DDF and their "god-like powers"

[steevaavoo]

I think that lots of things (networking, offline mode, dynamic trading market, background simulation, etc.) turned out to be more difficult than they imagined. And that's sort-of fine, as long as they are honest about it.

Totally agree.

The God-Like powers mentioned in KS honestly gave me pause - especially as my Dad backed to that level, and his mischievousness is legendary to those who know him - but I was never sure how they'd implement them effectively.

However, they were one of the rewards and should have been granted. Or at the least a good, logical reason should have been given as to why they were delayed/eliminated.

 

[Carsten]

Welcome back Carsten. The backer of the first hour. A long absence in the forums

Cheers mate

 

[Patrick_68000]

how much does it cost to join the DDF?

I do not dare to say it ...

 

[Patrick_68000]

especially as my Dad backed to that level, and his mischievousness is legendary to those who know him

Frontier has really of godlike powers

 

[GJ51]

It is not coming along at all.

Getting on for 9 months since 'release' and there are no signs of near God-likes, even though the description on the kickstarter outlined a role post game. FD essentially abandoned the DDF as a talking shop ages ago - well before the release, though there have been a couple of tiny little threads at the start of the year. When they want to chats these days they just plonk it into the main forum. Sandro did start a thread at the end of April telling us the DDF was dead (as if their lack of attention to the DDF had not made that obvious), and that they were starting to think about what God-likes to give us. On one of DBOBE's 'ask me anything' threads, I managed to get the God-like question asked, and DBOBE did reply to it, saying that they were still discussing it.

So, essentially, they abandoned the DDF much sooner than most of us expected, and certainly before they had shown us all their designs, since things like CGs, CQC and powerplay went nowhere near the DDF. Whilst it lasted it was great, however. And then they failed to deliver on the promise that made about a third of the DDF jonty up to that level.

Yeah ^^ this

Now they only ask for input after they release a flop like Power Play.

 

[Armour]

Sounds like the Powers from Powerplay are a first step towards that DDF perk. Maybe DDF members will get access to a special private rating tier that bestows the ability to steer the strategic direction of a particular Power.

 

[GJ51]

Sounds like the Powers from Powerplay are a first step towards that DDF perk. Maybe DDF members will get access to a special private rating tier that bestows the ability to steer the strategic direction of a particular Power.

I doubt it.

I don't think most backers even care anymore and just accept that FD has no credibility left.

I don't even listen to their empty hype anymore. I've just accepted that FD retains the right to renege any and all statements made at any time and that they often contradict themselves in the forums within discussions on any given topic.

The only realistic approach is to just move on and play the environment as it evolves.

 

[Soliluna]

Sounds like the Powers from Powerplay are a first step towards that DDF perk. Maybe DDF members will get access to a special private rating tier that bestows the ability to steer the strategic direction of a particular Power.

With all the hell people get for suggesting guilds having power over aspects of the game and how it is not in the 'spirit of Elite'; it makes me wonder why this idea has not been snubbed with similar attitudes.

Has anyone got a link to the full DDF post of this feature that explains what they were considering implementing?

 

[Marc Alexander]

I think that lots of things (networking, offline mode, dynamic trading market, background simulation, even ship models, etc.) turned out to be more difficult than they imagined. And that's sort-of fine, as long as they are honest about it.

Are you suggesting they are being dishonest?

 

[GJ51]

Are you suggesting they are being dishonest?

You seriously mean it isn't obvious by now?

 

[Cody]

An old phrase comes to mind: economical with the truth.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I think that lots of things (networking, offline mode, dynamic trading market, background simulation, even ship models, etc.) turned out to be more difficult than they imagined

You think ? They were prepared for many years before the kickstarter

 

[GJ51]

An old phrase comes to mind: economical with the truth.

I like your charitable description.

I don't think they see themselves as dishonest by intent, but they seem to be unrepentant with regard to their own decisions that have unintended and unforeseen consequences that move them in unanticipated directions that obviously contradict previous statements and inevitably lead to what are seen as broken promises.

It seems more like they should have declared to everyone from the get-go that nothing is engraved in stone and they (FD) reserve the right to change any and all prior statements of intent at any time.

