Counterbalance: the Truth about Elite Dangerous (Horizons)

[Chris Majere]

What's wrong with wings other than the 4 player limit and the reward distribution problems, which only a portion of players dislike?

Out of the three, Wings is the only one I didn't try myself (its why I said "seems"). But by simply reading the forums, there seems to be issues with wings like: Wing invites not always working. Comms not working or closing down on its own. Players in wings not able to see each other even though they are in the same location. Not being able to invite NPC wingmens. Reward distributions issues you pointed out.

Don't get me wrong, Wings IS a very good idea specially to play with friends and I'm sure some players find it entertaining... but...I'm not convinced it was a GREAT success....yet (still can be improved...i'm sure you agree)

 

[[VR] Frank_G]

FD, continue to evolve the space sim, please. The MMO can go where the sun doesn't shine...

Thank you

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On topic. The points by the OP reflect my opinion about Elite Dangerous and Horizons and i amreally looking forward to see whats in store for us next. Elite is going the right way.

 

[Soulstain]

Lol you should tell them to take off the MMO tag from their advertisement, then.

They took it off a long time ago. It may still be mislabeled on steam though.

 

[defekt]

Yes, ED has set itself up as a solid foundation upon which to build something grand. For me Horizons only widened that foundation rather that start to build something meaningful upon the foundations already laid, and FD are asking for 40 quid for that.

To my eye the general marketing strategy behind Horizons has not been a good one: pay a /lot/ more for a bit more 'filler' with no real sign yet of any meaningful 'killer'. The general message of Horizons being a season pass hasn't really translated all that well, and the 'early access' tag on Steam only serves to further confuse the issue.

FD still have a heck of a long way to go with ED, in all areas of the game; not the least of which being a cogent marketing strategy. I hope the game boldy goes where no man has gone before but up to now it's all felt a bit too 'trial and error' for the kind of money FD have been asking for.

 

[Zandraak]

Space Sim? Yeeeeah.
There is no racing, no IA with a brain (they prefer overStuffed) no PVP and finally a frozen univers.
But if this is not important, and you imagine all the gameplay on your head, it's good and don't need improvement.

COME ON GUYS !

 

[CMDR Ellegon]

Lol you should tell them to take off the MMO tag from their advertisement, then.

There I agree. It is a multiplayer game, but if that should be the focus, it would no longer be Elite.

 

[Deareim]

"Space Sim" = thanks OP. Laughed a lot !

 

[Thebadmf]

I love this game. I may whine from time to time but, I only want this game to succeed since, like Star Wars and Star Trek, I've grown up with this series.

I do however, fall into the camp that thinks the game is too shallow; the missions being the primary culprit as, both FE2 and First Encounters had a significantly richer mission system, NPC interactions and more overt story. There's also a a huge quality gap between the various system when judged against it peers, for example the lack of bookmarking, the horrendous state of the outfitting and option screens versus the amazing art and sound design.

Now, you mix this together and add the cost of entry and for some, it makes for a sour taste; it's like a subscription based development model on a pay up front product... I think I honestly would have preferred a monthly sub but, I think I'm in the minority. Then again, with no sub, I don't feel obliged to play to get my money's worth, if I want to take a 6 week break for another game, so be it.

I have faith in FD to eventually get there but, in my opinion, the updates need to offer a lot more improvements to the core feature set; mission scaling needs to be fixed and once and for all, the ship balance pass needs to happen sooner rather than later, options and fitting screens need to add some tree's/tabs and not just be long lists, fleet transportation etc. /sigh. I just want more from each update! I guess I'm asking a lot of such a small company.

Thanks Frontier for building this game. Don't take too long making it the game it deserves to be or the 'great foundation' will become a meme.

 

[galenhammond]

As a noncritic fanboy (I guess that's what you're saying), I can still write what I think on the internet, if I want to. Anyway, I criticize plenty about the game. But I stopped bothering with these forums because of the endless stream of negativity and entitledness I was reading.

I had a crack at Horizons the other day though, and I was impressed by the thought that's gone into making it work in a believable way. In fact, more than anything else, the style of Horizons has established another data point in what we know about FD's attitude to game (well, specifically E: D) development. So I hopped onto the forums and there was a 30-page thread about 'the truth about E: D' which was pretty negative, so I thought I'd try and balance it a bit with some love for the devs.

