"Close Quarter Combat" - definitely not the direction I hoped ED would take from now...

[Ixnatifual]

The future of ED is looking grim indeed. I though Power Play was a miss, but now things are getting ridiculous.

"Hey, I'm an Elite: Dangerous developer. I know we made all these systems in the game that are pretty bare-bones and placeholder, but don't worry! We're not going to finish them. Instead, we're going to add random tacked on nobody asked for and add it into the game!"

Oh well - I just hope it's a main menu option I can simply ignore and not tied into the game itself.

Sure, but even so that's a lot of development money that could have gone into getting the core game up to par.

 

[stephen_usher]

Yeah, this was to be expected when they announced it for the consoles.

Even though I have no real interest in CQC it's obvious now that us old 84's are really not wanted anymore, we did our job, we kickstarted the game for them, now we are not the target audience and the game is heading quite in the opposite direction I ever thought Elite would.

..how long I can stay for the ride is unknown..

Oi! Speak for yourself. ;-)

CQC is very similar to concepts mooted by the community on the original Kickstarter forum but poo-pooed by FD as too costly to implement.

It may not be in the original Elite universe but it doesn't detract from it and, as Liqua said, is likely in 3300 to be something which would happen as a matter of course. It's a bit of fun, just like the demolition derby that Kate Russell runs around Slough Orbital every now and again.

As long as I don't have to use my main ship and can throw a default Sidewinder in there I'll give it a spin... and probably get blow up pretty promptly.

 

[Arubeto]

This development time could have been used on improving the bare-bones placeholder content we have right

Pretty much what I tried to say to the "it's optional" argument.

 

[cassog]

1) Wings. Multiplayer.
2) Community Goals. Competitive achievements. More grind.
3) Powerplay. Competitive achievements. Hints of guilds/multiplayer battles. More grind. Position decay when not playing.
4) CQC. Competitive PvP. Stepping further and further away from an immersive experience of living in the Elite universe.

Six months + since release. 3 or 4 major updates (CQC isn't major in size but fairly major in direction). No new depth of immersion or interesting branching, multi-role missions. No real mystery or intrigue. Apart from some cardboard cut-outs we can wave about at each other of course. Oh and one is a pretty little girl with blue hair. Yay! That's okay then.

Why would we complain about new content if it doesn't affect us? It does affect us. Time was spent on this stuff and not on anything meaningful that would benefit everyone.

"You don't have to play it." If a new content is ignored by half the player-base, is it new content at all? Where's the new content for the rest of us?

They could at least alternate focus groups.

This about says it all for me. Extremely well put. +1 rep to you - wish I could give more. Absolutely bang on when you say it does affect us. Every hour spent in development on this Non-Elite rubbish could have been used to make the missions more enjoyable (and playable), introduce the concept of carrying paying passengers, maybe the ability to buy as well as sell Black Market goods and become a real smuggler. etc..etc.
I'm not surprised that so many are angry. I am surprised though that so many are happy to go along with it.

 

[Andromalius]

Allow me to put some spin on your anger.

As part of the fleshing out of the ED universe would it not be reasonable to assume that like on Earth with the Olympic / World games that the Major Factions would also hold tournaments of equal grandeur and magnitude ? (Something I suggested in the DDF a very long time - monthly / annual games and tournaments) Wouldn't you expect at some point for major rivals from across the clans to come face to face in battles to the "virtual" death in recognition of galactic glory ?

If FD can get this right for the PC/MAC users as something else you can do (optional) I welcome it into ED.

To the best of my knowledge, artillery battle, submarine warfare and tactical nukes aren't olympic disciplineS.

About the update, I don't have anything really against something that I won't use if other people enjoy it. That's fine. Actually, that'd be fine if the game wasn't riddled with gamebreaking bugs they should fix before all else because we have paid for the game already.

 

[ste]

I wouldnt mind a tournament thing hosted at some touristy destinations or pirate outposts. Where you can maybe pay to sign up, and you get prize money based on your performance. I still expect being blown up to come at a cost.

But I imagine by the time CQC arrives ship insurance and stuff and consequences of death will almost be removed anyway cos I think frontier will have learnt players think losing in games or consequences are a complete turn off to a gamer and rage quit worthy.

