No, they can't...and I pity them for that. It explains so much of their behavior. They say anything, the tiniest little thing; and it gets extracted, dissected, and mutilated and used for any and all sides of a conversation.
Doesn't it always?
"Do they play their own game?!"
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No, they can't...and I pity them for that. It explains so much of their behavior. They say anything, the tiniest little thing; and it gets extracted, dissected, and mutilated and used for any and all sides of a conversation.
Doesn't it always?
That's why they rarely talk to us, again it's a no win.
To be honest, I still didn't play them much. I wasn't tech support and not a game developer and it still felt weird to be playing games while at work.
Not only do I take my work home voluntarily, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who loves their job more than me.
Did you see the Q&A at Lavecon? Someone said they had, like, 12 Elites (or some other v.high number) and asked the devs. Pretty sure Sandy said he had none, and yeah boiii! (ok, paraphrasing, but he should have
). But who's better to design the game - someone who hasn't hit Elite, or someone who's done it tens of times....
Beer taster?
Ferrari test driver?
Cadbury quality-control inspector?
Playboy recruiter?
Before I answer this post, a bit of discloser. I don't consider myself to be a great pilot, I'm decent. When it comes to using a game controller... Fahget abodit. Ain't happening. I hate those things. I have worked hard on my setup, first with Joystick Curves and now with Target software. I've put some time in to getting it they way I want it and if I sat down on somebody else's computer or a console, I'd be lost. Completely. That being said...
It's really hard to watch the live streams, beyond the rambling on about things, it's quite apparent that they are not very good at playing the game. They keep saying that it's really hard to do on a live feed in front of an audience but...
Another thing to consider is that it's not easy to design something that is user friendly. I design touchscreens in my job along with the controls for automated machinery. I am constantly out in the field with customers and getting their feedback on how they use the touchscreens/machine and it makes a huge difference in the design. Without proper feedback to aid in designing things it's easy to develop tunnel vision. For example, you know how it works, so it's easy for you to get the machine working, but the customer doesn't approach that with the same level of knowledge and can't remember (on average) 50% of what you taught them. Put that over to the game and you can see very similar issues with Elite.
On of the things most machinery developers do is come up with rules on how certain things should happen and for the most part this works, until it doesn't. Along comes the operator with his 50% knowledge and you will see how soon this can go out the window. Throw in the operator who is going to do it their way regardless and things really get out of hand. Sound familiar? No, just substitute machine for game and operator for commander and the light bulb should turn on... The only way to fix or prevent this is to continually refine the design and make it more user/operator friendly. Unfortunately, not every user/operator thinks the same way. Some will swear that their ideas are as obvious as the nose on their face. I can tell you for a fact that such suggestions would confuse the average operator.
I think the biggest issue with the game is the divide between what the developers think is a reasonable level of grind/gameplay and what the average commander thinks. Too much has been run out of the shop with more grind than game play and given that this is a huge universe, it's difficult to fill it up with gameplay.
With the planned improvements to the game I hope this can be alleviated. I really hope that some of the things like the economy, mission board and BGS can be fleshed out a bit more but I really think the Devs have got a whole lot on their plate. Fingers crossed but expectations lowered.
That being said, I really love the ships and I'm enjoying the game more since I scaled back on the my fleet.
It's really hard to watch the live streams, beyond the rambling on about things, it's quite apparent that they are not very good at playing the game. They keep saying that it's really hard to do on a live feed in front of an audience but...
Another thing to consider is that it's not easy to design something that is user friendly. I design touchscreens in my job along with the controls for automated machinery. I am constantly out in the field with customers and getting their feedback on how they use the touchscreens/machine and it makes a huge difference in the design. Without proper feedback to aid in designing things it's easy to develop tunnel vision. For example, you know how it works, so it's easy for you to get the machine working, but the customer doesn't approach that with the same level of knowledge and can't remember (on average) 50% of what you taught them. Put that over to the game and you can see very similar issues with Elite.
On of the things most machinery developers do is come up with rules on how certain things should happen and for the most part this works, until it doesn't. Along comes the operator with his 50% knowledge and you will see how soon this can go out the window. Throw in the operator who is going to do it their way regardless and things really get out of hand. Sound familiar? No, just substitute machine for game and operator for commander and the light bulb should turn on... The only way to fix or prevent this is to continually refine the design and make it more user/operator friendly. Unfortunately, not every user/operator thinks the same way. Some will swear that their ideas are as obvious as the nose on their face. I can tell you for a fact that such suggestions would confuse the average operator.
I think the biggest issue with the game is the divide between what the developers think is a reasonable level of grind/gameplay and what the average commander thinks. Too much has been run out of the shop with more grind than game play and given that this is a huge universe, it's difficult to fill it up with gameplay.
