BOYCOTT the Panther Clipper to avoid future "Updates"

Armaant27

A
BOYCOTT the Panther Clipper to avoid future "Updates"

Roast me in the comments but I love this game, I’m happy to spend money supporting it but I don’t want to see it go the same direction as Star Citizen.

I strongly disagree with the price hike that’s coming with the panther clipper even though I'm all for Frontier selling early access to new ships. I understand that they need a revenue stream to continue developing the game and so far I think we've gotten a great return from the developers in terms of new content for what we've paid. However, An arbitrary price hike is testing the waters and by just letting it happen we open the door to alot of potential issues down the road.


The justification for charging for New Ships in early access was that FDev needs money to maintain a Live Service Game. I agree and say thats fair, So far this has worked out for players and for Fdev They're revenue and profits reported since 2024 are all positive and show signs of continuing to increase.

They haven't stated any reason that they're charging more for the Panther Clipper, Though they haven’t said this the implied justification for the increase is that it's a bigger ship so more expensive.

By that logic why aren't small ships 20% less expensive than medium ships?


Questions I have:

1. What is the exact reason that the Panther Clipper will cost more than Small and Medium ships?

2. What will be added to early access in the future? Weapons, Modules, Gamplay?

3. Will the exchange rate of ARX to USD/EUR/GBP change again at some point in the future?

* The rate of ARX/$ decreased a few months before Early Access Ships first became available in 2024?

i.e Fewer ARX/$ making ARX more expensive



ARX:

Another thing I'd like to talk about is the use of ARX - USD/EUR/GBP. The use of ARX is a form of price dissociation that many companies use when possible to to make the cost of a product seem more reasonable and make it harder to compare it to a alternative product for the same price. I’m call this out because we have no control over the exchange rate and it's not clear on the website. To see the real cost we have to calculate it on our own (below in usd) and we can't buy the exact amount of ARX we want to spend, we have to buy them in sets which leaves us with either more than we need to buy a ship or less than we need. Having a few thousand extra arx sitting around goes to paint jobs or serves as a basis to say “well I’ve already spent $15 it’s only another $10”.


You can say I don’t have to buy the ship in early access and I could just wait but I’m happy to support frontier just not ok with a price hike with no explanation or justification.


What I’ve spent

Here's the breakdown of what I've spent on the game so far in USD. I’ve bought arx in the $60 packages so have gotten the best *rate


1. Elite Dangerous - $40

2. Oddessey expansion: $15

3. Python MkII Stellar Edition: $20 ($19.70)

4. Mandalay Stellar Edition: $20 ($19.70)

5. Corsair Stellar: $20 ($19.70)

6. Paint jobs and Suits: $20ish


TOTAL: $135



Concerns:

This may sound like a stretch at the moment but will new cool weapons or modules come out in the future in early access only? If the thargoids return to the bubble and theres a new weapon to fight them in early access what will that cost?


By simply accepting this *Update to ship pricing I think it’s very possible to see other unexplained updates in the future. For Example



UPDATE: New weapons and modules coming to the game will be available in early access for ARX

UPDATE: Squadron Livery and Renaming available for ARX on the Game Store

UPDATE: Cost of ARX adjustment in one month

UPDATE: Ship interiors available in Early Access for ARX

UPDATE: New Cockpit customization available for ARX with paint jobs

UPDATE: Thargoid Invasion of HIP 12345 *Permit for system available in early access for ARX





https://www.elitedangerous.com/en-US/news/arx-ship-early-access-update
 
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Sublime

S
I’ve got all the new ships (except Corsair) and have spent $0 doing it. I’m fine with them continuing to add new ships. It will continue to cost me $0 and I’ll play with them when they become available for in-game credits.

If the game doesn’t have anything that interests me, I simply don’t play it. When something happens that interests me, I log in and play. That’s been working out fine for me so far and I haven’t spent a dime beyond the initial purchase (plus EDO).
 

Dillon Fallon

Dillon Fallon
-VR- Max Factor said:
It really doesn't bother me in the slightest. Fdev need money to keep the game going. Its not a large amount of money, and you can wait until you can get it for credits.

I really do not see the issue.
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Well, people like me are probably the issue as I'm spending a lot less Arx than I used to since early access stuff came about! :LOL:

Honestly though, I'm not going to buy the Panther for Arx, simply because hauling isn't my game, so really I don't need it.

People are going to buy it in droves however - the next hauling CG will be full star to station with Panther Clippers and anyone who thinks otherwise isn't looking at reality. Someone might as well suggest boycotting supermarkets.
 

Mr Lindsay

M
It's been over a year.
Increase the prices of things in Arx, or increase the price of Arx themselves.
You have to choose one.
 

