OA's latest on future story.

[The Lawful]

Well, Blaze Your Own Trail it was from the start on, wasn't it?

Elite is a sandbox game. The story is optional. My personal guess was that they waited for the consoles to continue with it, but who knows.

I strongly believe Odyssey still has some great things under the hood, story-wise, on-foot Thargoid battles only one of them.

Btw I wonder what people would have said when Wing Commander came out and required an i386DX@33Mhz which nobody had at the time, and even then only providing 24fps if lucky. 25 missions to the final battle. 4 ships. Same as with Wing Commander III. But still it was epic

O7,

 

[DrinkyBird]

We've had a "thargoid" symbol for a type of mission that never appear in Odyssey, ever since release. Claiming Thargoid are planned for ground is hardly the most dangerous bet possible

But... it never existed on-foot. Not even during the alpha.

It only exists in the ship missions menu, where it is used. This system is undergoing an incursion, so there are AX combat missions available, which were added in v3.3(?).

Of course, I do also think on-foot Thargoids are inevitable... but this ain't why.

 

[Rubbernuke]

But... it never existed on-foot. Not even during the alpha.
View attachment 300962

It only exists in the ship missions menu, where it is used. This system is undergoing an incursion, so there are AX combat missions available.
View attachment 300963
View attachment 300964

I'm...I'm not scared, honest

 

[zimms]

Absolutely hilarious how "discuss the post, not the poster" goes completely out of window when a person has uploaded a video on the internet.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Absolutely hilarious how "discuss the post, not the poster" goes completely out of window when a person has uploaded a video on the internet.

It is the forum... This is the way.

 

[zombieapocalypse]

Absolutely hilarious how "discuss the post, not the poster" goes completely out of window when a person has uploaded a video on the internet.

Technically, unless the creator posts the video on the forums themselves, then they're not actually the poster. And I believe that's the case here

 

[Rubbernuke]

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-iwgnil2Y0


I guess this sample was an reminder on why elite was so appealing in the first place.

The curiosity is how did this amazing theme turned into a clone of mass effect andromeda? It should be interesting to see the colorful suits and bubble guns merge into this. Without changing odd they'll probably have to give thargoids blue skin.

Also for the people who only joined in Odd and Beyond, when this was the latest patches in elite, you can imagine how the feeling in the air around elite was very different

Depends really- what ED needs is less chummy stuff and content closer to the dystopian capitalist hell hole endangered by two alien races whose motives are not clear. Its starting to move in that direction but it needs moar across the board, using EDs strengths like the BGS to ratchet up the consequences.

 

[TrollhunterX]

I'm under the impression that FD was holding back on advancing the Thargoid storyline because of all the issues they were having trying to port Odyssey to consoles. Now that they've admitted that they just cannot do it, I'm hoping they can push this all forward (which is what I believe OA was hoping would happen). There have been hints here and there about signals and such pointing to a star system in the COL 70 Sector. It was as if they were trying to lead us in that direction but had to wait for Console updates to take place.

I do feel bad for console players, but at the same time I'm hopeful that FD can now move forward with the Thargoid story, possibly different types of planets to land on, etc. They only need to concentrate on PC development at this point, so it's just a case of raw computing power in the development department. Now, since FD only needs to concentrate on just one platform, it's time to put 4 pips to computing.

But only after the console to PC transfers have been sorted out, right?

Right..?


Nah, just kidding...

 

[Leadfoot]

There is no future for elite... DOOM!!!!one11!!

I'll hazard a guess that OA's video is the normal fence sitting, which is not an issue, but as he is at least a uninformed as anyone else outside of the decision makers at frontier, the best he might do is consider what might be, without - at any point - giving the impression that 'something specific' will come to pass.

He's amicable enough, for sure, but that is all.

Well, I know he was a HUGE fan of this game when it first came out and we all enjoyed his videos then. Hell how many of us have a space station named after us? I'm still waiting for mine to show up in the Ford Galaxy in Elite 2 when it's released.

He did have a chance to visit FD's offices (with a few other people) and had an opportunity to see what they were working on. He did have to sign a NDA, though, so he can't even hint what MIGHT be coming up. I'd say he knows what they WANTED to do and sees what they were UNABLE to do but since there's an NDA in that mixture, he can't just come out and say it directly.

