Elite Dangerous is the Largest Empty Sandbox Ever Made

[Ozric]

The point of the thread is primarily to remind the game designers that it's important to make the sandbox deep if Elite Dangerous is to last another 5 years. It needs features that give players agency to create and control things rather than add superficial content. It doesn't need to be a full-blown sandbox game, but it needs more sand and tools. Otherwise it will remain a shallow sandbox which many people complained about for the last 3 years.

What could make the sandbox deep

Some suggestions:

• Player owned capital ships - this is believed to be coming as the Fleet Carrier in Q4 2018. Should be (very) customizable and act as a mobile base for PVE and PVP gameplay. Also expand the type of player owned capital ships: battleships, bulk carriers etc.
• Proper in-game guild mechanics - believed to be coming as Squadrons in Q4 2018
• Mining Extractors - player owned. It can be bought and placed on a planet. After a while the player would return to collect the mined minerals
• Storage Structure - player owned. This building is used to store the mined minerals.
• Processor Structure - player owned. This is used to process the mined minerals. Then players can produce goods such as modules and ships by themselves. It makes the economy more player driven and adds depth to mining.
• NPC Ship Crew Management - NPC crew in the cockpit and crew management options for the whole ship which can be managed by the player. This adds depth to NPC interactions onboard a ship.
• Player owned Outpost, Stations - for Squadrons who have enough credits and resources to build or buy an outpost or station.

Seriously, how many times..?

Player owned this and that, player driven economy... All in a game that wasn't designed to have them. Why do you feel the need to keep trying to change Elite into a different game? It's a serious question and one that I would like you to answer.

See now Squadrons... I'm dreading squadrons, it seems as though it's going to bring everything to Elite that I don't want and I am worried that it will destroy the balance in the game once and for all. I'll reserve my true judgement until we see more details, but it doesn't bode well in my opinion.

 

[babelfisch]

So much respect for op, he's being called an idiot, a failure, a kid, insulted left and right with dismissive and passive aggressive replies, mockery and so on, but he stands there unmovable taking pitchfork punctures for defending his point of view. Kudos mate, this cesspool of a conversation doesn't deserve you.

Meanwhile, on reddit, 2k people in the last 24 hours considered 2.4 and the general direction of Elite a huge disappointment. But who cares about numbers right? Fdevs surely don't care.


Oh sorry, almost forgot, I have to camouflage myself in the crowd of this topic:

- If you don't like the game play something else, CoD for example?
- If you want sand, here is some sand for you:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/815QpgTHXFL._SY355_.jpg
- Oh no, not this topic again lmao.
- If you don't think the game is good enough for you why don't you code something yourself? Uh? UH?


Oh, are those replies already been used? I'll be back with an original one in a sec.

And you call others passive aggressive? ROFL

 

[Agony_Aunt]

It's a shame more complaints aren't made into constructive ideas and posted in the suggestions thread. More likely to get traction there than buried in 12 pages of whine.

Its a shame he didn't at least post those things in his OP. Then we could have all had a laugh about him complaining about FD doing what he wants them to do.

 

[playfuldreamer]

Just look at the major tonal shift between the Reddit thread and this in-house thread. It's almost like, after years of being badgered by the same group of people, some in the community have jumped this ship for other places that don't disparage them for their opinions--right or wrong.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Roughly 80% or more people who bought ED went away and stopped playing. I could be one of those 80% but I come here to give advice and feedback so Frontier can make Elite Dangerous great.

Great according to your definition. Some people may not agree.

The more salient point is that Frontier have their own ideas for the game. Yes we get the opportunity to comment on them, whether as part of the DDF or more recently as part of the focused feedback that they are after. However, Frontier decide the path that the game ultimately takes and constant posting about how little perceived depth there is does nothing but increases the risk of reducing their communications with us yet further. Why bother to speak with an ungrateful horde?

