Following the recent announcements by Frontier, a plethora of ideas on how to monetize the game and support Frontier in maintaining server operations have emerged. Many commanders are eager to propose the most lucrative pay-to-win ideas to keep Elite thriving. However, these efforts will be futile if we don’t address the primary issue at hand - the lack of purpose for new players.
In this post, I will outline some ideas that aim to provide new players with engaging content, thereby increasing player retention and willingness to pay. I am eager to hear your thoughts on these ideas and compile a list of community suggestions that could enhance player retention rather than merely increasing payment options.
Let us strive to keep these ideas within the scope of what Elite already offers, requiring less effort and time from the developers than designing an entirely new game mechanic from scratch.
1. The Beginning
The game currently has several flaws, one of which is apparent right from the start. Over time, Frontier has improved the initial experience, but it still falls short of providing new players with a clear direction during their initial hours in the galaxy.
While Elite is not an RPG and its sandbox nature allows players to choose their own path, I suggest adding starting path options to the game. This could provide the initial direction some gamers need to feel invested in their commanders.
Paths
These paths could be selectable during character creation. The following paths could be added to the game:
Paths would begin with a series of missions focusing on teaching the player the game mechanics, starting from on-foot mechanics up to ship piloting. The path would culminate with the player receiving a ship specially configured to match the initially selected path (a small ship, like the Eagle, the Hauler, or the Adder).
Path missions should be non-skippable and should guide the player through its quests without being overly forceful, but should steer the gamer through the initial steps in the game.
After completing the initial tutorial chain mission and receiving their own ship, the player would receive a new mission. This would lead them to another chain of quests that aim to deepen their understanding of the game mechanics. At this point, it’s up to the player to decide whether they will follow the path set by the quests or embark on their own journey.
Completing these quests should reward not only credits, materials, and ships in some specific ones, but also cosmetics. The idea is to give the player a taste of what they can have if they desire to buy something from the store. This will require some changes in the way Frontier currently handles cosmetics, which I will explain in detail later.
The quests should heavily utilize voice overs (like in the beginning mission of Odyssey) and should focus their theme on the player’s path of choice.
2. Side Quests
Chain quests with unique stories should be scattered across the galaxy for players to find and complete, receiving interesting rewards in return. These quests should act like side quests in an RPG, related to the main story of the game, but with little to no influence on the BGS or main narrative.
Side quests can be initiated by tip-offs through direct messages, listed in mission boards, given by interactions with NPCs in stations/settlements, or found in the black through exploration of POIs.
Side quests should have voice overs (not all of them though, but it would be nice), to give more life to said quests and to distinguish them from the ordinary missions we have.
Side quests should be visually distinguishable from standard missions, with different colors and a section for the same in the ship mission menu.
Side quests by default should not have a time limit, unless it is a specific case that may need urgency in the related narrative.
Rewards should vary between credits, materials, commodities, ships (in specific situations), and cosmetics.
3. Cosmetic Changes
Currently, cosmetics are only obtainable through the game store, Twitch, community goals, and in-game ranking. I propose that some cosmetics should be acquired through gameplay (not only community goals), especially the simpler ones like plain solid colors, and maybe in some very specific cases a piece or two of a ship kit.
Side and path quests should have some cosmetics as rewards for completing certain stages of the chain of quests.
Earning through achievements – “Did you reach Hutton Orbital for the first time? Here, take this mug for your dashboard.”, “Have you reached Beagle Point? Here, take a decal for your ship.” – The possibilities for this are enormous in a game like Elite.
If Frontier is worried about not being able to sell cosmetics, keep the in-game cosmetics as simple as possible so the store cosmetics may be more appealing for players.
Simple cosmetics like plain basic colors (with some exceptions), should be put to be acquired inside the game. For people that bought those colors in any way with money, they should receive a compensation in ARX equivalent to the cosmetics that were removed from the store and put in the game.
4. Achievements/Milestones
Elite currently has some levels of achievements/milestones, but they are very shy in the way they are presented, limited, and with little to no interesting rewards for achieving them.
I think you could say that the only real achievements/milestones in the game right now that look and feel like one, are the Elite ranks. You rank up, receive a decal, a mail with a shiny animation, level increase in enemies/missions, and some increase in mission rewards. The game needs more shiny achievements, even if not for ranking, achievements for killing a certain quantity of pirates or innocents (for pirates), cargo stolen/recovered, distance traveled. These exist in the Codex (don’t know if all though) but they stay hidden there. If you don’t go after them, you don’t even know they exist, and they give zero rewards for players, making the incentive of achieving such milestones something just related to the player’s will. Not wanting Frontier to steal work from third-party devs, but Inara has an interesting way to log in milestones in the commander tab, with a shiny badge for reaching such stages.
5. Missions for Rank Changing with Main Faction Powers
Something that is incredibly barebones in the game right now is the way you change ranks with the superpowers. You do missions and rank up with a random generic quest with just some change in text. I propose to add small chain quests for each rank change like the ones I mentioned in the side quests section. The higher the rank, the larger the chain quest/difficulty. A shiny animation by mail like the Elite ranks could be added to it too and some cosmetics (decals and maybe paint jobs for the specific faction ships) to give a bigger sense of accomplishment for each rank.
Conclusion
I am confident that these proposed changes will provide new players with a sense of purpose within the game. This, in turn, will enable them to carve their own path across the galaxy, thereby enhancing player retention and potentially encouraging in-game spending.
I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this. Are there any aspects you believe should be altered? Do you have any additional ideas that could be incorporated into this proposal? Let’s collaborate to help Elite flourish without transforming it into a mobile game.
