Elite Dangerous Trial / Demo?

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Am I the only one who thinks that this game can attract more players buy giving them a taste of what are they buying. I mean the game is very demanding spec wise and I bet most of the possible costumers would like to test it how it would run on their PC first before they make the purchase.
I got very interested in the game from watching few streams on twitch, but I would not just throw 50$ until I know if my gaming rig can handle it well.

Anyhow this is was my suggestion. What do you think do we need a demo?
 
no, if anything with the steep learning curve of the game a demo will put more people off than it would attract new players, once people have shelled out £40 for a copy they are much more likely to seek advice when they run into problems instead of just quitting and throwing the game in the recycle bin.
 
I agree with you smexsa, game 'demos' are an excellent way of getting more people to buy the game, but I do understand Andy B's concerns about the steep learning curve being off putting to new players.

I think there should be a free trial or a buddy code system, with the following restrictions:

1. The free trial/buddy code only lasts 1 month.

2. The trial player cannot play the open game, just the solo game or private friends only games.

3. The trial player can't have more than 300k in their wallet.

4. If money transfers between players are introduced, money cannot be transferred to or from trial accounts. Trial players can still pick up and drop cargo containers though.

I think these restrictions would entice people to buy the game, by giving even casual players time to get over the steep learning curve, and by letting people play with their friends but not grief or exploit in the open game.
 
no, if anything with the steep learning curve of the game a demo will put more people off than it would attract new players, once people have shelled out £40 for a copy they are much more likely to seek advice when they run into problems instead of just quitting and throwing the game in the recycle bin.

Why do people always say "steep learning curve"?

The game has like 6 basic controls It is less involved then most games out there?...

1. Control: point ship in direction you want it to go
2. Throttle: up goes fast down goes slow
3. docking: request docking fly over landing pad, land...
4. FSD click point on map engage FSD
5. Push button to fire weapons.
6. adjust power... <-- --> ^ v
What is this learning curve everyone speaks of I just don't get it.

Now game mechanics...

Buy low sell high... Cruise to different USS over and over until objective complete. Explore see #4 in controls list.

am I missing something here on this crazy learning curve?
 

Lestat

Banned
I think they should use Perm Beta 1 sphere 5 system With a 24 hour time play time limit. But when they buy the game. They have to start all over.
 
If there was a Demo, I would try it.

Almost all of the games I have ever bought were because I liked the demo. If not for the demo, I would have never tried them at all.

There are probably about 4 games that I played that either were not free to play, or didn't have a demo. And two of those were sequels to other games before them that I played after playing their demo.

I am not saying give the entire game away. But I will not play an expensively priced game, unless it was a sequel to another game I liked, it was free, or someone gave it to me to play, or write another walkthrough for them.

That is just my personal view on it as an experienced gamer. I have seen so many games that were either horrible, and people sold them or tried to because they hated it after spending so much on it. Or they heard from someone else how awesome it was, only to find out that it was awesome for that person, but not him/herself.

Getting stuck with an expensive product you don't like is not a good feeling. But being to test drive it shows that the company cares about having happy gamers, more than just having their money.

Again, that is just my opinion.

Razar.
 
Agree

If there was a Demo, I would try it.

Almost all of the games I have ever bought were because I liked the demo. If not for the demo, I would have never tried them at all.

There are probably about 4 games that I played that either were not free to play, or didn't have a demo. And two of those were sequels to other games before them that I played after playing their demo.

I am not saying give the entire game away. But I will not play an expensively priced game, unless it was a sequel to another game I liked, it was free, or someone gave it to me to play, or write another walkthrough for them.

That is just my personal view on it as an experienced gamer. I have seen so many games that were either horrible, and people sold them or tried to because they hated it after spending so much on it. Or they heard from someone else how awesome it was, only to find out that it was awesome for that person, but not him/herself.

Getting stuck with an expensive product you don't like is not a good feeling. But being to test drive it shows that the company cares about having happy gamers, more than just having their money.

Again, that is just my opinion.

Razar.

I too have spent too much $$ on what seemed a promising game which failed to live to it's potential. +1 to Razar

Demo would really help out even if limited in scope (enough to try out flight, activities ie. a local mission and combat.)
 
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I've been hearing more calls for a demo in the main forum. It needn't be any more than the single-player combat demo we had access to before release. In fact, it's still right there in the launcher; all that would have to happen would be to put a publicly-accessible link to the launcher on the website.
 
I've been hearing more calls for a demo in the main forum. It needn't be any more than the single-player combat demo we had access to before release. In fact, it's still right there in the launcher; all that would have to happen would be to put a publicly-accessible link to the launcher on the website.



