Drew Wagar's Thoughts

[Juniper]

I do laugh because the forum for years asked for feet and when it came all you could hear was NO NOT THIS!!

Because there was so much more they could have done with feet that would make far more sense in an Elite context.

Walking around your ship, fixing things, doing EVAs, exploring caves, helping out a mining operation, exploring stations in depth & finding pirate factions that had taken over parts of the station, etc etc etc. Heck, even running through corridors back to your cockpit whilst your ship is under fire sounds like great gameplay - no matter what certain members of the moderation team might think.

Stuff that actually has some lore written around it - just to bring it back on topic.

So yeah, no. Not this.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

It wasn't Drew, it wasn't you, but like the mod said, we should move on.

BUT I CAN'T, DON'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND!!!

Seriously though, I was waiting for patch 8 (which is, as per Frontier tradition, delayed, if only by a week) and then decide whether I do it or not, I guess I'll have to hover about the place for a little while longer. All the while that little voice in my head suggests to me "wouldn't you want to check out that new SRV at least, eh? EH?". Sigh.

 

[Sighman]

Yeah, which really needs fleshing out and adding depth to - so there aren't 400 billion near-identical places to visit & a relative handful of 'flora' to stand in three places (for some reason that nobody has ever adequately explained) and scan.

Genetic Diversity. It's so well integrated that if you look in the Codex for the species and variety you're looking at, you can see how far you need to travel from one specimen to get suitably diverse second (and third) specimens.

Rule of thumb: the larger the plant, the further you need to travel.

 

[LeoBartlet]

Because there was so much more they could have done with feet that would make far more sense in an Elite context.

Walking around your ship, fixing things, doing EVAs, exploring caves, helping out a mining operation, exploring stations in depth & finding pirate factions that had taken over parts of the station, etc etc etc. Heck, even running through corridors back to your cockpit whilst your ship is under fire sounds like great gameplay - no matter what certain members of the moderation team might think.

Stuff that actually has some lore written around it - just to bring it back on topic.

So yeah, no. Not this.

Just some advice although it's a bit late now perhaps people should manage their expectations better.

I personally for one second think that any of what you listed would come with Odyssey. Perhaps in the future, some of it might come but when they announced it I figured it would be about what we ended up with.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I was waiting for patch 8 (which is, as per Frontier tradition, delayed, if only by a week)

Oh dear... They snuck that one in! Oh well...

 

[Bottom Hat]

Can I not just give @Bottom Hat my stuffz. Not that it's much.

I have no problem with this idea!

 

[Frop]

Oh dear... They snuck that one in! Oh well...

I was about to say, which announcement did I miss this time around?

 

[Rat Catcher]

I was about to say, which announcement did I miss this time around?

tucked in here:

Elite Dangerous Community Schedule W/C 18 October 2021

Greetings Commanders! Let's take a look at what the week ahead has in store for us in the latest community schedule: Tuesday Supercruise News #49: Bruce & Zac will be sharing the latest development insights, as well as the best bits from the community! Wednesday Stellar Screenshots: Found...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Frop]

tucked in here:

Elite Dangerous Community Schedule W/C 18 October 2021

Greetings Commanders! Let's take a look at what the week ahead has in store for us in the latest community schedule: Tuesday Supercruise News #49: Bruce & Zac will be sharing the latest development insights, as well as the best bits from the community! Wednesday Stellar Screenshots: Found...

forums.frontier.co.uk

"Polishing bug fixes". I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean.

 

[Juniper]

Just some advice although it's a bit late now perhaps people should manage their expectations better.

Agreed, although I personally had no expectations for the DLC, having been stung by that one many times previously with this game and this company.

I personally for one second think that any of what you listed would come with Odyssey. Perhaps in the future, some of it might come but when they announced it I figured it would be about what we ended up with.

They had 4 years to make this & a large team of people, and could have done any or all of it, but from a relatively low bar, they still managed to disappoint.

I completely understand Drew's reaction & feelings about this... he feels as disconnected from the game now as I do, hence him announcing he's cutting the umbilical once and for all. It's worth remembering also that FD have since categorically stated they will never do ship interiors, so most of the gameplay options there are gone... as is much hope for better.

It's disappointing, and very sad.

 

[Juniper]

Genetic Diversity. It's so well integrated that if you look in the Codex for the species and variety you're looking at, you can see how far you need to travel from one specimen to get suitably diverse second (and third) specimens.

Rule of thumb: the larger the plant, the further you need to travel.

As I said, nobody has adequately explained it. It's silly, makes zero sense on any level, and just there to annoy the player as far as I can see. At least they dropped the even sillier scanner "game", but after half a year they've yet to replace it with anything else.

 

[Winterwalker]

FD have since categorically stated they will never do ship interiors, so most of the gameplay options there are gone...

Not entirely true. In fact they said there are no plans. Plans might change if a compelling gameplay reason appears but there is a difference. In fact it's honest of them not to leave that idea dangling when it might be a long way off .. so nobody bought Odyssey under any illusion there right?

Walking around your ship, fixing things, doing EVAs, exploring caves, helping out a mining operation, exploring stations in depth & finding pirate factions that had taken over parts of the station, etc etc etc. Heck, even running through corridors back to your cockpit whilst your ship is under fire sounds like great gameplay - no matter what certain members of the moderation team might think.

