I can't help but feel incredibly disappointed by the latest updates to the game. I feel we are just seeing Frontier tack on new and shiny features, that ultimately end up just being new reasons to repeat old gameplay. I can no longer muster up any enthusiasm for this, and every time I start up the Elite launcher, and hover over the Play button I ask myself, why should I bother...
Personally I don't think any new expansions will be very well received because they all rely on the basic mechanics, which are woefully under-developed and were widely believed to be placeholders at launch. You can't build a house on an unstable foundation and expect it to stand for long. Therefore I really hope the Devs can take a step back, look at what they have created, and put some proper meat on its bones instead of just adding new limbs. The future of Elite relies on it, and the success of every single expansion relies on it.
Concrete examples of basic mechanics that need serious improvement, and a few off the top of my head suggestions.
The problem with all of the above is that it would not be possible to sell as a new expansion, it is just stuff that honestly should have been in the game for a long time. I am sure there are significantly better suggestions than mine that can be used, but not doing anything at all is just not an option in my opinion.
With every single new release relying on these basic mechanisms, they will only ever get a luke-warm reception. Passenger missions? Just another trade mission to a destination further away. Engineers? Just another reason to do what you are already doing. Power Play? Just another reason to do what you are already doing. Landing on lava planets? Landing on atmospheric planets? What is the difference if the basic mechanisms we perform are still too simplistic.
Giving people new reasons to repeat old stuff is not going to work for much longer! Instead, make the basic game so compelling to play, so deep and full of meaningful choices and mechanics, that your player base will revel in any opportunity to repeat those same mechanics for another goal! It honestly feels like the devs have lost their way, and lost the original vision for Elite... and that makes me sad, as I truly had great faith in this game back in the Beta days
Regards
CMDR Viking84 - Signing off, waiting for better days
Personally I don't think any new expansions will be very well received because they all rely on the basic mechanics, which are woefully under-developed and were widely believed to be placeholders at launch. You can't build a house on an unstable foundation and expect it to stand for long. Therefore I really hope the Devs can take a step back, look at what they have created, and put some proper meat on its bones instead of just adding new limbs. The future of Elite relies on it, and the success of every single expansion relies on it.
Concrete examples of basic mechanics that need serious improvement, and a few off the top of my head suggestions.
- NPC Spawns - Ensure that NPC's spawn based solely on current location, including system states, system security levels, ties to major factions, ties to power play factions. Make us care about where we fly, give the galaxy some personality in the form of dangerous places and safe places. Give the NPC AI a wide range of skill meaning that the safe places are really safe, and the dangerous ones are really dangerous. If you go to a low security system in a war state you should not expect to encounter the same ships as you would in a high security boom state system...
- Trading - Add better trading tools, make the markets more dynamic, add market place data like you would see in a real world stock market. Make it local to your area or more wide spread, add in delays for data to be sent between stations via ships. Increase the impact of your trading on the local markets, proportional to the population.
- Bounty Hunting - Give us tools to hunt down high bounty targets. More information available, sightings by law enforcement relayed through bounty hunting networks. Make it a proper chase, for both player and NPC bounties alike. Don't make it an RNG spawn for NPC's, give them a persistent location! Keeping track of 10-50 high profile targets on a server should not be a problem.
- Pirating - Give incentives to traders to fly in low security areas. Elite missions sending you to dangerous places. Better trade gains. Give pirates better communication methods that don't rely on creating scripts outside of the game. Create illegal trading networks, pirate reputation scales, pirate bases.
- Combat - Create a better crime and punishment system to encourage players to actually face each other. Ensure that NPC's and players fight in similar ways to avoid the huge difference between a PvE and a PvP configured ship. Ensure that NPC skill levels are high in dangerous areas, and that rewards for killing them are equally high. Give people an incentive to learn to fight if they want to.
- Smuggling - Give us better stealth tools. Make silent running, chaff, low power running/gliding, or even just sticking to Anarchy systems a viable tactic when carrying illegal goods. Make us spend time plotting our routes to avoid high security systems. Make us fear the police, but give us intelligent and challenging ways to steer clear of them. Give us a reason to fly low over the surface of planets, dropping off cargo at smugglers bases or space stations while avoiding scans.
- Mining - give it more meaning than just gathering cash. Have certain markets demand certain metals for different purposes. Allow the player to build up stock piles of these at his home base to combine with trading runs once he spots a need for his gathered resources. Make the occurance of different metals less random, and more closely linked to certain locations in the metallic rings, or even on planet surfaces, in certain craters. Less random, more skill based!
- Exploration - Never really done it, so I don't have any good ideas for improvement, but I'm sure there are many here on the forums that do!
The problem with all of the above is that it would not be possible to sell as a new expansion, it is just stuff that honestly should have been in the game for a long time. I am sure there are significantly better suggestions than mine that can be used, but not doing anything at all is just not an option in my opinion.
With every single new release relying on these basic mechanisms, they will only ever get a luke-warm reception. Passenger missions? Just another trade mission to a destination further away. Engineers? Just another reason to do what you are already doing. Power Play? Just another reason to do what you are already doing. Landing on lava planets? Landing on atmospheric planets? What is the difference if the basic mechanisms we perform are still too simplistic.
Giving people new reasons to repeat old stuff is not going to work for much longer! Instead, make the basic game so compelling to play, so deep and full of meaningful choices and mechanics, that your player base will revel in any opportunity to repeat those same mechanics for another goal! It honestly feels like the devs have lost their way, and lost the original vision for Elite... and that makes me sad, as I truly had great faith in this game back in the Beta days
Regards
CMDR Viking84 - Signing off, waiting for better days
