Community guests at FD HQ on 27th for Q4 news

[Whitehair]

I'm beginning to think cats invented the internet, as a way to control and experiment on humans.

They are working for the white mice (interpret that as you will )

 

[Factabulous]

I have no idea what you are trying to say, sorry. I really don't get it.

He's saying, quite rightly, that he didn't talk about the 100, so you seem to be misdirecting your wrath at him. All he's said is that he wants to see the beta - which is a reasonable thing to say.

 

[thistle]

Along with Alec and a few others mentioned here, had the privilege to attend yesterday.

Frontier dedicated 5 of their team for the entire day to presenting many of the changes and improvements coming to the game in the next release.

It was by no means a polished puff piece for streamers, it was a detailed exposee and q&a on the content, with senior staff on hand asking questions of us, feedback on what was good and what needed work or improvements. There was very little of the 'it is on the roadmap for later' and an awful lot of 'let me just go and ask that part of the team' where we got into detail and provided constructive feedback on the new items we have seen already in live stream but also things they will be revealing over the forthcoming weeks.

They took away extensive notes from a broad range of the audience based on how their communities would react to certain elements, where the areas of improvement were wanted and how the new mechanics would affect people's gaming time.

Our questions weren't dodged, they weren't cagey about their answers and no, wasn't the community team presenting. They were there but the presentation was done by the team doing the doing not the talking about, if you see what I mean.

Whilst some streamers were there, others of us were representing chunks of player groups or event/content creators for in game fun.

Stuff we CAN talk about at the moment:
Exploration. Works nicely, looks great, really makes you feel like you are working to discover things and not just honk jump magic wand discovery.

The mining things that were first talked about at Lavecon have come along really nicely. Once again, there is a lot more to do whilst mining. I reckon people will enjoy it.

The lighting changes shown at Lavecon... Was nice to see it in action on a 'live' build and not just screenshots. Once again, think once people get into beta, they will be pleased with it.

Shout out as usual to the sound team. Got a big round of applause at one point. Couple of times we all shushed each other so we could just listen.

The stuff we can't mention yet as it isn't public. A huge amount of work and thought has gone into it all, am looking forward to getting my teeth into it both testing in beta and in final live release. Lots of the regular grumbles have been addressed.

It really is a large body of work. Took 6 hours to fully showcase the lot and there is still more we didn't get see. We over ran by over an hour on their plans as we were asking so many pointy questions and debating their answers. A number of the visitors put some STRONG pressure on frontier on various matters on behalf of wider player audience.

To the question earlier about the 'feel' in the office.... quite a few of the team members dropped their heads in to say hi, some of them were new faces had not met or seen on live streams before. There is a good vibe about the office there, happy looking staff (we quizzed one and the answer was 'even better now that the food isn't as bad as it was at the old office ;-) ). Delicious sandwiches btw.

For the record, yes, the numbers of people working JUST on ED are what they say, their other games were on other floors and no, jobs like HR and finance etc staff weren't part of that number,.It was all people actively working on Elite. Compared to my last visit, they arent kidding when they say the team has never been bigger. The sweeping improvements and changes have satisfied me that they havent been idle in the last year of the free 'Beyond' update.

All in all, and I appreciate there will be lots of 'but why wasn't xxx person invited', and realise I am lucky to have been invited. Am hoping we did you lot proud in terms of shouting loudly about things we are all passionate about, was great to see huge progress and my goodness am I going to have to set aside a whole day just to read the patch notes. Can't wait to get my teeth into it all.

Sounds great!

 

[Factabulous]

The question is: The beta will come in October or not ?

Answer: yes. It will come in October, or not.

 

[Whitehair]

No, we don't need to have beta in order to talk about Frontier being liars or not.

There are probably 100 people who do work on ED, just not all the time.

Case in point!

 

[znôrt]

No, we don't need to have beta in order to talk about Frontier being liars or not. It's really simple: Either they have 100 people working on the game or they don't.

no it's not. a few selected snowflakes attending a prepared tour on september says nothing about what has been going on for a year. are you really that naive?

the simple fact of frontier having to make an issue about how many monkeys they got in the cage is fishy. do i look like i care? what i care about is a delivered game, and so far it has been underwhelming. like koyfeh eloquently put it, it is about what we see when we actually get to see something. that is really simple.

 

[babelfisch]

He's saying, quite rightly, that he didn't talk about the 100, so you seem to be misdirecting your wrath at him. All he's said is that he wants to see the beta - which is a reasonable thing to say.

I just don't understand why he quotes me on it.

 

[babelfisch]

no it's not. a few selected snowflakes attending a prepared tour on september says nothing about what has been going on for a year. are you really that naive?

the simple fact of frontier having to make an issue about how many monkeys they got in the cage is fishy. do i look like i care? what i care about is a delivered game, and so far it has been underwhelming. like koyfeh eloquently put it, it is about what we see when we actually get to see something. that is really simple.