He's dancing on an eggshell here in these trying times.

The story started up again in September 2020, at a time when Odyssey was going to be released in December 2020 (or maybe it had been announced as early 2021?). Then it slipped to mid-2021, then mid-2021 (consoles autumn 2021), then consoles sometime later, then finally just now consoles never.

Capabilities that they expected to have for in-game events by a particular date have probably repeatedly failed to arrive.

Yup, and once again, no battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.

But only after the console to PC transfers have been sorted out, right?
Right..?
Nah, just kidding...

I hold nothing against Console users. I think them being left out of Odyssey was poorly planned but sometimes reality has other ideas and we have to adjust. And yes, I think there should be transfers for those requesting them. After all, they bought their ticket, they should get the ride. Why leave THOSE players out of all the fun of getting their brains eaten by a Thargoid queen after mating (with no re-buy if that happens)?

 

[Rat Catcher]

He's dancing on an eggshell here in these trying times.

As are any of the streamers who add commentary. It must be incredibly difficult to make a 'news' type stream when the only news is 'nothing new to share'!

He did have a chance to visit FD's offices (with a few other people) and had an opportunity to see what they were working on. He did have to sign a NDA, though, so he can't even hint what MIGHT be coming up. I'd say he knows what they WANTED to do and sees what they were UNABLE to do but since there's an NDA in that mixture, he can't just come out and say it directly.

Indeed, the whole group who visited may have seen 'stuff' related to EDO, so know what, if anything, remains on the cutting-room floor, and are unable to comment. But had their hands not been tied by NDA and that same stuff left out had been mentioned...

I don't envy their situation, hence my comment of sitting on the fence, what may or may not be in the future of the game is unknown to any but the decision makers, and they aren't sharing!

 

[Erei]

Depends really- what ED needs is less chummy stuff and content closer to the dystopian capitalist hell hole endangered by two alien races whose motives are not clear. Its starting to move in that direction but it needs moar across the board, using EDs strengths like the BGS to ratchet up the consequences.

I never liked fighting thargoids. They are too nice. They don't attack you unless you attack first. Or dangle the rest of one of their starship/hated enemy in front of them. Even if you steal their meta alloy, they just whine but don't attack AFAIK.
Really don't feel like a real threat to humanity....

But perhaps it's intended, I mean it goes well with the dystopian stuff, where humanity is the one attacking first and then play the victim card to genocide the aliens for profit.

 

[Rubbernuke]

I never liked fighting thargoids. They are too nice. They don't attack you unless you attack first. Or dangle the rest of one of their starship/hated enemy in front of them. Even if you steal their meta alloy, they just whine but don't attack AFAIK.
Really don't feel like a real threat to humanity....

But perhaps it's intended, I mean it goes well with the dystopian stuff, where humanity is the one attacking first and then play the victim card to genocide the aliens for profit.

I always wanted the Thargoids to be this ever present menace sweeping closer and closer to the bubble- so you'd always have a front line of systems, AX fighting there, opportunities in occupied systems for smuggling etc or people running off. For those players squealing about "bububutuubutIdon't fight' you don't have to, just stay away and hope the bubble does not shrink. Then you have to save whats important as the Goids squeeze humanity- so none of this CG like false choice, everything is driven by circumstance.

With that you then bring in the Guardians, who eventually reveal themselves but wind up being as genocidal as the Thargoids- so you have to choose who to support or leg it. On top of that have the mega powerful Thargoid and Guardian tech in ships, but, depending on what you have are targeted by the opposite number.

 

[Koben]

The Thargoid story was gathering pace then suddenly stopped.
It may save this game to advance onwards as the big story no longer exists.

New slogan for ED:O... "mothballing through space"

 

[Rainbro]

But perhaps it's intended, I mean it goes well with the dystopian stuff, where humanity is the one attacking first and then play the victim card to genocide the aliens for profit.

Yup. It became a whole lot more obvious when Sirius got involved, but that's always been the way. My favourite is when Aegis built a bunch of stations in occupied Thargoid territory, filled them with looted Thargoid tech (which broadcast signals back home), and then launched several massive massacre operations out of one of them.

