400+ Billion Stars but to what end?

[xtridence]

Either way, I was more interested in how players will utilize or respond to a near endless playground and whether or not they think there is such a thing as "too much". I hardly was aiming my question toward any type of player or fan specifically and welcome all insight.

22 players on a soccer field. The soccer field is 400km² huge. Is it a different game just because it's bigger?

Please, specify what to use that "playground" for, if not to grind commodities, non-bound PVE and occassional PVP? Well, sorry, or "exploring" what the same couple of balls just in different colours?

You're flying to the stars, right? Well, if I dream about flying to the stars, I'd have this things in my head:

A.) Earth Clone
B.) Breath it's air
C.) Discover new metals / organic components
D.) New plants to be discovered and used to... replace 2000kcal a day!
E.) Set up a station on that planetary ground, offering slaves a place to live
F.) Set up a space station in order to re-destribute stuff
G.) Get financial subvention from my faction in order to set up those things or to leave it in charge of them

BUT

Colonization is A.) randomized and B.) you'll always get the same bullcrap out of a generated station as from all others.

Point of it?

Be more specific.

In my opinion, in a place where it's so hard to earn a few bucks in the beginning, with really NO kind of economical turbulences which actually AFFECT an entire constellation...

Nothing we've to talk about.

Humans have been always looking out for the stars, because of curiosity. Not because of looking at a gas giant, but rather because of looking for alternatives to make their lifes more comfortable.

Because, maybe you didn't know, but it's scientifically proven the human race is a high profile and - under circumstances - self destructive parasite, which will most probably crowd together and then ONLY leave shortly before the host dies.

 

[N-Zed]

In a way, yes, in a way not. Personally I'm an explorer who just loves the 400 billion stars and who doesn't give squat about power struggles.

I am actually in the same boat you are Anikaiful, I like the concept of exploring. I like the idea of there being a vast untapped SOMETHING out there to experience, and see and all that. I just think, as it is, the number of places to go is so vast (duh) to render the journey almost unfathomable. I am purposefully fence sitting on this topic to see what people have to say about it. I don't think the PG assets, being copied and pasted over and over with no unique character is a great way to entice players to go out to the fringe - but then it IS a sandbox that allows players to do it. And that is good!

It feels lot like a common problem other "open world" type games suffer from - a lot of samey nothing, with the thrill being able to get to it. I pose the question - is it better to have it all with nothing in it except what you bring to it, or a more dense area with more to do game play wise?

I leave the forum open for debate but I am not looking to offend any one here. Your reasons are yours to support and likewise for those who don't agree yes?

 

[ket halpak]

I think some people are just a bit upset that they can't do X, Y or Z and so brand it as bad.

I'm currently building a house IRL. It has taken years for me to get to the point where it is currently being constructed and I would very much like to live in it ASAP as a 3 bedroom house will provide me with more freedom than my small 1 bedroom apartment currently does. Why do I bring this up? Well software design is a lot like building a house.

You can't live in a house unless you have solid foundations, walls and a roof (as well as power/water/plumbing, I'm in a first world nation after all). Once you have those you can live in the house quite comfortably. It provides its basic function of shelter, space for activities etc but not much else. I'll have to furnish it once I move in for more specialised activities, do the landscaping, paint the walls, spa and whatever else floats my goat.

It would be foolish for me to buy a spa and install that before the walls go up, it would be useless, a waste of money and time and will just will just get in the way of the initial construction.

Elite is currently at the stage of basic construction being completed and the residents having just moved in. Sure we have all this open space and a few tools, but what we do with it until we get some more work done is up to us.

 

[Kars Vandor]

to have any player visit any star in the galaxy by your math, means 12,000 players if they are all explorers, will map the galaxy in a year. I'm all for it.

Fermi's paradox writ large. except we can travel at translight speeds. so we will go and colonize.

I like the implications.

 

[N-Zed]

22 players on a soccer field. The soccer field is 400km² huge. Is it a different game just because it's bigger?

Please, specify what to use that "playground" for, if not to grind commodities, non-bound PVE and occassional PVP? Well, sorry, or "exploring" what the same couple of balls just in different colours?

You're flying to the stars, right? Well, if I dream about flying to the stars, I'd have this things in my head:

A.) Earth Clone
B.) Breath it's air
C.) Discover new metals / organic components
D.) New plants to be discovered and used to... replace 2000kcal a day!
E.) Set up a station on that planetary ground, offering slaves a place to live
F.) Set up a space station in order to re-destribute stuff
G.) Get financial subvention from my faction in order to set up those things or to leave it in charge of them

BUT

Colonization is A.) randomized and B.) you'll always get the same bullcrap out of a generated station as from all others.

Point of it?

Be more specific.

