End Game

[Milky82]

I keep seeing folks, discussing an end game in ED. Given the nature of elite and its structure as a game, I can't see there is an end game unless you count having been to every system and then of course you get to press the win button.

Seriously folks, what do you mean when you say end game ?

 

[Patrick_68000]

In ED, even the death is not the end

 

[JohnStabler]

I think by end-game people are thinking about what to do after they've made so much money that they want for nothing, have the best ship and all the gear, are elite status and top rank in their fave faction.

Will endless exploration be fulfilling?
Will player generated emergent gameplay be satisfying enough?

 

[Asp Explorer]

I think by end-game people are thinking about what to do after they've made so much money that they want for nothing, have the best ship and all the gear, are elite status and top rank in their fave faction.

Will endless exploration be fulfilling?
Will player generated emergent gameplay be satisfying enough?

It's at times like these that I believe events will be injected. Could be anything from alien invasions, to the Bank of Zaonce going bust and all your credits rendered worthless, a fuel shortage, or the station deckhands going on strike for a wage rise

 

[Theaghan Black]

That's exactly the issue this game will have if they are not going to implement some sort of ranking other than the "Elite" one.

We know bulletins will talk about some players, but I think that having the COMPLETE list of the better players for every role can render the game endless.

So you could have the ranking for:
- the best trader (total profit)
- the best bounty hunter (total of rewards)
- the best pirate (total illegal profit)
- the best explorer (total of new systems discovered)
- and so on...

Nothing changes for the ones who doesn't like competition, but at the same time there are more possibilities for interaction between players and an objective to accomplish

 

[Patrick_68000]

It's at times like these that I believe events will be injected. Could be anything from alien invasions, to the Bank of Zaonce going bust and all your credits rendered worthless, a fuel shortage, or the station deckhands going on strike for a wage rise

This is exactly the injected events that will make the eternal game. The only limit will be the imagination

 

[Patrick_68000]

The injected events and the renewal of generations of players, will make us dead, and well before the end of the game

 

[Cody]

... the Bank of Zaonce going bust and all your credits rendered worthless...

<chortles> I kinda like that idea!

 

[Vingtetun]

The End Game?

A wizened descendant of the Alpha testers sits quietly in supercruise, burning the last of his fuel. The ancient Cobra humming around him, he glances down at a crumbling page.

"I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish’d, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;"

He closes the book, turns off the ship systems and sits back to watch as the stars collapse to a point.



Blink.

 

[Patrick_68000]

the Bank of Zaonce going bust and all your credits rendered worthless,

<chortles> I kinda like that idea!

I think that the federation will have planned the systemic risks to preserve the economic system and savers

 

[Zenicetus]

That's exactly the issue this game will have if they are not going to implement some sort of ranking other than the "Elite" one.

We know bulletins will talk about some players, but I think that having the COMPLETE list of the better players for every role can render the game endless.

That's not going to be enough for players like me, who don't give a fig for ranking systems. I plan on doing as much solo exploring as anything else in the game, although I'll keep another character for core system interaction, if the game allows that. Once I've upgraded to whatever the best ship type for exploration is, with the best equipment, the game's longevity for me will depend on whether exploring is interesting enough.

That's a tall order... I'm not sure it's ever been done in a game before, so it will be interesting to see if Braben & Co. can pull it off. I think he has said in interviews that exploring is one of his main personal interests in the game, so there's at least a chance there will be enough content there.

 

[natte hond]

play Iron mode then the end is always near.

 

[Cody]

... the end is always near.

Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer,
The future's uncertain, and the end is always near!

 

[Toumal]

Seriously folks, what do you mean when you say end game ?

Of course there's an end game. You kill all the Thargoid drones, you find the Thargoid queen, and destroy her and her hive. Then you get a credit screen with David Braben waving at you, and you're given the option to replay the game again only without shields.


Don't tell me it is not so!

 

[Milky82]

Of course there's an end game. You kill all the Thargoid drones, you find the Thargoid queen, and destroy her and her hive. Then you get a credit screen with David Braben waving at you, and you're given the option to replay the game again only without shields.