That's the reality - I just think they should be honest about it and state it publicly.

Once you accept that this is the way it is, you can just move on and play the game without getting emotionally invested in all the disappointing rhetoric.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

With all the hell people get for suggesting guilds having power over aspects of the game and how it is not in the 'spirit of Elite'; it makes me wonder why this idea has not been snubbed with similar attitudes.

Has anyone got a link to the full DDF post of this feature that explains what they were considering implementing?

Which feature? Powerplay went nowhere near the DDF: If it had I cannot imagine that it would have had such a negative response when it went live. The God-likes were on a list of 4 or 5 features that were coming up 'next' for discussion, with dates assigned, round about the time that FD gave up pretending the DDF was still alive, so we never did get to see them.

FWIW, there were few things that DDF members were near unanimous on, but 'pay to win' was one of them. The DDF would have given short shrift to any suggestion on in-game advantage to DDF members.

 

[Patrick_68000]

A major problem, I think, is the size of the company. And the financial resources. David also declared several times that the players have requirements, very high

 

[deusx_ophc]

Ah, I Jonty'd up not because DB promised stuff in the DDF (i knew it wasn't really for me, though it was nice to stick my head in from time to time), but because it really looked like the KS might fail.
I was fairly new to KS at the time, but it seems quite normal now, that they will rally in the final hours, who knew

i did ^^

but i also pledged up & above ddf. didn't take part much... only one topic got me going, hiding human vs npc cmdrs with a terrible idea like that transponder or similar. glad glad glad it is left untouched since alpha

 

[Asp Explorer]

FWIW, there were few things that DDF members were near unanimous on, but 'pay to win' was one of them. The DDF would have given short shrift to any suggestion on in-game advantage to DDF members.

This ^

Pretty much everyone in the DDF seemed to be completely against any form of advantage (real or perceived) at all, and would have liked to have been more involved with the actual discussion of game design and implementation.

None of that happened to any great degree. FD like to mention "supercruise" as a direct result of "player feedback", and maybe it was - but that seems to be the only thing that (all) players contributed toward, not the DDF itself. As mentioned, Community Goals, Powerplay, CQC - the DDF didn't even get to sniff in on those at all. We were just as surprised as everyone else when they appeared - and I have the distinct feeling that if they had been put to the DDF for discussion or evaluation, they would have been laughed out the door.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

You think ? They were prepared for many years before the kickstarter

Indeed. DBOBE said early in the kickstarter (in the risks section, IIRC) that they had already cracked complicated things like the networking. Hands up who believes that one!

Yes, they did a lot of work before the kickstarter launched. It had been running as a stealth project for some time. Otherwise they would not have been able to show videos like the dogfight in the asteroids.

But the fact remains that they had certainly not cracked the networking, as anyone who struggled through the alpha and beta while they rewrote it would attest. Even now we get fairly frequent threads posted complaining about the networking and the difficulties of finding friends and winging up. And you are surely not suggesting that the trading market and background simulation are as successful as they should be?

 

[Marc Alexander]

Here in lies the problem with the DDF -the fact that members don't make the final decisions, FD do. Whatever was decided or had a majority regarding a topic, FD makes the call. Hence the tension between what backers (who have all chipped in for the privilege) want versus the commonsensical notion that any company will and should have the final call on their product.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Here in lies the problem with the DDF -the fact that members don't make the final decisions, FD do. Whatever was decided or had a majority regarding a topic, FD makes the call. Hence the tension between what backers (who have all chipped in for the privilege) want versus the commonsensical notion that any company will and should have the final call on their product.

Indeed - FD call the shots, as they should.

What I believe went wrong with the whole process though - is that DDF members perhaps thought they would have more involvement with the design process itself, and Alpha backers would test out those designs for a week or so before they went live. I'm getting older and as a loyal Drunk of Sol, my memory isn't what it used to be - but the statements are out there somewhere.

If I remember right - FD were going to introduce a new ship or gameplay element - the DDF would be there to say "Yup - that would work!" or "That's a load of plops right there!", and the wider Alpha audience would try it out for a week and give feedback, and FD would then decide go or no go. It didn't work out like that at all, and the DDF was taken round the back of the shed and given a 12 gauge breakfast.