You and kofeyh would be a great team, I don't understand both of you or what you are trying to tell me.

 

[kofeyh]

I have no idea what you are trying to say, sorry. I really don't get it.

You're arguing head-count like that's something I have been commenting on? I quoted your throw away sarcasm as an example of non-constructive commentary. For that I get the third degree. lol.

Maybe rather than throw away lines, mocking people (then confusing who even said the thing you mocked) and then just telling people you don't understand after confusing the topic entirely; try sticking to the topic so we can all actually talk about relevant crap? Give it a whirl.

The visit sounds encouraging; but I have heard these sorts of words before. So I'll wait for Beta, so I can add context to what's been observed, and can understand what the changes are. They sound considerable.

 

[Stigbob]

no it's not. a few selected snowflakes attending a prepared tour on september says nothing about what has been going on for a year. are you really that naive?

the simple fact of frontier having to make an issue about how many monkeys they got in the cage is fishy. do i look like i care? what i care about is a delivered game, and so far it has been underwhelming. like koyfeh eloquently put it, it is about what we see when we actually get to see something. that is really simple.

I seem to remember they "made and issue" out of it in direct response to all the conspiracy theories about maintenance mode and dinosaurs.

 

[babelfisch]

You're arguing head-count like that's something I have been commenting on? I quoted your throw away sarcasm as an example of non-constructive commentary. For that I get the third degree. lol.

So you are providing non-constructive commentary on non-constructive commentary? That's great, no wonder I didn't get the reason.

 

[Ziljan]

Exploration. Works nicely, looks great, really makes you feel like you are working to discover things and not just honk jump magic wand discovery.

That is very encouraging indeed.

The lighting changes shown at Lavecon... Was nice to see it in action on a 'live' build and not just screenshots. Once again, think once people get into beta, they will be pleased with it.

I really hope they make the new adaptive lighting and color grade optional. From the screenshots it just looked like they had dialed up the gamma to 11/10 until space itself turned the same color as a dirty cockpit windshield. Gone was the beautiful black inkiness of space that makes me feel like I could fall upward forever into a night sky. Instead they made the sky into a murky grey wall.

I suspect they were trying to brighten the ISM to make the whole galaxy itself look a nebula. Cheap thrills, that could cheapen the whole atmosphere of the game.

JUST FOR COMPARISON:

Real image of the night sky, looking very much like the bubble in Elite does now:

Real Earth at similar exposure:

Elite imitation of NMS style putrescence (3.3 adaptive lighting + color grade):

A number of the visitors put some STRONG pressure on frontier on various matters on behalf of wider player audience.

Not sure how I feel about this because that could go either way. Although, when people appeal to a "wider audience" they usually mean dumbing things down. Ahh well, I hope they got the feedback needed to make it fun for everyone, with at least enough challenge to keep things like the new exploration mechanic fresh for years to come.

 

[znôrt]

You and kofeyh would be a great team, I don't understand both of you or what you are trying to tell me.

nothing. this is all irrelevant. we'll see when it's released. personally i won't even bother with the beta. you are welcome to do your crusade thing meanwhile though

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

no it's not. a few selected snowflakes attending a prepared tour on september says nothing about what has been going on for a year. are you really that naive?

the simple fact of frontier having to make an issue about how many monkeys they got in the cage is fishy. do i look like i care? what i care about is a delivered game, and so far it has been underwhelming. like koyfeh eloquently put it, it is about what we see when we actually get to see something. that is really simple.

Sorry znort, but this is not how it shakes out.

You guys go around claiming ED is in maintenance mode and there are no 100 people working on it. When called on this fact, you suddenly change tune that you find delivery "underwhelming". Or that devs are lazy, or they don't know what they do.

Please stop moving goal posts and please stop boasting your posts about your disappointment with claims you have no evidence about. Sure, that will make your complains less dramatic, but you are just here to express opinion about game, not push theories why it is disappointing to you?

In nutshell, you can be disappointed about something AND THAT'S FINE. You don't need find facts to justify your disappointment. Games are entertainment. They are subjective as hell. You don't need dressing of "ohh they are really doing dinos, don't know what they are doing and interns working on it". That's where all this fluff comes from.

Just...don't.

 

[sollisb]

Along with Alec and a few others mentioned here, had the privilege to attend yesterday.

Frontier dedicated 5 of their team for the entire day to presenting many of the changes and improvements coming to the game in the next release.

It was by no means a polished puff piece for streamers, it was a detailed exposee and q&a on the content, with senior staff on hand asking questions of us, feedback on what was good and what needed work or improvements. There was very little of the 'it is on the roadmap for later' and an awful lot of 'let me just go and ask that part of the team' where we got into detail and provided constructive feedback on the new items we have seen already in live stream but also things they will be revealing over the forthcoming weeks.