In this post, I will outline some ideas that aim to provide new players with engaging content, thereby increasing player retention and willingness to pay. I am eager to hear your thoughts on these ideas and compile a list of community suggestions that could enhance player retention rather than merely increasing payment options.
Let us strive to keep these ideas within the scope of what Elite already offers, requiring less effort and time from the developers than designing an entirely new game mechanic from scratch.
1. The Beginning
The game currently has several flaws, one of which is apparent right from the start. Over time, Frontier has improved the initial experience, but it still falls short of providing new players with a clear direction during their initial hours in the galaxy.
While Elite is not an RPG and its sandbox nature allows players to choose their own path, I suggest adding starting path options to the game. This could provide the initial direction some gamers need to feel invested in their commanders.
Paths
These paths could be selectable during character creation. The following paths could be added to the game:
- Standard Path - The current beginning where the player is launched into the galaxy with a Sidewinder, some change, and the will to explore.
- Combat Path - For players interested in combat, such as bounty hunters or pirates.
- Trader Path - For those interested in trading, mining, or salvaging.
- Explorer Path - For those interested in stargazing and living in the black.
Paths would begin with a series of missions focusing on teaching the player the game mechanics, starting from on-foot mechanics up to ship piloting. The path would culminate with the player receiving a ship specially configured to match the initially selected path (a small ship, like the Eagle, the Hauler, or the Adder).
Path missions should be non-skippable and should guide the player through its quests without being overly forceful, but should steer the gamer through the initial steps in the game.
After completing the initial tutorial chain mission and receiving their own ship, the player would receive a new mission. This would lead them to another chain of quests that aim to deepen their understanding of the game mechanics. At this point, it’s up to the player to decide whether they will follow the path set by the quests or embark on their own journey.
Completing these quests should reward not only credits, materials, and ships in some specific ones, but also cosmetics. The idea is to give the player a taste of what they can have if they desire to buy something from the store. This will require some changes in the way Frontier currently handles cosmetics, which I will explain in detail later.
The quests should heavily utilize voice overs (like in the beginning mission of Odyssey) and should focus their theme on the player’s path of choice.
2. Side Quests
Chain quests with unique stories should be scattered across the galaxy for players to find and complete, receiving interesting rewards in return. These quests should act like side quests in an RPG, related to the main story of the game, but with little to no influence on the BGS or main narrative.
Side quests can be initiated by tip-offs through direct messages, listed in mission boards, given by interactions with NPCs in stations/settlements, or found in the black through exploration of POIs.
Side quests should have voice overs (not all of them though, but it would be nice), to give more life to said quests and to distinguish them from the ordinary missions we have.
Side quests should be visually distinguishable from standard missions, with different colors and a section for the same in the ship mission menu.
Side quests by default should not have a time limit, unless it is a specific case that may need urgency in the related narrative.
Rewards should vary between credits, materials, commodities, ships (in specific situations), and cosmetics.
3. Cosmetic Changes
Currently, cosmetics are only obtainable through the game store, Twitch, community goals, and in-game ranking. I propose that some cosmetics should be acquired through gameplay (not only community goals), especially the simpler ones like plain solid colors, and maybe in some very specific cases a piece or two of a ship kit.
Side and path quests should have some cosmetics as rewards for completing certain stages of the chain of quests.
Earning through achievements – “Did you reach Hutton Orbital for the first time? Here, take this mug for your dashboard.”, “Have you reached Beagle Point? Here, take a decal for your ship.” – The possibilities for this are enormous in a game like Elite.
If Frontier is worried about not being able to sell cosmetics, keep the in-game cosmetics as simple as possible so the store cosmetics may be more appealing for players.
Simple cosmetics like plain basic colors (with some exceptions), should be put to be acquired inside the game. For people that bought those colors in any way with money, they should receive a compensation in ARX equivalent to the cosmetics that were removed from the store and put in the game.
4. Achievements/Milestones
Elite currently has some levels of achievements/milestones, but they are very shy in the way they are presented, limited, and with little to no interesting rewards for achieving them.
I think you could say that the only real achievements/milestones in the game right now that look and feel like one, are the Elite ranks. You rank up, receive a decal, a mail with a shiny animation, level increase in enemies/missions, and some increase in mission rewards. The game needs more shiny achievements, even if not for ranking, achievements for killing a certain quantity of pirates or innocents (for pirates), cargo stolen/recovered, distance traveled. These exist in the Codex (don’t know if all though) but they stay hidden there. If you don’t go after them, you don’t even know they exist, and they give zero rewards for players, making the incentive of achieving such milestones something just related to the player’s will. Not wanting Frontier to steal work from third-party devs, but Inara has an interesting way to log in milestones in the commander tab, with a shiny badge for reaching such stages.
5. Missions for Rank Changing with Main Faction Powers
Something that is incredibly barebones in the game right now is the way you change ranks with the superpowers. You do missions and rank up with a random generic quest with just some change in text. I propose to add small chain quests for each rank change like the ones I mentioned in the side quests section. The higher the rank, the larger the chain quest/difficulty. A shiny animation by mail like the Elite ranks could be added to it too and some cosmetics (decals and maybe paint jobs for the specific faction ships) to give a bigger sense of accomplishment for each rank.
Conclusion
I am confident that these proposed changes will provide new players with a sense of purpose within the game. This, in turn, will enable them to carve their own path across the galaxy, thereby enhancing player retention and potentially encouraging in-game spending.
I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this. Are there any aspects you believe should be altered? Do you have any additional ideas that could be incorporated into this proposal? Let’s collaborate to help Elite flourish without transforming it into a mobile game.
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