I'd guess that the number of people who are basically happy is much bigger than the moaners, but generally people just don't wade into a forum to tell the world how much they love something. There's a few on here who will, but it's useless against the tidal wave of negativity that you get.

+1 rep for this. I've noticed that it is really easy to be negative and to moan and complain, but much harder to be happy (with the game, and with life in general). E: D and Horizons do have some glaring bugs which need to be addressed....but in the end the game is on relatively solid footing to keep building on it for the long term.

 

[grammatonfeather]

Space Sim? Yeeeeah.
There is no racing, no IA with a brain (they prefer overStuffed) no PVP and finally a frozen univers.
But if this is not important, and you imagine all the gameplay on your head, it's good and don't need improvement.

COME ON GUYS !

You think "simulation" only applies to racing?

I don't need to imagine matey... I am in the Elite universe. It ain't fully furnished yet but everything is life-size and in 3d. I can get up and walk around my cockpit. Look out the window. Eat a pie.

 

[david6768]

Lol you should tell them to take off the MMO tag from their advertisement, then.

100% yes !!!

 

[drholliday]

Yes, some parts are thin, such as the missions and the in-station interaction. But they really aren't any thinner than any other options you have.

Which is a good thing? Kinda like saying...Yeah. The car has a crappy engine. But it's by no means worse than the tires. If I misunderstood you and you're saying these mission mechanics would be as good as any other you probably haven't played many games since 1984.

And again, although a lot of people have a problem with the excuse (and it is so) that you need imagination for this game, the fact is that you _do_.

Which I guess is why they complain?

But if you do invest some imagination, or play with other real people, the odds are that the actual substance/substrate will provide realism, not detract from it.

How would imagination fix the problem of doing completely meaningless things without ANY consequences. You do actually have to imagine the consequences as well.

E: D gives you the fundamental reality.

It does? At which point of imagination does that view kick in? There's nothing realistic in the game. Not even the controls with FA-off are. Just try to accelerate.

 

[drholliday]

Comparing ED to SC is completely invalid unless you have to compare ED to something that's in heavy development, will certainly not be released for months - if at all - and thus cannot be bought right now to make a point that this game is better at something.

 

[Belphegorn]

I just hope the "low number of sci-fi-romantics" online won't make Frontier Developments doubt the purpose and cease development of Elite Dangerous. So far, I personally enjoyed every second I spent playing this game.

 

[dementia]

Most advanced space sim.... I'm still waiting for the MMO part. Seeing another commander in space is the equivalent to seeing a Jedi in the pre-cu days of SWG. SWG fans know what I'm talking about, haha.

How are you going to get an MMO in a play area 400 billion star systems in size and that uses real distances and still expect to bump into people all the time??

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Why can't people see beyond the end of their noses? We all know that the game play is thin on the ground in lots of areas but the thing to remember is that the foundations are solid and more content will be added all the time. A project like ED will take a good 10 years I estimate to become as rich as people want now.

You 'instant gratification' people make me laugh sometimes. I for one are looking forward to seeing how this simulation/game will evolve over the coming years. Frontier will make mistakes and some features may end up being dead ends but that is all part of the journey. Keep playing and keep giving them the support and constructive feedback.

 

[JosiahD]

No need to compare ED to SC in particular to make a point.

It has to be compared to the entire genre to really shine at what it does.

Every space game ever limits itself in some way or the other, with the goal of being 'fun' and 'not empty' and of course for being finished and released in a reasonable amount of time so it's developers can at last start to make profits. Because let's face it, developers only return a considerable profit only after active development is finished. Every other monetary gain is just funding for the game.

There is not a single space game which has full sized planets, a full scale galaxy with everything proportioned correctly, solid flight mechanics which balance realism and fun with this quality, generates planets with such scientific fidelity. The list goes on.

All games, shy away of at least several of these either because the developers are incapable or, more likely, they are scared of the sheer scope of the work and the criticism which surely will follow.

I knew people left and right would accuse the game of being empty and lifeless when they announced the scale and that they would not give up on it no matter what. Every sane game developer knows the bigger you make something the longer it takes to fill it up. No wonder the elder scrolls or the fallout games get smaller and smaller with each iteration. No wonder the maker of evochron mercenary ditched full sized planets not only for the first game but also for the second iteration.

Making ED the way it is, is akin to breaking all the taboo of game making and pure insanity from a game designer's or publisher's point of view.

This is exactly why I support FD and have mad respect for them.

I agree 100%.