Elite:Dangerous is a single player MMO , take things seriously and invest in actual multiplayer

[Twotricks]

Elite Dangerous is very good modernized version of 1984 ELITE. There is no question about it.
84 ELITE is grandfather of Sandbox games.


Sandbox games evolved a lot since 1984 with advancement of technology. Most directly into two categories single player and multiplayer.


Pure sandbox evolved into

Multiplayer : Minecraft , Wurm , DayZ , EVE , A Tale in the Desert ... - Typically its very reactive virtual world where general story is created by player interaction with world and each other.

Singleplayer : Skyrim (TES) , GTA, X3 ... - Typically these games have very reactive virtual world with one main story and many small stories player can take part in. The main difference is the story. In multiplayer it is left for player interaction to create story , while single player lacks player interaction and has to provide the story.




Eliteangerous falls into first category of Sandbox , since it does not provide story ( please these minor gal net snippets and events are not story - i am talking about Dragonborn Skyrim type of major story ), But it also lacks functioning multiplayer - having most of traditional multilayer features removed making it practically single player game for most purposes.

Conclusion is simple : Elite Dangerous is single player MMO
It has not enough narrative goal to actually engage player for long. In this even X3 is much more successful. And it lacks crucial part of multiplayer sandbox goal, the competition.

Without competition such game is pointless.
Let me give you example : Due to recent server bug a player has gained several billion credits. He can now buy best ship, with best equipment. And still be left with 100 times more left. His game progression is over. Best he can do is to post a screenshot of his ship in forum and go to look for another challenging game.

This was good 1984 , but we are in 2015 now.
And players expect more today - which is already evident

Frontier should reconsider what is happening with the game and act. Major focus on multiplayer is only serious thing to do now.
Guilds , Groups , Chat , Mail , Player trading ,, followed by player owned stations , crafting ... and much more

The next step must be made. From single player MMO to actual MMO.
There is no other way for the game to exit this strange limbo.

 

[Macgyver]

Wall !!!!!

 

[Twotricks]

Sorry. For that, problems with editor. Fixed now.

 

[Joe Spivey]

You forgot to preface that with 'In my opinion' and then, at the end, to qualify it with your expertise to offer such an opinion.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

what do you consider a long time? i've so far clocked more than 500 hours and i'm far from finished with the game yet.

 

[Crimson Fury]

 

[Renegade Roach]

Waiting for the familiar faces to post that 'space is big and lonely' and that social game design 'adds nothing'.

 

[smsKONG]

Firstly -


Secondly X series may have had a story line - but it was always underwhelming, buggy and rarely the reason people played the game.

 

[Remiel]

Secondly X series may have had a story line - but it was always underwhelming, buggy and rarely the reason people played the game.

On a related note, Elite is already miles ahead of X-Afterbirth in quality by virtue of being released in a playable state.

 

[Twotricks]

You forgot to preface that with 'In my opinion' and then, at the end, to qualify it with your expertise to offer such an opinion.

Honestly its not just my own opinion.

And its slowly dawning on everyone. Except a small group that simply wants a single player remake of old ELITE with upgraded graphics.

But I think these people already got what they wanted ? Right ? For them the game can now crash and burn. Why should they care ? They have Solo mode nobody can take it away...



But there is much larger group of people that want more for the game. Want to see it be successful. And continue to be developed for many years.

Because if the above group will be the one that developers listen. The game is done for. Frontier development can save their time and go on developing next game.

Without Multiplayer there is no future for Elite Dangerous

 

[maxcorwyn]

I kinda agree.

If a multiplayer game lacks story there is at least the possibility for the players to make up some story themselves.

To do so, more interaction is needed, which can only reasonably be provided in a persistent/coherent online world.
(Interaction doesn't necessarily mean PVP, mind you.)

Well, some can dream...

 

[Egan]

Honestly its not just my own opinion.

And its slowly dawning on everyone. Except a small group that simply wants a single player remake of old ELITE with upgraded graphics.

But I think these people already got what they wanted ? Right ? For them the game can now crash and burn. Why should they care ? They have Solo mode nobody can take it away...



But there is much larger group of people that want more for the game. Want to see it be successful. And continue to be developed for many years.

Because if the above group will be the one that developers listen. The game is done for. Frontier development can save their time and go on developing next game.

Without Multiplayer there is no future for Elite Dangerous

Ooh! Nice! People who want to play solo hate the game and want it to fail! Haven't seen that tactic used yet. One point for trying to shut down dissent with vague originality.