 

[HurstLlama]

...

This development time could have been used on improving the bare-bones placeholder content we have right now
...

Paid for how exactly? Our purchase money has probably already been spent and, without a subscription model, FD have to keep getting new customers just to continue to provide what we already have let alone develop new stuff that we might enjoy. Bringing on the Xbox crowd might provide the funds needed for future development of what I like to think of as the core game. The money might also just disappear into shareholder's pockets or be used to develop new stuff for the twitch crowd. We will just have to wait and see.

 

[Kramster]

When I first picked up the beta for ED I dreamt of a deep space RPG with meaningful interaction building on it's predecessors. I foolishly thought we would have inter meshed game mechanics that gave the galaxy and our actions meaning....sigh

I now feel we are just getting a pretty sandbox where everything is pretty much tacked on meta games that have little relation to each other and probably actually work against each other. FD could have worked to build a cohesive rpg gaming experience but I feel they have taken the easy option of just tacking modules on to the base game. I am sure they will add some depth to the core of the game once they have met the console gaming requirements but I am really having trouble seeing the game I dreamt of.

I don't think CQC is a bad thing in itself but it seems to be just another easy to implement module that ads nothing to EDs RPG element and is primarily aimed at the console market as is much of what ED has become

Just a side note but this is twice in just a few weeks FD have told us of exciting news and cool additions, which have turned out to be less than popular. I really think they are pleased with themselves and this reinforces my feeling that this is what to expect from ED this is their dream and possibly a backers nightmare

 

[Alb]

I was always pretty excited with the new free updates FD announced for ED, even though neither "Community Goals" nor "Wings" nor "Powerplay" introduced the features from the DDA that I waited for - mostly a richer environment, more fleshed-out NPCs and NPC interaction, more varied missions including passenger game play etc.
The updates essentially only catered to the multi player crowd, IMHO.

I disagree, community goals, mostly played Solo or Private group (they reward personal ranking), likewise the new Powerplay is full of solo merit grinders that the open play commanders can do nothing about in terms of blockading or hunting. Wings is meant to be multiplayer but unless you're helping a buddy gain quick credits you may as well play wingless to earn more rewards. There is nothing in the game that promotes team goals, BB missions don't offer any wing specific missions or challenges. There are so many opportunities to offer up multiplayer that are being missed and now CQC team Deathmatch (if it is team not solo DM) will be the first real mutliplayer experience in the game and it goes to the console first, a group of new players with less feedback to give on the beta.

 

[Panzer]

The idea has up and downsides.

If FD wants to maintain another gameplay type, then sure. an arena is how you do it.

It comes however at a big cost. it'll be very convenient and a lot of the player attention will be diverted from natural or artificial activity hubs.

Trust me, a Freelancer server with a fairly limited playerbase and a bloated galaxy has this exact issue. And now, after some years, the arena's removal wolud probably hurt the server more than it could make up for in terms of interaction in normal space.

 

[Morgo_the_MonkeyGod]

Agreed with post that I have lost track of. It all makes sense to me.. There have been player organised races around stations, combat tourneys in Sideys. Let's just make it a real official thing. UT in space is a damn fine idea.

Hopefully FD have staff and resources to develop and enrich, and fix the rest of the game. Combat arena works for me...It'll add richness to the rest of the game and hopefully provide more revenue for r it too...

 

[Alex988]

I'm also happy to say CQC and the new controller functions will be a free addition to PC and Mac later in 2015.

Next update still not a DLC/expansion and so much whining here. I hope FD just ignores this thread.

 

[kreuzbichler]

FD need money .

since when has that become MY DAMN PROBLEM AS A GAMER?
Remember the time when people bought games that were actually FINISHED AND CONTENT COMPLETE ON LAUNCH?

NO ONE wanted to give them MONEY for their game except Kickstarter backers and now they are screwing over they ones who made it possible.

Timed exclusive for XBOX is the next slap in the face in a a long series and who ever is defending this , probably the same whiteknights defending cancelling OFFLINE is ´no big thing´ are a core part of the problem.