Bring on the DOOM!

[sixhashbrowns]

I usually start over after the 4th succession war.
Building your company is where the fun is for me, and the variety of mechs makes each career new and different.

Yeah, I don't disagree. Especially with mods like yet another mech lab. I've just been a mechwarrior fan for a VERY long time and want more but it seems development is coming to an end.

I remember defending an ice asteroid (IIRC being moved to a world in need of water) from attack in mech 2 mercs. Plus going behind enemy line to steal a Kodiak. Mech 5 is missing that kind of variety.

 

[Darth Wonko]

EA.

Geez... troll much? LOL

 

[Red Rocket]

TBH I can’t see Frontier getting bought out to be anything but bad for Elite Dangerous unless it is split off from the rest of Frontiers IP’s.

I am afraid ED would just get put off in a corner to flounder, it’s a old game that is struggling.
The attention would go to the newer IP’s.

 

[Sysmon]

Space Flight Simulator 3310. Bring it on, Microsoft!

S

 

[Mrc_NorthEast]

DB wouldn't sell Elite, It's his project from the 80's. It's like a Back to the Future remake.. won't happen.

Unless DB has had enough and wants to sell and go retire on a nice warm beach somewhere. Fdev and ED may not be in the best spot, but they are in an OK spot at least and game companies being bought up is the current rage. I imagine he has at least entertained the idea.

It still cannot explain the radio silence on the comms imho... even a pending sale should not cause that. It should be a cause for business as usual, change nothing, say nothing until the deal is announced. So a sale is probably not the reason.

I think ED is going onto the back burner Soon(tm) and the Fdev mgmt team and the CM team is trying to figure out how to finish what they said they would do and then forget about ED for a few years. There that is my best guess. And the CM team is drawing straws to see who has to tell us.

 

[Red Rocket]

It still cannot explain the radio silence on the comms imho... even a pending sale should not cause that. It should be a cause for business as usual, change nothing, say nothing until the deal is announced. So a sale is probably not the reason.
.

on the contrary, I think there would be a lot of projects the CM team would be asked to do to keep them busy if there is a pending sale.

 

[Morbad]

As I understand (and correct me if i'm wrong) but it also has no servers or persistent world to host, its just battles. By definition, there won't be a grind. Its like saying Overwatch doesn't have a grind. There is a campaign mode (which as i understand can be played coop), which is perhaps akin to C&C or similar type games?

You play though it, then its over right?

There is quite a bit of grind in the main campaign, which does eventually end, but you never have to stop playing. I'm closing in on 100 years in-game time.

But yeah, it's not at all comparable to a persistent world massively multiplayer game. And it has it's fair share of problems.

One of these for the CZs as well.View attachment 292287

Is that a bayonet that barely even clears the barrel?

 

[Peter Mannion]

Yes. I didn't like it much. Not sure how it's relevant though.


Are they though? I mean the best option is that nobody buys them because the last thing we need is more industry consolidation.

Games under the Xbox Game Studios Umbrella include Sea of Theives, The Outer Worlds, Forza Motorsport/Horizons, Minecraft and part collaboration with Microsoft Flight Simulator. They have a good track record with maintaining game studios and providing capital. I wouldn't mind a Microsoft takeover as it will probably leave FD a better game studio like it did with Rare and Mojang.

Could also maybe see Microsoft doing a merger of FD and Ninja Theory game studio as that is also based in Cambridge under XGS with like a couple hundred employees and some expertise in VR development.

 

[FutronBob]

If an acquisition actually does happen, it could go in practically any direction. The new parent company could take it upon themselves to get deeply involved in ED's development, which could either vastly improve Elite, or completely ruin it. Alternatively, they could decide to reallocate most of the development team to other projects and shove Elite into maintenance mode. Most of these possibilities have been discussed already.

However, it's also entirely possible that the new parent company would simply let Fdev continue to run Elite as Fdev sees fit, and nothing would change apart from an extra logo or two on the startup sequence, and perhaps a bit more pressure on Fdev to keep the revenue streaming in.


In any case, this new rumor is only gonna put even more stress on the poor Community Managers at next Friday's meet-up. Whatever is going on, I really, really hope Fdev breaks the silence before then; if only to spare the CMs from having to spend the entire evening dodging questions they aren't allowed to answer.

 

[WR3ND]

Clearly better coordinated than I am. I still remember the time I went to pitch down and accelerate past an asteroid. Well, at least I managed the accelerating bit perfectly.

Oh, I'm not sure. I do have an affinity of sorts for driving and flying, but I've had a few close calls both in game and in real life, where a mix of luck and some skill have managed to see me through so far, knock on wood. I presume I like approaching and playing the game a bit more realistically than some, as it were and given that it is a game, so it's a trade off I suppose. Being a game without as high a price as life or limb, it's all good either way as long as we're having fun; just a personal preference sort of thing. Cheers.