In my opinion, in a place where it's so hard to earn a few bucks in the beginning, with really NO kind of economical turbulences which actually AFFECT an entire constellation...

Nothing we've to talk about.

Humans have been always looking out for the stars, because of curiosity. Not because of looking at a gas giant, but rather because of looking for alternatives to make their lifes more comfortable.

Because, maybe you didn't know, but it's scientifically proven the human race is a high profile and - under circumstances - self destructive parasite, which will ONLY leave it's Wirt shortly before it dies.

I'm sorry, did I say something that offended you in some way? Or were those questions more rhetorical than directed solely at me? I am not sure what you'd like me to say however I do agree with you that spanning out too far with no real link between what the player does and what the actual game world does is a little deflating were a game is concerned. I am getting that a lot of the draw to ED is actually not the game itself or what it demands, but rather the feeling of freedom it is giving players.

What did I say exactly that put you off?

 

[xtridence]

Elite is currently at the stage of basic construction being completed and the residents having just moved in. Sure we have all this open space and a few tools, but what we do with it until we get some more work done is up to us.

Imagine a company accepts a contract from you to build your house. Alright? Then, shortly before your house is declared to be ready, they actually TELL you it is ready, just without 2/3 bedrooms, one toilet and without power.

What would you do?

This is basically what happened with E|D.

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@CMDRJollyMan: It was meant rhetorical. This game might suit for you, e.g. But it definitely cannot be what the most players are looking for, because it simply doesn't offers the mechanics for it. It offers 3 linear metas. Metas have nothing to do with Sandboxes. Then I'd rather say it's a Themepark where you have to move the rollercoaster by your own. Nothing else.

Because: If you consider Freedom flying around, exploring the galaxy, then I'd say YES, you're right. But there's no point in doing so and I can predict you, after a while you'll be bored to death and bothered because of all those ideas and potentials this game could have you're raising in your imagination, that you'll quit it because of a Development Team without cojones!

It's like they don't want to make it mainstream, but they're afraid of not doing so, that way they just don't even try it.

The fact the game has been thought to be a Singleplayer and in the end hasn't been developed as a single Buy2Play game, is the fact that they've found out that you actually CAN MAKE MONEY with microtransactions if you set it up properly.

 

[Commander Azriel]

Then I guess our real Milky Way galaxy is just as meaningless.

You do know what a game is, right? I don't think the milky way is one.

 

[nhall72]

I think anyone who is put off by this game's accurate depiction of the vastness of the universe is a bit self-indulging. It kind of makes you feel small doesn't it? You don't like feeling small, do you? It's all about you and you must be the center of all existence. You only want to play games that you can conquer...and you can't EVER conquer this one. So what's the point?

In the end, it's not a bad question. What's the point to 400 billion stars? Well, I don't know. But I don't think you should be asking FD for the answer. Maybe you should ask God...it was his idea.

 

[Kars Vandor]

imagine a guy said "Hey, we are going to have a farm to live on. You can live here and it's a huge place. We mostly have farmers, we don't envision a need for police, or taxes. There's alot of work to do, and you can get in on the ground floor as we all discover farming together.

You can come in and be cool or you can cause trouble. Up to the individual, and what the people nearby will tolerate.

Then imagine that erveryone works together to make that place grow fruit, and 8 years later, it's the biggest most visionary thing around, and you've been part of it since the beginning.

Just a thought, hopefully a misgiven prediction.

 

[xtridence]

imagine a guy said "Hey, we are going to have a farm to live on. You can live here and it's a huge place. We mostly have farmers, we don't envision a need for police, or taxes. There's alot of work to do, and you can get in on the ground floor as we all discover farming together.

You can come in and be cool or you can cause trouble. Up to the individual, and what the people nearby will tolerate.

Then imagine that erveryone works together to make that place grow fruit, and 8 years later, it's the biggest most visionary thing around, and you've been part of it since the beginning.

Just a thought, hopefully a misgiven prediction.

You know what? That happened already in Waco, 20 years ago. It ended in a blood bath. If the world was all about flowers, good times and stuff like that, how you would even be able to notice the "good things"?

You wouldn't. So what we consider "good" doesn't has to be good, but not only that, without being there a single negative occurance, it would end up in Sexual Utopia, basically reducing the human being to what it was made for:

To be a massive, self-reproducting parasite - and it's host is the earth (and all those balls which we will colonize in the future, maybe).

Welcome to reality, Sir.

 

[Kars Vandor]

there is no point to 400 billion stars. It doesn't make me feel small.

When I am flying my little simulated craft, cruising to the next world, I am more at home than I ever was, anywhere on earth.
I imagine what this place will be like in 5 years. There's a vision here, and I am determined to be a part of it.