Don't tell me it is not so!

You forgot the bit where you get a free space station and the keys to the Lave system

 

[Commander Kralen]

This is exactly the injected events that will make the eternal game. The only limit will be the imagination

Injected events will be key, but unless Frontier has a much larger development staff than I suspect, it will be difficult for them to inject enough new content to keep the player base satisfied. This is where sandboxes show their strength by leveraging the player community itself to create the content.

The question is whether there will be sufficient tools in games for players to allow for the development of emergent gameplay. A good example of a game that provides tools like that is, of course, Eve (I know people freak around here whenever that game is mentioned, but we shouldn't ignore the things Eve does well that could inspire ED).

The problem with Eve is that there is an enormous barrier to entry to participate in emergent gameplay. It requires such an enormous time sink that it limits the number of people who can participate. Given that ED has a practically infinite game universe into which players can expand, Frontier should be able to implement many of the same types of systems (base building, territorial claims, industry) without the enormous barriers to entry.

That's my hope anyway.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Given that ED has a practically infinite game universe into which players can expand, Frontier should be able to implement many of the same types of systems (base building, territorial claims, industry) without the enormous barriers to entry.

That's my hope anyway.

Please - I'm not bashing those mechanics - they work well in games designed for them, but base building, territorial claims, industry - none of them are what Elite is about.

Building a base? What purpose does that serve? How would you implement it?

Claiming territory? What purpose does that serve? How would you implement it?

Industry? That is already present - your industry is gaining credits, either by trade or otherwise. How would you change it, and what purpose would it serve?

 

[Vingtetun]

For reference on the quote above - Byron wrote that poem in 1816 - in that year there were volcanic eruptions that caused a lot of concern and plenty of dark skies.

The same year, sun spots were visible with the naked eye and the public were made mode widely aware of the historical extinction of species on the planet through the fossil record.

Contemporary critics referred to it as a "Last Man" piece of work...

The poem references dark suns, frozen earth, vipers and the universe..... I felt it somehow appropriate for a discussion about "End Games". A little downbeat, but an exceptional poem.

 

[amigacooke]

The end game will be when you stop playing ED and go and do something else. It's happened to me in even the best games.

 

[Vlodec]

That's exactly the issue this game will have if they are not going to implement some sort of ranking other than the "Elite" one.

We know bulletins will talk about some players, but I think that having the COMPLETE list of the better players for every role can render the game endless.

So you could have the ranking for:
- the best trader (total profit)
- the best bounty hunter (total of rewards)
- the best pirate (total illegal profit)
- the best explorer (total of new systems discovered)
- and so on...

Nothing changes for the ones who doesn't like competition, but at the same time there are more possibilities for interaction between players and an objective to accomplish

+1

The injected events and the renewal of generations of players, will make us dead, and well before the end of the game

I don't understand this. Does it make sense, or is it a French thing?

The End Game?

A wizened descendant of the Alpha testers sits quietly in supercruise, burning the last of his fuel. The ancient Cobra humming around him, he glances down at a crumbling page.

"I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish’d, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;"

He closes the book, turns off the ship systems and sits back to watch as the stars collapse to a point.



Blink.

I think Byron was a bit of a pratt tbh, but he knew how to turn a phrase.

Of course there's an end game. You kill all the Thargoid drones, you find the Thargoid queen, and destroy her and her hive. Then you get a credit screen with David Braben waving at you, and you're given the option to replay the game again only without shields.


Don't tell me it is not so!

What?! No sex?!!!

Please - I'm not bashing those mechanics - they work well in games designed for them, but base building, territorial claims, industry - none of them are what Elite is about.

Thank you for telling us all what ED is about. We were wondering.

Building a base? What purpose does that serve? How would you implement it?

Claiming territory? What purpose does that serve? How would you implement it?

Industry? That is already present - your industry is gaining credits, either by trade or otherwise. How would you change it, and what purpose would it serve?

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