 

[Remiel]

Honestly its not just my own opinion.

And its slowly dawning on everyone. Except a small group that simply wants a single player remake of old ELITE with upgraded graphics.

But I think these people already got what they wanted ? Right ? For them the game can now crash and burn. Why should they care ? They have Solo mode nobody can take it away...



But there is much larger group of people that want more for the game. Want to see it be successful. And continue to be developed for many years.

Because if the above group will be the one that developers listen. The game is done for. Frontier development can save their time and go on developing next game.

Without Multiplayer there is no future for Elite Dangerous

As an EVE veteran, I can tell you straight up that you're wrong. This is just your opinion, and it doesn't matter how many people share that opinion, without qualifying your opinion, it remains only an opinion. And an opinion not grounded in substantiated fact is little more than a delusion.

Now here's my qualified opinion - Elite is shaping up to be one of the best quality open-world sandboxes ever, a very LARGE open world that given more time and development, will be a hot contender for EVE Online's title. It already has player interaction going on - I know I've had a very large bite of it. If you're not getting any, I can quite matter-of-factly conclude you aren't looking.

Your mistake is, you're trying to pretend like there are only two kinds of sandbox, and there is no room for a third. Even if Elite doesn't fit into the two categories you tried to define with your subjective opinion of what those categories are, why can't it have its own and be something new and unique?

You are not a special snowflake and you don't get to make demands, especially such misinformed ones.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Without competition such game is pointless.

With all due respect i must disagree. Have you never heard of coop play? I'm thoroughly enjoying coop (even in its current limited state) and finding lots of point to the game. Looking forward to future tools that will improve the multiplayer aspect.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

As an EVE veteran,

You've mentioned this in a few threads now and you are confusing me. You say you play Eve but you keep making rational posts. Its breaking my logic circuits!

 

[Darque]

I have to agree with the OP on this one. I came to Elite expecting to feel the love I felt for the original game. It is indeed a nice version of that game with some interesting updates.

Unfortunately the game lacks anything that will hold long term interest except for the grind to the next ship. None of the younger people I know are interested in the game after seeing it and playing it - mostly just us folks who played and loved it in the 80's from my viewpoint.

One thing that really bothers me about the game is the lack of standardization in tech level from system to system. A galactic Empire and Federation, etc. are represented in the galaxy, but each system holds random levels of tech, and worse, one has to hunt around to find the next upgrade for one's ship....just to grind some more.

I have hope that something will change and the game will be more interesting. EVE Online really set a high standard for a shared galaxy game, and perhaps I am being unfair in having hopes so high for a new game. Looking forward to improvements!

 

[Remiel]

You've mentioned this in a few threads now and you are confusing me. You say you play Eve but you keep making rational posts. Its breaking my logic circuits!

It takes strength and no small degree of cleverness to do well at EVE. It is true, though, that the majority of EVE players are particularly unclever - a large portion of the game is fueled by the mistakes of the stupid, which the clever don't hesitate to take advantage of.

 

[BadSector]

Honestly its not just my own opinion.

And its slowly dawning on everyone. Except a small group that simply wants a single player remake of old ELITE with upgraded graphics.

But I think these people already got what they wanted ? Right ? For them the game can now crash and burn. Why should they care ? They have Solo mode nobody can take it away...



But there is much larger group of people that want more for the game. Want to see it be successful. And continue to be developed for many years.

Because if the above group will be the one that developers listen. The game is done for. Frontier development can save their time and go on developing next game.

Without Multiplayer there is no future for Elite Dangerous

Agreed, i'v chatted with a lot of people in game in regards of ED and they ALL said basically the same.

 

[Twotricks]

With all due respect i must disagree. Have you never heard of coop play? I'm thoroughly enjoying coop (even in its current limited state) and finding lots of point to the game. Looking forward to future tools that will improve the multiplayer aspect.

Talking about competitive play I also mean CO-OP. Maybe better term for what i am saying would be player interaction. But when i say co-op , i dont mean just my next door friend from school that also happens to play Elite. And we arranged over the phone to play today (although this game makes even such event hard) When I say competitive or co-op focus - its by no question related to people you only met in game. This is the key.

 

[EnFo]

"Without Multiplayer there is no future for Elite Dangerous"


I disagree totally, the only reason to play in 'open' is for other player contact and a lot of people just are not interested in that.
This game will be a great success with or without multiplayer and I am having a great time playing 'solo' at the moment, I see no need at all to meet other players.

 

[Flappers]