People that see this as EVE with a lot more stars missed what this is. It's not a combat sim, it's a setting for adventures. Let's have some.

 

[nhall72]

You do know what a game is, right? I don't think the milky way is one.

I don't require all of my games to be shallow. My entertainment comes from within, I don't sit around begging someone else to provide it for me.

 

[Mkkt Bkkt]

Quite depressive, isn't it?

Erm... no, it isn't. To someone who has played more popular online games, especially FPSs, a little peace and quiet to explore somewhere at your own place is a big thing. Not everyone wants to see/fight someone every few minutes. But the problem is, if you DO want to fight, there aren't many profitable options.

However I was pointing out that not every system is the same with stations and random ai floating around, there are many places for exploring.

 

[brandonjclark]

like a waveform collapsing under your observation their quantum state shifted from bytes to pixels and blazed into being.....

I don't mean to be crass, but my pants are wet.

 

[N-Zed]

Imagine a company accepts a contract from you to build your house. Alright? Then, shortly before your house is declared to be ready, they actually TELL you it is ready, just without 2/3 bedrooms, one toilet and without power.

What would you do?

This is basically what happened with E|D.

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@CMDRJollyMan: It was meant rhetorical. This game might suit for you, e.g. But it definitely cannot be what the most players are looking for, because it simply doesn't offers the mechanics for it. It offers 3 linear metas. Metas have nothing to do with Sandboxes. Then I'd rather say it's a Themepark where you have to move the rollercoaster by your own. Nothing else.

Because: If you consider Freedom flying around, exploring the galaxy, then I'd say YES, you're right. But there's no point in doing so and I can predict you, after a while you'll be bored to death and bothered because of all those ideas and potentials this game could have you're raising in your imagination, that you'll quit it because of a Development Team without cojones!

It's like they don't want to make it mainstream, but they're afraid of not doing so, that way they just don't even try it.

The fact the game has been thought to be a Singleplayer and in the end hasn't been developed as a single Buy2Play game, is the fact that they've found out that you actually CAN MAKE MONEY with microtransactions if you set it up properly.

I see your point completely. And yes, at this stage aimlessly flying about is boring, at least in the sense that the game is offering nothing in terms of actual gameplay. I suppose you can consider collecting the data and selling it a benefit, as many do - it is too early to tell yet what is in store for that area of the game. What I like about the scale model is notion of no longer looking up at the night sky but being IN it. I can suspend that disbelief and enjoy ED for that alone. However, as a player, I worry what overall this expansive arena will actually be used for or how it will be utilized (if at all) by the developers.

It's not a black and white topic, but one worth discussing. I'm sure this has come up several times before as it is.

 

[Kars Vandor]

Waco? Never heard of it.

 

[xtridence]

It's not a combat sim, it's a setting for adventures. Let's have some.

Are you smoking bad weed? This game is all about being a combat simulation.

Good man, this is even more a survival simulation than anything else. If you fly a cargohold full of Palladium, expect there to be people to try to get it from you the easy way. Plop!

Setting for adventures. Might you be that good to describe - using the current game mechanics - what adventures you might have, please? What are you expecting to find? Dr. Who's Policebox or maybe The Monolith?

 

[anikaiful]

Waco? Never heard of it.

Some bunch of religious wackos messed up things there (had to google it up, never heard of it before either).

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Setting for adventures. Might you be that good to describe - using the current game mechanics - what adventures you might have, please? What are you expecting to find?

... is that a joke or do you lack imagination completely?

 

[WalterHWhite]

> scale model is notion of no longer looking up at the night sky but being IN it.

Yes that's something I appreciate too. Having seen a particular bright star through the cockpit that wasn't local, with a bit trial and error on the galaxy map I was able to target it. It turned out to be Aldebaran... loved how I was able to see it from a distance before targeting it on the map.

 

[ket halpak]

Imagine a company accepts a contract from you to build your house. Alright? Then, shortly before your house is declared to be ready, they actually TELL you it is ready, just without 2/3 bedrooms, one toilet and without power.

What would you do?

This is basically what happened with E|D.

I disagree, the current marketing, reviews and general information available accurately depicts what is currently on offer in elite.

With the example that you have provided I would't authorise payment of the amount until I had inspected and verified that what the builder claims is true. The many user reviews available on the internet by both large media groups and individual you tube users are great ways to verify what's on offer.

I don't like comparisons to eve as Elite is a different take on the space MMO however their basic beginnings are similar. When I started playing Eve it was basically a mining simulator with only a handful of ships available and not much else. I've had the benefit of watching it evolve over the years and become more and more complex till it has become the game it is today. I enjoyed eve when it was first released and I enjoyed it even when it became a second job to manage my production network.

I'm happy where we are now and I'm happy because Elite has a bright future ahead of it.