I remember playing a version of the original Elite on my PC.
Through save games,
and learning the tactic of selling my laser and putting on the rear of my ship.
(Actually I sold everything, and did a few trading runs to buy a better laser to put on the rear of my ship)
I started to branch out.
Eventually I got military lasers on all sides.
stocked with misiles.
Extra power thingy for the shields.
ECM
the cloak
etc etc.
I couldn't upgrade the cobra more basically.
And I landed in a rough area once with a need to do a fuel run past a sun.
I think I played for a hour just to get back to the station.
When I landed I gained elite status.
I ventured through the galaxies, and found THE perfect trade run between three systems close to each other.
and saw every variation of starname that were random letters.
the pictures of the people and aliens that alterer.
I saw the procedural generation for what it was.
It was like the scene in the matrix when Neo see's the matrix for what it is.
I had a giant universe that let me just do the same five things regardless of where I was. Only the names and colours changed, not the game.
.................
Back to more modern times.
There are meta games like collecting money etc, (and Yahtzee from zero punctation makes this point with assassins creed2)
When he was rich beyond his wildest dreams, but that wealth brought him nothing.
He couldn't change the politics in the game, it was still the same amount of quests and cutscenes even if he had no wealth. He couldn't alter the difficulty of alter the core game in any way.
Money meant nothing.
And that was the same thing.
With elite, you ground your way "towards" the next purchase.
Having money and having bought everything - made the game pointless.
Even after seeing the sights.
It sort of turns into an existential crisis for the game - what is the point of this toy.
And I've seen people go through it with other sand box games, like GTA and minecraft, when the illusion of the world breaks down into clipping boxes, textures, and trigger points.
So to bring this meandering to a close.
How will Elite maintain it's audiences, when they become, too rich.
Upgrading your ship isn't going to keep the wealthy playing.
Can we start spreading the wealth, buy larger ships like a capital ship
enter conglomerates, own a part of a station and micro manage them.
Invest in Research and development on a certain planet to get unique upgrades?
Can we pay for a fleet of NPC ships to go somewhere and cause a ruccus to drive market prices crazy.
what kinds of things would YOU like to do if you had infinite wealth in Elite?
Through save games,
and learning the tactic of selling my laser and putting on the rear of my ship.
(Actually I sold everything, and did a few trading runs to buy a better laser to put on the rear of my ship)
I started to branch out.
Eventually I got military lasers on all sides.
stocked with misiles.
Extra power thingy for the shields.
ECM
the cloak
etc etc.
I couldn't upgrade the cobra more basically.
And I landed in a rough area once with a need to do a fuel run past a sun.
I think I played for a hour just to get back to the station.
When I landed I gained elite status.
I ventured through the galaxies, and found THE perfect trade run between three systems close to each other.
and saw every variation of starname that were random letters.
the pictures of the people and aliens that alterer.
I saw the procedural generation for what it was.
It was like the scene in the matrix when Neo see's the matrix for what it is.
I had a giant universe that let me just do the same five things regardless of where I was. Only the names and colours changed, not the game.
.................
Back to more modern times.
There are meta games like collecting money etc, (and Yahtzee from zero punctation makes this point with assassins creed2)
When he was rich beyond his wildest dreams, but that wealth brought him nothing.
He couldn't change the politics in the game, it was still the same amount of quests and cutscenes even if he had no wealth. He couldn't alter the difficulty of alter the core game in any way.
Money meant nothing.
And that was the same thing.
With elite, you ground your way "towards" the next purchase.
Having money and having bought everything - made the game pointless.
Even after seeing the sights.
It sort of turns into an existential crisis for the game - what is the point of this toy.
And I've seen people go through it with other sand box games, like GTA and minecraft, when the illusion of the world breaks down into clipping boxes, textures, and trigger points.
So to bring this meandering to a close.
How will Elite maintain it's audiences, when they become, too rich.
Upgrading your ship isn't going to keep the wealthy playing.
Can we start spreading the wealth, buy larger ships like a capital ship
enter conglomerates, own a part of a station and micro manage them.
Invest in Research and development on a certain planet to get unique upgrades?
Can we pay for a fleet of NPC ships to go somewhere and cause a ruccus to drive market prices crazy.
what kinds of things would YOU like to do if you had infinite wealth in Elite?
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