet fails to take into account the huge competition in that field, which simply blows oddyssey out of the water in every aspect. only a hardcore elite fan will look at oddyssey with the indulgence we have seen here on the forum".
 

Dagwit

Dagwit
For me, keeping Odyssey and Horizons separate means I'll still have something to play if Odyssey becomes unplayably unstable due to some game-breaking bug.

This is, in my opinion, a sensible decision which Frontier have probably made with great reluctance. I doubt it's the result of some cunning plan - unless Frontier have a dev called Baldrick.
 
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Dagwit

Dagwit
Rat Catcher said:
I can hardly wait until 20th December, then the announcement being made that there will be no inclusion of new tech in Horizons and the two clients are to be split forever...
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What I'm waiting for is the announcement that "We're sorry, we've really tried, but there's just no way we can make the new planet tech deliver acceptable performance on last-gen consoles."

I remember a livestream a few years ago when one of the devs admitted that the challenge in completing the burning stations scenario was coming up with something that would run on consoles - I don't remember clearly if he singled out the PS4 by name, but that was the gist.

I suspect the additional delay before console launch isn't just a matter of completing the work but of continuing to try to figure out how to.

PC player as I am, I'll still be very happy to be proved wrong.
 

BL1P

BL1P
Dagwit said:
What I'm waiting for is the announcement that "We're sorry, we've really tried, but there's just no way we can make the new planet tech deliver acceptable performance on last-gen consoles."

I remember a livestream a few years ago when one of the devs admitted that the challenge in completing the burning stations scenario was coming up with something that would run on consoles - I don't remember clearly if he singled out the PS4 by name, but that was the gist.

I suspect the additional delay before console launch isn't just a matter of completing the work but of continuing to try to figure out how to.

PC player as I am, I'll still be very happy to be proved wrong.
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Hmm why not do what they did with PC and say, sorry the requirements have increased you now need the newer stuff.
 

Dagwit

Dagwit
BL1P said:
Hmm why not do what they did with PC and say, sorry the requirements have increased you now need the newer stuff.
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Because management are insistent that Odyssey should be available to the vast market of last-gen console console owner.

What management wants and what devs can deliver are not always perfectly aligned.
 

Northpin

Northpin
Dagwit said:
Because management are insistent that Odyssey should be available to the vast market of last-gen console console owner.

What management wants and what devs can deliver is not always perfectly aligned.
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They can meet in the middle in 6 months.
In the mean time - i just hope EDO sells good enough they get to release a native version for the new consoles.
 

Juniper

Juniper
Quantis Trap said:
If I understand correctly the plan which Frontier has explained in the last few days, I think it's genius!

Here's why:
  1. Separating the Horizons client from instancing the Odyssey client lets commanders who have not bought Odyssey and don't need the features, be insulated from a lot of the new bugs and server instabilities.
  2. Frontier can call the release in the 19th a full release and yet still benefit, ALMOST AS IT WERE A BETA, from testing and comparison of differences the existing client and the new client have.
  3. Previously Frontier (Arf) had said that Horizons and Odyssey commanders would not instance together (because of the PEGI rating excuse), but now they are going to allow it at the time of the console release. If true, It's wonderful news!
  4. It gives commanders who haven't purchased Odyssey plenty of time to watch the DLC's progress get better and decide of they want to buy it.
  5. ...
I may be wrong on details, but the way I understand it now, applaud the decision!
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If it's a beta, call it a beta. Call it 'early access'. Call it anything other than a full release - which is basically dishonest and misleading. And we all know the only reason they're doing it is because of their fiscal year end.

I'm not applauding that, sorry. 🤷‍♀️
 

ZeeWolf

ZeeWolf
Juniper said:
If it's a beta, call it a beta. Call it 'early access'. Call it anything other than a full release - which is basically dishonest and misleading. And we all know the only reason they're doing it is because of their fiscal year end.

I'm not applauding that, sorry. 🤷‍♀️
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What is the advantage to you as a consumer if developers do that? You are still paying for it, it just gives them less accountability as a developer as "alpha" and "beta" stuff isn't reviewed has no support and a general expectation of low quality.

It's like buying under cooked food that has "under cooked" written on it, does that make it ok?
 

Alex Korr V

Alex Korr V
If on top of this they've tested the most concerning parts in alpha, got previously bloated expectations to the lowest possible level, so release version will kinda amaze everyone - that is a smart expectations management with underpromising and overdelivering, and then it is indeed genius from game management perspective.
 
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