They took away extensive notes from a broad range of the audience based on how their communities would react to certain elements, where the areas of improvement were wanted and how the new mechanics would affect people's gaming time.

Our questions weren't dodged, they weren't cagey about their answers and no, wasn't the community team presenting. They were there but the presentation was done by the team doing the doing not the talking about, if you see what I mean.

Whilst some streamers were there, others of us were representing chunks of player groups or event/content creators for in game fun.

Stuff we CAN talk about at the moment:
Exploration. Works nicely, looks great, really makes you feel like you are working to discover things and not just honk jump magic wand discovery.

The mining things that were first talked about at Lavecon have come along really nicely. Once again, there is a lot more to do whilst mining. I reckon people will enjoy it.

The lighting changes shown at Lavecon... Was nice to see it in action on a 'live' build and not just screenshots. Once again, think once people get into beta, they will be pleased with it.

Shout out as usual to the sound team. Got a big round of applause at one point. Couple of times we all shushed each other so we could just listen.

The stuff we can't mention yet as it isn't public. A huge amount of work and thought has gone into it all, am looking forward to getting my teeth into it both testing in beta and in final live release. Lots of the regular grumbles have been addressed.

It really is a large body of work. Took 6 hours to fully showcase the lot and there is still more we didn't get see. We over ran by over an hour on their plans as we were asking so many pointy questions and debating their answers. A number of the visitors put some STRONG pressure on frontier on various matters on behalf of wider player audience.

To the question earlier about the 'feel' in the office.... quite a few of the team members dropped their heads in to say hi, some of them were new faces had not met or seen on live streams before. There is a good vibe about the office there, happy looking staff (we quizzed one and the answer was 'even better now that the food isn't as bad as it was at the old office ;-) ). Delicious sandwiches btw.

For the record, yes, the numbers of people working JUST on ED are what they say, their other games were on other floors and no, jobs like HR and finance etc staff weren't part of that number,.It was all people actively working on Elite. Compared to my last visit, they arent kidding when they say the team has never been bigger. The sweeping improvements and changes have satisfied me that they havent been idle in the last year of the free 'Beyond' update.

All in all, and I appreciate there will be lots of 'but why wasn't xxx person invited', and realise I am lucky to have been invited. Am hoping we did you lot proud in terms of shouting loudly about things we are all passionate about, was great to see huge progress and my goodness am I going to have to set aside a whole day just to read the patch notes. Can't wait to get my teeth into it all.

Firslty thank you for a nice readable version of the days visit. It is somewhat pleasing to hear your analysis which seems to be based on sound foundations.

Let's hope it's delivered and delivers.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Thing is, you are gutted that a proposal you hadn't seen or used has been changed to some degree to a version you also haven't seen or used. And you're suggesting Frontier shoudn't ever tell us what they are going to do in advance.

Man, this company C A N N O T win.

It was clear from the live stream that the community asked some question they could not answer. I was happy they presented their ideas before they were set in stone and I think they were happy to get the feedback they got.

People who can't stomach that, well, they are kids. That's not an insult mind you, but it's just that they turn off logical thinking and want contrary things. They wine when Frontier doesn't see them as special snowflakes in the community and are appalled when they have the nerve to consider other player's point of view. They're like: "Do you have to listen to those other children?" and when Frontier says ten times "yes" they will submit.

As you said, this company cannot win.

 

[babelfisch]

nothing. this is all irrelevant. we'll see when it's released. personally i won't even bother with the beta. you are welcome to do your crusade thing meanwhile though

See what when it's released and which crusade thing?

 

[2plex]

Sounds great!

It does, though be wary because it's his (Vingtetun) opinion on that, which doesn't necessarily meet with with yours.
We have been through these cycles over overhype -> disappointment in the past several time already.
Beta will show.

 

[babelfisch]

It was clear from the live stream that the community asked some question they could not answer. I was happy they presented their ideas before they were set in stone and I think they were happy to get the feedback they got.

People who can't stomach that, well, they are kids. That's not an insult mind you, but it's just that they turn off logical thinking and want contrary things. They wine when Frontier doesn't see them as special snowflakes in the community and are appalled when they have the nerve to consider other player's point of view. They're like: "Do you have to listen to those other children?" and when Frontier says ten times "yes" they will submit.

As you said, this company cannot win.

What I don't understand is why they invited some random youtubers when they could have had me.

 

[Alec Turner]

Hah! Completely forgot I'd done this yesterday until just now. Well that's one off the bucket list.

Good. Now, GIVE ME HYPE !

Here's a thing that happened ... so they were about to show us something in mining. They reckoned they knew what the reaction was gonna be so it turned out Will filmed it. Anyway, they did the thing and yeah ... the room went frickin' nuts. After the mining section ... well, you know how most everyone thinks current mining is really boring ... well the buzz around the room was "hell, when this drops I'm heading into the rings and I ain't ever gonna come back out again!" [haha]

How's that for hype?