 

[St0rmFury]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hypothetically if Fdev were to receive an exceptionally good offer and Braben turns it down, the other shareholders can sue him for not taking the offer right?

 

[St0rmFury]

View attachment 292243

Ooh, I know a certain engineer who would be really interested in that.

 

[DrinkyBird]

The thing about Microsoft is if they want a property, they'll throw enough money at it to fix problems and expand development. If you haven't, check out the X-Box documentary on YouTube. Basically, a developer from a small group walked into Steve Ballmer's office and said, "Can I have a billion dollars?".

Of course. I suspect Elite might not be the among the properties a buyer would be wanting, though. Unlike FD's sim games, ED is a bit... messy.

Why ?

My trust in them was soured a bit by that period in the early 1990s to early 2020s in which they engaged in (often ruthless) anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices.

I wouldn't mind a Microsoft takeover as it will probably leave FD a better game studio like it did with Rare and Mojang.

I wouldn't use Rare as a great example; after being acquired by Microsoft it took them sixteen years to make a game that's wasnt a Kinect game or a remaster of one of their N64 titles.
And Mojang certainly improved because the acquisition got rid of Notch... but again, it took them nine years to release another game that was successful... and it was a Minecraft spinoff.

 

[WR3ND]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hypothetically if Fdev were to receive an exceptionally good offer and Braben turns it down, the other shareholders can sue him for not taking the offer right?

I'm not sure how this sort of thing would sit with British industry pride either, assuming that still has some relevance beyond a point of reflection.

 

[Peter Mannion]

Of course. I suspect Elite might not be the among the properties a buyer would be wanting, though. Unlike FD's sim games, ED is a bit... messy.


My trust in them was soured a bit by that period in the early 1990s to early 2020s in which they engaged in (often ruthless) anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices.


I wouldn't use Rare as a great example; after being acquired by Microsoft it took them sixteen years to make a game that's wasnt a Kinect game or a remaster of one of their N64 titles.
And Mojang certainly improved because the acquisition got rid of Notch... but again, it took them nine years to release another game that was successful... and it was a Minecraft spinoff.

The point is they went on to become better and more secure companies. The rocking of share price that FD has seen recently wouldn't have been as impactful or even happend at all if it was owned by Microsoft. It offers stability being part of a large parent company. I don't think we would've seen a rushed Odyssey to get it out in time for the financial year to look good to investors if Microsoft owned the company. For example Microsoft/Mojang were fine with delaying and splitting the cave's and cliffs update to further flesh it out. The stability allows the studio to focus more on the quality of the product instead of the company itself.

 

[Felix DiCestria]

So back to 'business as usual' or "We have nothing further to say at this time."

 

[Rat Catcher]

So back to 'business as usual' or "We have nothing further to say at this time."

If all of this wild speculation has a root in fact, and ED as an IP is the red-headed stepchild, until all of the i's are dotted and t's crossed, silence would have to prevail.
(else players of the game might interpret continuing communication as indicative of the future of the IP being assured!)

Aren't conspiracy theories fun?

 

[Felix DiCestria]

If all of this wild speculation has a root in fact, and ED as an IP is the red-headed stepchild, until all of the i's are dotted and t's crossed, silence would have to prevail.
(else players of the game might interpret continuing communication as indicative of the future of the IP being assured!)

Aren't conspiracy theories fun?

Consoles have had silence for half a year.
You've had a couple of weeks and you're losing your minds.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Consoles have had silence for half a year.
You've had a couple of weeks and you're losing your minds.

I'm not - I'm quite happy making a joke of things...

And consoles have not had silence for half a year - every other day until the Christmas break the console crew were badgering CMs for information and being told the same thing they had been told the day before... Do get it right!


Despite the wish of console players to know more, it there is no information to give, there really is no information to give, is there?

(which, of course, supports all of the wild speculation above even better, if ED is EOL, well...)

Added: I have ED on PS4 too. Last year I was told (along with anyone who bothered reading the announcement) that console development had been stopped until the issues with the PC version of EDO were resolved, then the console version would be considered once more (note that at no point did DB say that it would happen).

If I could understand that, and not require constant reassurance that 'something' is happening - even after being told to wait - why do a few others have an issue in comprehension?

 

[Northpin]

MechWarrior 5 has ship interiors, good combat, co-op, a VR mod and NO GRIND.

It also has very small maps with rather little variety - so no open world.
The time flies way too fast.
The number of mechs is not exactly more than the number of ships we have in ED, while the customization is rather limited
And mods that "unlock" things are on my hate list - they're like cheat codes in the old games.

However, it's still a nice game and i play it from time to time - but there is no chance i will ever get to 5000 hours in MW5 as i got in ED. Even 500 hours is really far fetched.

The sad part is the fact that launching MW5 on PS4 was a really bad idea and basically killed the game and the dev company.
They registered a big operational loss, any development plans were shut down and the studio that developed the game was relegated to support duties for an old mmo.