All compelling gameplay reasons ... but with the obvious addition, that there's nothing in Odyssey that stops you from doing any of them. But you NEED Odyssey .. for ALL of them .. because Odyssey ties you in to the materials you have, suits and tools you own and effects on the BGS any actions might have.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

FD have since categorically stated they will never do ship interiors

Have they really? I always thought they never issue absolute statements and chuck in a "for now" or "not planned at this moment in time" which imo is part of the problem really - leaves too much room for people to keep up any hope (and the longer one hopes for something, the more skewed expectations become).

It's all a bit akin to Dumb & Dumber's "so there is a chance!" meme.



Edit - ninja'd

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Not entirely true. In fact they said there are no plans. Plans might change if a compelling gameplay reason appears but there is a difference. In fact it's honest of them not to leave that idea dangling when it might be a long way off .. so nobody bought Odyssey under any illusion there right?



All compelling gameplay reasons ... but with the obvious addition, that there's nothing in Odyssey that stops you from doing any of them. But you NEED Odyssey .. for ALL of them .. because Odyssey ties you in to the materials you have, suits and tools you own and effects on the BGS any actions might have.

No plans is no plans. In other words - it's very likely not happening. And very, very unlikely to happen. It's just corpspeak to avoid saying that it's not happening. What do you expect? That companies do their business without plans? If they have no plan - it just won't happen. But feel free to wish for a fairy to pull one from her rear.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Not entirely true. In fact they said there are no plans. Plans might change if a compelling gameplay reason appears but there is a difference. In fact it's honest of them not to leave that idea dangling when it might be a long way off .. so nobody bought Odyssey under any illusion there right?



All compelling gameplay reasons ... but with the obvious addition, that there's nothing in Odyssey that stops you from doing any of them. But you NEED Odyssey .. for ALL of them .. because Odyssey ties you in to the materials you have, suits and tools you own and effects on the BGS any actions might have.

Based on track record, "no plans" means it may come later and "not at launch" means never

 

[Frop]

No plans is no plans. In other words - it's very likely not happening. And very, very unlikely to happen. It's just corpspeak to avoid saying that it's not happening. What do you expect? That companies do their business without plans? If they have no plan - it just won't happen. But feel free to wish for a fairy to pull one from her rear.

They still very much have the right to change their minds and their plans accordingly.

 

[ubermick]

I'm still truly - and I mean this genuinely - baffled that people claim that an FPS element "came out of nowhere" in a game where combat was always one of the primary components, and one which people SHOUTED about for years needing more love and attention.

I mean, I get the disappointment about ship interiors, but if we think that the current iteration of on-foot gameplay gets old after a bit what would people have thought about wandering about their ships for months on end, poking in the toilets, and complaining that the flushing mechanic isn't quite right?

It most certainly needs fleshing out, it ABSOLUTELY needs attention in other areas like exploration or mining, but... people honestly are surprised by combat being the foundation?

All those powerplay modules that people have been craving for their ships... Pacifier FRAG CANNONS. Cytoscrambler LASERS. Packhound MISSILES. Enforcer CANNONS. Prismatic SHIELDS. At no point has Yuri Grom said "Yuri like combat (hnrrrr) but Yuri also like exploring so Yuri give people modified DSS (hnrrrr)." Nope, out of the 11 powerplay modules, there's the mining lance that isn't combat specific.

And people are surprised that combat is the initial backbone of Odyssey.

Really?

REALLY?!??!?

 

[Winterwalker]

No plans is no plans. In other words - it's very likely not happening. And very, very unlikely to happen. It's just corpspeak to avoid saying that it's not happening. What do you expect? That companies do their business without plans? If they have no plan - it just won't happen. But feel free to wish for a fairy to pull one from her rear.

Based on track record, "no plans" means it may come later and "not at launch" means never

Or .. as an expansion. Suddenly it's worth their while no?

Only way to guarantee it never happens is bellyache about Odyssey too much and put players off. Which is why Drew is plainly not the fan he says he is. If you think of Elite as a marriage instead, and think it was worth backing at all you get good days, bad days, ups and down, sickness and in health and all that. Surely you just keep your mouth shut - and hope for better - rather than start twirling your handbag about?

 

[Juniper]

Not entirely true. In fact they said there are no plans. Plans might change if a compelling gameplay reason appears but there is a difference. In fact it's honest of them not to leave that idea dangling when it might be a long way off .. so nobody bought Odyssey under any illusion there right?

Well, I suppose I could mention the Kickstarter here, and Braben's dev diaries where he explicitly said you would be able to walk around your ship, and that this was the time I effectively bought Odyssey with their "lifetime expansion pass", but... what would be the point?

All compelling gameplay reasons ... but with the obvious addition, that there's nothing in Odyssey that stops you from doing any of them. But you NEED Odyssey .. for ALL of them .. because Odyssey ties you in to the materials you have, suits and tools you own and effects on the BGS any actions might have.

Without ship interiors, much of it is moot or irrelevant. And "no plans" means they're not doing it - they said they couldn't see the gameplay value. These are professional game developers who do this for a living... and yet, I listed a half dozen potential possibilities for gameplay with ship interiors and I'm just a layman, so...

Of course it may change, and at that point colour me interested, but I'm holding out zero hope is what I'm saying.

 

[DøømHåmstër]

"Polishing bug fixes". I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean.

Hopefully it means ensuring their new bug fixes don't unfix their previous big fixes. Fingers crossed.