With the planned improvements to the game I hope this can be alleviated. I really hope that some of the things like the economy, mission board and BGS can be fleshed out a bit more but I really think the Devs have got a whole lot on their plate. Fingers crossed but expectations lowered.
That being said, I really love the ships and I'm enjoying the game more since I scaled back on the my fleet.
I’d like those, but no.
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or, of course, they have a personal account for livestreams only.
Maybe Will, Ed, Paige et al have other, less obviously named accounts to use in game.
Maybe Will, Ed, Paige et al have other, less obviously named accounts to use in game.
My brother used to say that about computers... I think it's a bit bogus. I know plenty of people who do work on things that they paid to do in the off hours. How many mechanics I've seen over the years who leave work and restore an old car or build a racer, how many professional pilots I've know who work on old warbirds or build/fly airplanes for the joy of it. In fact, most people who truly love their job and have a reasonable amount of leisure time spend it doing the job they get paid to do.
My opinion is that you really can't design properly unless get in their, without design tools and play the game. Only then does the feedback begin to make sense and you can sort the wheat from the chaff.
![[Diplomacy] Carnegie](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/123/123809.jpg?1553527149){kind=avatar}
It also comes down to how they play.
Someone from FDev could play 40 hours a week, but if they spend those hours exploring in Solo then they're not going to see 99% of the issues.
Couple of things there...
They use gamepads in the livestreams all the time and I genuinely wonder whether this is a deliberate choice in order to try and suggest that ED is just a "normal" game and not some kind of scary, complex, nerdy simulation or that they just don't put any thought into demonstrating the game and they just think "plug a gamepad in and make the ship do stuff for the camera".
I like Ed a lot. On the charity livestreams, in particular, he's shown himself to be a broadcast-quality presenter and he knows his stuff.
Even so, it's really hard to actually do something and steer a conversation at the same time.
As a result of this, I notice it's quite common for interesting points to go unresolved because Ed's been busy trying to find a USS or land a ship or whatever.
And, at the most basic level, you end up with periods of "dead air" while Ed was frantically twiddling the gamepad.
I think it'd be better if they could find somebody in the company who was already half-decent at the game, give them a proper rig to play on and then have them at the side of the set.
Then the presenter could ask the pilot to demonstrate stuff while he concentrates on doing the presenting and talking to the guests.
I can’t help but think that for Ed and company Elite is something like the Gynocologist’s Wife. How many hours can you spend working with something professionally every week before you go home and go “meh”?
I know more than a few mechanics with broken down cars, technicians with broken PCs and at least one gynocologist’s wife who can attest to this.
I know more than a few mechanics with broken down cars, technicians with broken PCs and at least one gynocologist’s wife who can attest to this.
Yeah, but...do you study rocks?
Some of them do on regular basis. Expecting all of them to play game all the time AND share same opinion about game is a bit naive at best.
It is also very arrogant argument. "I am playing this game nonstop and that's why I see all problems which comes totally not from me overplaying this game". It is just another POV. Neither devs have ultimate right about game nor you. They play game casually - just like me for example - and they see it from that perspective. Doesn't mean they ignore other narratives in the game.
I think chain of logic is a bit of problem here. "But why they don't fix a and b?" Because it might not be easy, it is planned as part of rewrite, etc. "But why this and this design decision?" They might actually like their decisions and might disagree on your opinion.
Basically, it is stupid argument. Provide your narrative and your story and be polite - devs definitely will read it. Be demanding and arrogant - well, I really doubt anyone will.
p.s. afaik QA play game all the time as part of their job. They get juicy internal alphas though.
It is also very arrogant argument. "I am playing this game nonstop and that's why I see all problems which comes totally not from me overplaying this game". It is just another POV. Neither devs have ultimate right about game nor you. They play game casually - just like me for example - and they see it from that perspective. Doesn't mean they ignore other narratives in the game.
I think chain of logic is a bit of problem here. "But why they don't fix a and b?" Because it might not be easy, it is planned as part of rewrite, etc. "But why this and this design decision?" They might actually like their decisions and might disagree on your opinion.
Basically, it is stupid argument. Provide your narrative and your story and be polite - devs definitely will read it. Be demanding and arrogant - well, I really doubt anyone will.
p.s. afaik QA play game all the time as part of their job. They get juicy internal alphas though.
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And also the fact that understand how the game was designed to be played which makes it hard to see/play from another point of view.
As a general rule, on the forums of a game you'll find the enthousiasts. In this case, people who have played thousands of hours. As another general rule, people dont like to do for fun what they work on during the day. I cant imagine having to work on a game 8hrs a day, commute an hour home only to play it for another four hours on your own account. If they are going to play games (and I assume quite a few devs rather do something else frequently) it probably is another game, one they werent involved with.
Pron Star
https://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/25/need-a-job-berlins-looking-for-a-brothel-tester.html
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