If you think your ideas are great, apply for a role at Frontier. You can show them how your ideas will "save the game".

 

[Ozric]

Meanwhile, on reddit, 2k people in the last 24 hours considered 2.4 and the general direction of Elite a huge disappointment.

Genuine question as I don't use Reddit and don't understand how it works. Where does it say that 2,000 people have considered 2.4 and the general direction of Elite a huge disappointment? Closest I can see is that a post has 1,792 points and 89% of those upvoted it?

 

[babelfisch]

But he's already in system, and, as you no doubt know, if they (Player B) don't fortify that system fully, it's going to cost them CC, meaning player A's achieving their aim for the team.

Not all PvP is about making things explode.
Not all 'wins' result in personal rewards.

So why is player B not in a different system belong to player A faction trying to undermine it?

 

[GreyAreaUK]

Just look at the major tonal shift between the Reddit thread and this in-house thread. It's almost like, after years of being badgered by the same group of people, some in the community have jumped this ship for other places that don't disparage them for their opinions--right or wrong.

I strongly suspect it has nothing to do with their opinions, but how they express them.

But then again I see Reddit as little better than 4Chan.

 

[playfuldreamer]

Genuine question as I don't use Reddit and don't understand how it works. Where does it say that 2,000 people have considered 2.4 and the general direction of Elite a huge disappointment? Closest I can see is that a post has 1,792 points and 89% of those upvoted it?

The upvote count. Arrow to the left of the heading.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Just look at the major tonal shift between the Reddit thread and this in-house thread. It's almost like, after years of being badgered by the same group of people, some in the community have jumped this ship for other places that don't disparage them for their opinions--right or wrong.

talk about only looking from one side

the problem is those who are being badgered are the ones demanding that other players either change completely how they play the game OR become 2nd class citizens unable to have an influence on the game.... of course those who are being called "cheats" or "cowards" that should not be having an influence on core features of the game are going to push back....

If people want to make suggestions to the game which WONT force me to change how i play, and wont stop me having influence on the game and do it in a manner without calling me a cheat, coward, white knight, hater or carebear, they will get no beef from me, even if i disagree with their improvments.

OP later on made some interesting suggestions - all of which have been made before, but still, interesting suggestions - but his opening gambit was insinuated that all the new content in the game was a waste of time, and that FD need to make the game controlled by player factions and guilds.....
This would essentially make the game from a game with flaws, but i still love, into a game i no longer want to play, and a game which is totally different to the one I backed.

ED needs changes to make it into the game many of us hope it would be. But the issue is with WHAT changes need to be made, and for me, it is not in the OPs 1st post.... (but as i said, later posts made some good points much more inline with the vision touted 5 years ago imo

 

[MadDogMurdock]

The point of the thread is primarily to remind the game designers that it's important to make the sandbox deep if Elite Dangerous is to last another 5 years. It needs features that give players agency to create and control things rather than add superficial content. It doesn't need to be a full-blown sandbox game, but it needs more sand and tools. Otherwise it will remain a shallow sandbox which many people complained about for the last 3 years.

What could make the sandbox deep

Some suggestions:

• Player owned capital ships - this is believed to be coming as the Fleet Carrier in Q4 2018. Should be (very) customizable and act as a mobile base for PVE and PVP gameplay. Also expand the type of player owned capital ships: battleships, bulk carriers etc.
• Proper in-game guild mechanics - believed to be coming as Squadrons in Q4 2018. For deep social interaction among players.
• Mining Extractors - player owned. It can be bought and placed on a planet. After a while the player would return to collect the mined minerals
• Storage Structure - player owned. This building is used to store the mined minerals.
• Processor Structure - player owned. This is used to process the mined minerals. Then players can produce goods such as modules and ships by themselves. It makes the economy more player driven and adds depth to mining.
• NPC Ship Crew Management - NPC crew in the cockpit and crew management options for the whole ship which can be managed by the player. This adds depth to NPC interactions onboard a ship.
• Player owned Outpost, Stations - for Squadrons who have enough credits and resources to build or buy an outpost or station.