I didn't even know that there was one available before release. But, that would work.

I was also thinking about the tutorial, maybe not the whole thing though. Something that lets players test the fighting part of it, as well as picking up cargo, and doing a few other things. Give them more than just a combat feel, since some may not be too interested in that.

Kind of like when you go into a restaurant that has a sampler. It offers a taste of a few of the things that you can get, while not giving you access to the entire menu. Sample a few different aspects of it, and see if you like the feel of it.

If they did one, I would jump at a chance to test a demo the day it comes out. Though I will have no way to purchase the game, I would be able to spread the news of the Demo, and help others try it out, who may intern want the game.

And if they do the Demo as a solo player type thing, it can be something that can be played offline. This will keep non-paying players from eating up server space that those that have bought the game should be using. That is why I was thinking about some of the tutorial that players can go through.

If it was playable offline, then there would be no drain on the game servers, and could help bring in more paying players to the community.

Just a few thoughts I had that may help the company sell more copies, without taking from other players at the same time.
 
Why do people always say "steep learning curve"?

The game has like 6 basic controls It is less involved then most games out there?...

1. Control: point ship in direction you want it to go
2. Throttle: up goes fast down goes slow
3. docking: request docking fly over landing pad, land...
4. FSD click point on map engage FSD
5. Push button to fire weapons.
6. adjust power... <-- --> ^ v
What is this learning curve everyone speaks of I just don't get it.

Now game mechanics...

Buy low sell high... Cruise to different USS over and over until objective complete. Explore see #4 in controls list.

am I missing something here on this crazy learning curve?
Throw in Flight Assist Off into the mix and the learning curve suddenly sky rockets.
 
Imho, this game needs an "unlimited-time trial", just limiting the player to a sidewinder and a money cap.

This will give time enough to explore/ pirate/ bounty-hunting, whatever they want to do.
Also, I'm sure that many of my friends will buy the game if they could try it and play in a wing together.

If frontier wants to sell the game, they shouldn't leave out of the demo all of the fun the game can offer.
 
Imho, this game needs an "unlimited-time trial", just limiting the player to a sidewinder and a money cap.

This will give time enough to explore/ pirate/ bounty-hunting, whatever they want to do.
Also, I'm sure that many of my friends will buy the game if they could try it and play in a wing together.

If frontier wants to sell the game, they shouldn't leave out of the demo all of the fun the game can offer.



My thinking was about server space, and keeping it just for the ones that paid for the game. However, you do make a much better point. If people can get into the game, and do more than just the tutorial, it will show more of what the game can do, and also give a better glimpse of its potential.

Also, by limiting them to a single ship, and currency cap, it will always leave that feeling of "If I just bought the game, I could do this, or that, or..." So doing that could very well open up a higher potential for profits. And once the demo is set, it should never need anything else done to it as far as work is concerned.

This is a really good point you made.
 
Yes they do need a demo

I bought my Oculus Rift not long ago, and my system is rather midrange. If I knew I could run this without judder, I would purchase it in a heartbeat. I will not pay for this game not knowing if my system can handle it with an Oculus or not. That would be foolish.
 
Imho, this game needs an "unlimited-time trial", just limiting the player to a sidewinder and a money cap.

This will give time enough to explore/ pirate/ bounty-hunting, whatever they want to do.
Also, I'm sure that many of my friends will buy the game if they could try it and play in a wing together.

If frontier wants to sell the game, they shouldn't leave out of the demo all of the fun the game can offer.

The demo should work like this:

  • Limit the player to something like 100 systems. Have some of everything in there, with some uninhabited areas, have some of empire, federation, and alliance space.
  • Have a small subset of ships (For example: Sidewinder, Eagle, Adder, Cobra, Hauler, Viper, and Cobra)
  • Have a rating limit on modules (D and above?)
  • Have a limit of 500k credits.
  • Have it be offline only.
  • Everything transfers when they buy the game.
 
Reading this thread makes me wonder if FD chose the right business model. Maybe they'd've made more money giving a Sidewinder-only game away for free and instead selling access to each ship to the player as and when they want to upgrade. It would certainly seem like better value for money than the £2 pallette swaps. An idea for the future, perhaps. :)
 
Meh, don't bother ...

eve is stupidly expensive but somehow still makes a ton of money and has thousands of active players.
I think ED should change the model to be server based, implement a ton more features and charge a monthly sub just to get on the game.
If ED is really up to it then this won't be an issue.

People complaining about demo's are normal, it happens on every game.
If the game really shows something of interest those people will eventually throw their money in.
 
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