Shortly afterwards, that station and a bunch of other Aegis stations then got attacked by Thargoids for no discernable reason I especially love this quote:

It is currently unclear why the pertinent starports were targeted by the Thargoids, but Aegis is investigating the issue.

It sounds like it's a bug in their issue tracker. Working as intended, though.

 

[DemiserofD]

It’s always bugged me that we can flounce around the galaxy with no shields or weapons. Explorers should always be on guard in a galaxy where there are hostile aliens, but there’s no threat unless you’re looking for it.

The trouble is, explorers are usually as stripped down as they can get, while combat ships are exponentially more durable. If you wanted a fair challenge for explorers, they'd have to be pretty pathetic to everyone else.

 

[DemiserofD]

That's because the game mechanics favours min/maxing. Like everyone else, I have a dedicated, stripped back, exploration ship but if there was an actual threat from Thargoids we would have to make different compromises and, IMO, that would make shipbuilding more interesting as we each choose where we want to compromise.

That being said, we all play the game we have. I just think they've missed a trick not making the galaxy a little more, well, Dangerous.

I wouldn't want to give up one type of content in favor of another, that said, I'd be in favor of having some section of the galaxy be dangerous for exploration.

If they ever opened up a portal to one of those extra-galactic clusters, it would be cool if it were extremely dangerous to explore.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I wouldn't want to give up one type of content in favor of another, that said, I'd be in favor of having some section of the galaxy be dangerous for exploration.

If they ever opened up a portal to one of those extra-galactic clusters, it would be cool if it were extremely dangerous to explore.

As an explorer, I'd be all for exploration being more dangerous IF there was a concomitant reward for exposing oneself to the danger. Exploration is currently exactly the same if you're 50 LY outside the Bubble or 50,000 LY - and frankly that's just silly.
Also note: Danger shouldn't only be about 'aliens with guns', because again, that's just the same stuff as in the Bubble but with a differently shaped enemy ship.

 

[Erei]

I'm not sure about that "exploring should be dangerous". The other activities are also quite specialized.

Also, fighting Thargoid is such a different experience than fighting a random pirate NPC, you can't really have a multipurpose build. Scouts might be OK with a non dedicated ship, but good luck fighting an interceptor with a non dedicated build.

It would also be a real pain for lower tier explo ship. While an anaconda can fit both combat and exploration module, an aspX or a DBX will struggle. What do you remove ? The landing bay ? The DSS ? The FSD booster ?

Finally, combat far from civilization will be even more dangerous than anywhere else. A canopy breach is death out there, unless you can have a FC come and pick you up for repairs. And then, there is still the subject of repair and rearming. There is none out there in the black. You WILL run out eventually. Unless you have a FC, but features like that shouldn't be balanced with FC in mind.


Overall, it would make for a much more dangerous combat experience than actually looking for combat in the bubble. Which is not the point of exploring.

 

[Jack Winter]

As long as there's only plant life, that might be hard. Maybe they could do environmental dangers, like sand storms, flash floods, fire, avalanches, rock falls, quicksand, or terrain that collapses.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I'm not sure about that "exploring should be dangerous". The other activities are also quite specialized.

Also, fighting Thargoid is such a different experience than fighting a random pirate NPC, you can't really have a multipurpose build. Scouts might be OK with a non dedicated ship, but good luck fighting an interceptor with a non dedicated build.

It would also be a real pain for lower tier explo ship. While an anaconda can fit both combat and exploration module, an aspX or a DBX will struggle. What do you remove ? The landing bay ? The DSS ? The FSD booster ?

Finally, combat far from civilization will be even more dangerous than anywhere else. A canopy breach is death out there, unless you can have a FC come and pick you up for repairs. And then, there is still the subject of repair and rearming, there is none out there in the black. You WILL run out eventually.


Overall, it would make for a much more dangerous combat experience than actually looking for combat in the bubble. Which is not the point of exploring.

This is why 'danger' shouldn't just mean 'aliens with guns' - because SSDD.

That said, the AspX and the DBX both have hardpoints, so having a reason to use them wouldn't be entirely unreasonable.

Ditch the FSD booster, obviously. It's not mandatory for exploration.