Roughly 80% or more people who bought ED went away and stopped playing. I could be one of those 80% but I come here to give advice and feedback so Frontier can make Elite Dangerous great.

Sounds a lot like a certain other game - maybe go and play that one.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

It's almost like, after years of being badgered by the same group of people, some in the community have jumped this ship for other places that don't disparage them for their opinions--right or wrong.

Yeah. It's awfully inconvenient to meet people with differing opinions and actually have to engage in discussion.

Such a drag.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Just look at the major tonal shift between the Reddit thread and this in-house thread. It's almost like, after years of being badgered by the same group of people, some in the community have jumped this ship for other places that don't disparage them for their opinions--right or wrong.

People with well-thought out critiques and suggestions have never been shouted down on here. When posters arrive with an attitude of "It's all crap, they need to do what I say or the game is doomed!" then it's a different story.

 

[Sylveria]

Reddit doesn't verify the actual amount of people who purchased the game.
You can create as many Reddit accounts as you want and upvote your own posts, if you like.
(not that anyone would ever do that, right?)

 

[Goose4291]

Star Wars Galaxies

I've been recently replaying this on an EMU server, Forgot how absolutely amazing it is.

 

[jasonbarron]

Obsidian Ant's latest video has one of the best comments ever about Elite Dangerous:

Fdev built one of the largest sandbox's in video game history.. then? when it came time to put sand into it? They just built some kiddie theme park rides that offer the same experience over and over. Thargoids are just another theme park. You get on the ride.. see everything there is.. Than there is nothing left but to get on that ride again..... It makes sense for World of Warcraft.. you pay a monthly subscription and Blizzard has 200-300 full time developers building new rides.. In Elite? It wastes limited developer time.. hurts the game.. and ultimately doesn't add any sand to the box.

If there isn't Sand put in the box for Players to actually mold, change and influence themselves.. In an innovative and bold way.. This game will just fall off into obscurity.

It's the saddest part about Elite when you understand how the game works. It's the largest empty sandbox ever made that is full of kiddie rides with no depth or imagination.. In a Game "Galaxy" concept built and based on the idea of depth and imagination. Quite a paradox? Just give players the "Sand" That is all the Developers should be spending their time on. Instead you get CQC, Multicrew, Thargoids, CG's. Placing stations instead of letting players build them.... It's madness.

Link to the subreddit.

P.S. the comment was made by someone else below the video.

Rep for staying poised while under so much fire. I have noticed that OA's tone has seemed a bit frustrated with ED as of late; in your OP, can you please put quotation marks around his exact words so we can judge for ourselves?

 

[Ozric]

Rep for staying poised while under so much fire. I have noticed that OA's tone has seemed a bit frustrated with ED as of late; in your OP, can you please put quotation marks around his exact words so we can judge for ourselves?

No, because that comment was not made by OA at all, just some random person (who could even be Cosmo for all we know)

Just highlighting this fact. The comment was not made by me, but someone else in the comments section.

 

[Barking_Mad]

The upvote count. Arrow to the left of the heading.

Is 2.4 done already?

 

[Goose4291]

Reddit doesn't verify the actual amount of people who purchased the game.
You can create as many Reddit accounts as you want and upvote your own posts, if you like.
(not that anyone would ever do that, right?)

Without even going into the obvious issue that the Forum suffers pretty much exactly the same issue, what would they hope to achieve from it?

That's some top tier tinfoil hattery right there.

 

[Sylveria]

Without even going into the obvious issue that the Forum suffers pretty much exactly the same issue, what would they hope to achieve from it?

That's some top tier tinfoil hattery right there.

https://casinogrounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/tinfoil-hat-and-tinfoil-cat.jpg

Disprove it then. Oh that's right... you can't.