Rat Catcher

Rat Catcher
Armaant27 said:
The justification for charging for New Ships in early access was that FDev needs money to maintain a Live Service Game.
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Did FD ever say that, or was it another forum jackpot comment?

I've bought each new ship for Arx as they looked fun & useful.

I'm not buying the PCII for Arx, it carries too little for a behomoth ship, so doesn't represent sufficient value & entertainment to spend my pension money on.

I disagree absolutely with 'boycotting' anything just because FD charges a little extra for it, and find the comparison to Star Citizen hilarious in the extreme, when FD ask $1,000 for a picture oof a ship which may make itnto the game soon, then I'll compare them to CIG.

You can choose to do exactly as I will, not spend money on the new ships, or cosmetics, or whatever takes your fancy, allegedly Arx sales are barely an accounting error on the revenue stream for ED, with most raised by sales of the game itself.
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
We don't really know the running costs for Elite Dangerous nor the development costs for the ongoing support and updates this 10 year old game (which only brings in 7% of the company’s revenue) continues to receive. I think it comes down to trust … do you trust Frontier to be decent people? Is the price increase for early access to larger ships a cash grab and first step on a slippery slope to Star Citizen levels, is it a balanced compromise to raising all early access ship prices to cover rising costs, or is it somewhere in between. Personally, having followed the company for 10 years, met numerous developers and community managers in person and seen how they conduct business, I do trust them. But others may choose not to. We'll probably never know the truth one way or the other.
 

Doctor Dread

Doctor Dread
No ship is pay-only.
You can fork out ARX if in hurry, or if you're enraged with that idea you can wait a couple of months and get the same ship for free.

It is fair from their side.

I will buy this ship because I'm in the hurry, and feel fine knowing I'm helping the company continue to work on this game. No big deal, not a huge amount, we're all happy.
 

Shadowsnog

Shadowsnog
if there ever was a dlc that 'deserves' the higher price, its panther. i fully expected this, tbh i expected much higher price, but the decision to make all large ships more pricy? those other new gen large ships better be fine as a frog hair.
fdev has bills, they have another bunch of sim games planned and elite seems to be doing pretty good at providing quick financial boosts. im generally fine with paying for all that, but it better be worth it. panther might just wait for the credits version...

re small ships should cost less: the only small new gen ship being sold is coV and for the powercreep that little smeg is, they should ask at least twice the arx it costs now.
not to mention if you dont like new gen ships costing differently, you better not look at their discounted prices :p
 

Rat Catcher

Rat Catcher
Alec Turner said:
I think it comes down to trust … do you trust Frontier to be decent people?
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The actual Devs probably are decent people, judging from the oones I've seen on streams over the years.
Management is a different story though...

I'd guess that however many devs are dedicated to ED (I'm sure the Art / Sound team were mentioned as a shared asset a few years back) they had an annual salary increase this year, cost of living, or whatever. So expenses will have risen.

Of course, it could just be greed, because they can.
 

Freyar

Freyar
I'd be less inclined be concerned about this change if it were an across-the-board change. OP has a point, that there is (to my eyes) no currently justified reason for charging more for the Clipper versus the other earlier ships. Maybe it's because of the articulation and animation? But that seems a stretch.

I've paid for LEP, and having not gotten the value out of that, I certainly feel like I'm still getting screwed with these offers. Yet I pay it still because I can't really win there. I either wait six to eight months, lose out on benefits of the ship as they get rebalanced, etc. or I pay up front and get the benefits early on.

Hell, being in the middle of construction of medium system (~55 slots), the Panther Clipper is almost a necessity at this point.

FDev has gotten good at creating a problem in-game, be it mechanically obvious like the Krait Jumpstart during the final runs on Titan Cocijo or just a simply better performing ship.

The price change doesn't bother me, but the lack of transparency is a harder problem. What makes the Panther Clipper a better offer that justifies the new price point compared to the previous ships?

On a less current argument, yes.. the move to ARX was a dumb move that I still wholly disagree with even today. FDev used to charge real-value amounts before, but converted it near the console launches that are no longer developed for today. We've seen examples of them manipulating both ARX cost on goods, and the cost of ARX themselves. I believe they need to stop fiddling with pricing dishonestly and just charge cash values to be done with it, especially if the cost of the good is more than US$10.
 

Desirsar

Desirsar
My decision rests entirely on the time efficiency per price, but the actual price isn't a concern. If it's faster enough overall, less trips but more time per trip being a large net positive, I'll still get it. That it's slightly more expensive than the other ships barely factors in. What's faster enough? Heck if I know, that'll be by feel and not by math.
 

Darrack

Darrack
Three Stars said:
I’m boycotting the boycott of the boycott of the boycott.
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ftCYFWu.jpg


O7
 
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