Fair enough. As I wrote "effectively becoming ARX-only", what time to credit-release would make it that for you? 6 month, 1 year, 2 years?
ARX Ship Early Access Update
- Thread starter Phil W
- Start date
Oh, really? Where'd you hear that?
The current 4 months are already stretching it quite thin. I'd prefer 3 months as the P2 was, or, as long as the new ships keep coming at semi regular intervals, end early access for the last ship as soon as the next one enters early access.
They only said they were done with the medium lineup for now. So the next ones could be either small or large.
According to the 2025 roadmap, there are still new ships planned for autumn and winter each. Them being large is just my guess.
The pricing before the hike was so close to my own red line that I was spendingfor ships I thought would give value in the game, which, to date, they have.
I quite fancy some of the suits issued in the last couple of years, but, even when 'reduced' in the sale, they just aren't worth the outlay.
I did buy a Corsair on my other account in the store sale, knowing I wouldn't need to buy Arx for the PCII, but I strongly suspect they will be the last ever purchased by me.
Given both how much Odyssey cost to develop and how well it went I expect Frontier will be sticking with their current strategy of smaller free feature expansions for a while, though, since that seems to be working a lot better and fits within the available budget.
They've certainly never hinted that any further paid feature expansions are on their "foreseeable future" plans (though they've also never said that Odyssey was definitely the last one - who knows how things might look in another ten years)
There's one born every minute, as they say. (Really: ED base game sales figures, averaged out over the entire release lifetime, are pretty close to 1/minute)
There probably are limits on continuing to sell the game to people who haven't already bought it, but they aren't ones it's likely to hit soon. No reason it couldn't last decades if nothing significant changes.
"If you wonderin' how I knew, of your plans to make me blue"
"I heard it through the Arx Hike"
(to the tune of Marvin Gaye's "Heard it through the grapevine")
Mmh, yeah, I guess you will have to stop following soon, then. I'm pretty sure 6 months it will be, at least for the PC2. I guess the Corsair will also take some extra time compared to the last ship releases. The Cobra MKV was already stretching 4 months to 5 with 133 days (4 months, 12 days). I'd say the Corsair will become available for credits around 4th. of September, making it almost 5 months. If the PC2 then comes out around new year, we are in the 6 month region already.
I mean.. at some point they will have to nudge Odyssey customers into opening their wallets, too. I'd prefer they come right out and tell us that it is ARX-only from now on instead of playing that stretching game. That would be more honest and fair to the people to decide if they want to continue supporting the game.
Those bonuses irk me nowadays - unlike early on when Arx were introduced, we know now they're permanent, so it's just another manipulative way to make people think they get a better deal somehow.
I'd also be the last person to recommend to anyone buying them in bulk after the great Arx inflation rug-pull of 2024, unless you're planning to spend them immediately.
Well, if it comes to that....goodbye and thanks for all the fish. And I have a feeling I wouldn't be the only one.
They'd have to come out and tell us, really, if they wanted to do that and have it work
At the moment:
- on release, a bunch of people buy it expecting 4ish months early access, either on release day or waiting just enough for some early reviews to come in
- probably no-one much buys it after that because the people who thought 16800 ARX was too much for 4ish months early access aren't going to decide 2 months later that it's suddenly a good deal for 2ish months
- judging by Inara's ship ownership stats page, about three-to-four times as many people then buy it after it goes to general access
So they might get (very slightly) more people buying it to start with if it was 6ish months early access on - but only if they tell us that up front. If everyone's expecting it to be 4ish months and then it stretches to 5 or 6 completely unannounced, none of the people who haven't already paid are going to do so when it might be general access next week anyway.
Ultimately I doubt it'd make that much difference to their sales and I'd be slightly surprised if they did it. The people who want it early will pay for 3- or for 6- or for 12-months. The people who are happy to make do with the ships already in game have a wide range of options already for that. Releasing the ships to general access makes the Odyssey Ship Pack (with bonus on-foot features) look better value to people who don't already own it so they can get the sales that way too.
I think it's fair that large ships cost more, because it takes more work to design them.
A certain other space game also charges more for big ships.
Fdev could charge more if ship interiors are included.
Corvette and Cutter MK II?
I want original large ships. No more Mk IIs.
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In hindsight I do believe the entire concept around early access ships was not that great an idea - especially with Frontier moving the goalposts with each ship by drawing out the credit-in-game releases further and further... which is in their own financial interest as giving your customers a definite date would absolutely discourage some sales at least.
Where I disagree with your suggestion is to use Arx for payment - ships should just be treated as regular DLC options just like in many other games. Sure, some may not like it, but as you say it's much more transparent and straightforward than the current approach.
Also, changing the model now would certainly have a pretty sour aftertaste, so it's too late for that now (which means they'll probably, eventually, do it anyways, heh).
Yep, they certainly would, I won't mind if the PCII costs a billion credits
So, it wil be acceptable for FD to charge $1,000+ for a nice big ship?
At least ED is a released game and new ships are in the game the moment you have bought them.
All ships have an inside and outside already.
How about this one (from FFE):
One of the most terrifying experiences of any spacer's life is being awoken from the Stardreamer by the bright blue blast of a Large Plasma Accelerator from an Imperial Explorer bearing down on their ship like a small comet. These massive, majestic ships are rightly seen as the crowning glory of the Imperial Navy Research Department, and represent the ultimate in opulence, taste and engineering achievement. As such, they cost a packet, and are only seen sporadically. Whilst few have the wherewithal to outfit them properly, those spacers who do will find out how near you can be to be truly invincible in space combat.
The problem with new ships being Arx-only permanently would probably be LEP owners. I guess they would have to get those ships for free but the LEP owners who are still around are probably also among the most loyal customers and are willing to pay for "early access".
There is probably a loophole being exploited over "Early Access" ships - not being an expansion or update... (I assume that the new ships do not appear in LEP holders bag of holding once they are available for credits)
I don't see anything of the sort as "honest" and "fair".