Notice GalNet changes

amigacooke

amigacooke
rootsrat said:
This is great news! One thing I would say is - please don't kill the off-camera stuff completely. The stories are enjoyable to read and they add a little background flavour to the game. I agree reducing the amount to shift the focus to more actual stuff that's in game is a great improvement, but leave some of the stories to keep the flavour.

The next step to improve Galnet could be video content, rather than pure text. I've used this example in the past, but do you remember the part when Oracle was attacked by Thargoids? And you guys released the emergency broadast video on YouTube? If that video was in Galnet it would give +100 to immersion :)

Alternatively, it could be sent to all the pilots as an inbox video message. Think how amazing that would be in game!
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It just wouldn't happen often enough to make much difference. Frontier seem to be running ED in maintenance of interest mode, testing how much can they cut back without losing all interest.
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
The problem is all of this is a symptom of ED in general: no direction.

Lore / consistency is made up on the fly (telepresence for example)

Galnet Audio: its redundant now- was it worth the dev time if its barely used?

Whats going to happen to Powerplay leaders? Hudson and ALD with Mahon will get time, but what about the rest? How are the developing now? A few of them have never been in Galnet or spoken a word in all these years.

Will these cutbacks mean more Codex content?

Will these cutbacks mean IIs will have more stories / detail / lore when they run?

Fair enough FD want to focus on the main plot- but what is that plot? The only story I've seen enacted is with the Thargoids. What about human affairs? To begin with you had the Imperial struggles which were dense but gave grounding to events. You had Lugh, which was a high point. You then threw away massive amounts of potential with cult bombings, NuVal boy emperor. These alone would have generated massive amounts of useful interactive plot. So part of me thinks its not potential thats the problem, its time and commitment.

All of this to me now suggests ED has always been the game thats juggled for other money makers- so its all stop / start over and over, with heavily compartmentalised designs. Its got to the point where it looks as if ED is seen as a burden- which is poor form since out of all of FDs games its the one that needs the most dev input because its an ongoing, growing game.
 

Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
CMDR Disco Cat said:
"Maintenance phase" when they're working on their biggest update ever right now. Yeah, the game is probably dead :rolleyes:
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I think it was meant in the sense that the "Beyond" release is in maintenance until 4.0 comes out in a year or so, which is mostly true. We're not expecting any big new features or developments in September's patch, though Fleet Carriers in December's might be a bit bigger, or in the vaguely promised 2020 H1 patch(es).

The Enclave shows that Frontier don't need big flashy new features if they make creative use of the ones they already have, so if they can keep us entertained that way it won't necessarily be important.
 

UberMeg67

UberMeg67
So take the Gan Romero story, (the technician that stole the Diamond Bsck Explorer in search of Jasmina Halsey's visions).

This narrative went on for quite a few weeks, and I know that quite a few Commanders spent a good amount of time working on this mystery thinking it was going to lead to some sort of in game revelations (including me).

Was this basically an "off camera" wild goose chase or was/is it something that had direct impact on gameplay?
 

Arkadi

Arkadi
Will the accesibilty of the "Thargoid Activity Report" be improved at this occasion?

It would be nice to have a seperate article for Thargoid activity and station repairs and maybe a feature to collaps or extend the needed materials for each station repair...

Also Powerplay Update is not really very helpful or is it? Maybe it would be more interesting to see a list of systems under major threat from each power two days before cycle end at tuesday and a recap what systems where won and lost at thursday and who maybe went into turmoil?

Or just scrap the powerplay news, because, well, you can see all that info by yourself if you delve into the powerplay tab.
 
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hems303

hems303
drew said:
It does seem rather a shame when there are plenty of writers about, one of the best lore resources/in-game 'history' archives available and a long history of story-telling in all the previous games as a heritage to work from - very few other games of this type have such a rich legacy.

Elite was never about an overall "you're the chosen one and you've got to save the galaxy by next week" trope, but there have always been bits of flavour (fluff if you will), small missions and story arcs to round out the feel, vibe and (dare I say it) atmosphere of the game you're playing. A lot of the fun was distinguishing between the fluff and the reality. Even the fluff is fun to speculate about.

People are still talking about the lore of the previous 3 Elite games even today. It's a compelling thing that could be utilised/leveraged more in ED to bring in new players IMHO.

Glad I was able to contribute along the way. I have fond memories of the GalNet articles I wrote between 3300 and 3303. :)

Cheers,

Drew.
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Hi Drew
MANY thanks for ALL your input into the galaxy of ED. I have bought and enjoyed ALL of your books, more importantly I along with many others appreciate your in-game-lore contribution; it really has added depth and colour to the ED Story that has stretched from Elite, the sequels and Oolite too. Unfortunately with your distancing from FDev the ''game'' HAS suffered. Now with this GalNet ''pronouncement'' from FDev; the game will no longer have an on-going ''flavour'/fluff'' narrative....... it will become ''just another video game'' and all the poorer for it. It must be that David Braben has lost interest in ED as his original ''enthusiasm'' for the project in now conspicuous by it's total absence.

P..S. Loving your latest non-ED novels; looking forward to much, much more to come. (Michael's Story was a good thing well done 👍)

P.P.S. Thanks once again for all your advice and input when I had finished writing my ED novel in 2017.... THAT did end up as Fan Fiction when I failed to secure the necessary IP License from FDev (see link to ''Elite Dangerous - Galactic Eclectic'' in my sig below, it has had some good reviews though...ho hum:rolleyes:)
 
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hems303

hems303
CMDR Disco Cat said:
"Maintenance phase" when they're working on their biggest update ever right now. Yeah, the game is probably dead :rolleyes:
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Nobody is claiming ED is ''dead'' just in (extended?) maintenance mode now with a pronouncement that more content is being culled from it. It may surprise/shock/stun the Pew-Pew brigade but there is a depth of players that enjoy and immerse themselves in the whole EDH experience as a ''pastime'' and GalNet ''FLUUUFFFFF'' happens to be the ONLY thing that turns ED into a video narrative rather than just another Pew-Pew bonanza. The pronouncement is just another symptom of the general malaise that set in some time ago... just look at the bugs that still need fixing.. just ask someone like Old Duck for example...bless him.

P.S. The pronouncement content/phraseology by Stephen Benedetti is just typical of FDev's current ongoing policy toward ED/H ..... dress up a negative, bad bit of news as a positive progression!

With regard to the 2020 update, yeah we can look forward to that but we do NOT have a clue as to just what that will bring new, AND probably cull further content currently enjoyed as it looks to be an in-depth re-write..... I've been hooked on ED since 2013 but am beginning to wonder if I will remain so by the time the big ''update'' arrives, just with the way things are going.

o7
 
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Kazar

K
Sad news indeed. I enjoyed many of the background stories; it's a big galaxy and everything having to have in-game impact on the limited areas we play in seems very short sighted if you take the excuses at face value.

As others have said, this sounds very much more like "we can't be bothered anymore" with some window dressing to try and disguise that fact.
It's a piece of the Elite USP being removed and that's a shame - also a worry as background stories/lore is usually the first things to get cut in games.
I hope this isn't a sign of things to come; traditionally community support staff aren't far behind. (EG see EVE.)
 

amigacooke

amigacooke
It may be that GalNet will be a intregral part of a dynamic news system that will generated by squadrons/players actions in the 2020 vision and therefore non-game integrated 'fluff' will be superfluous.

Maybe, who knows (that's allowed to say).
 

Nerix

Nerix
Hmm, kind of sad to hear. I liked to read the GalNet feed to get a bit more immersed in Elites background, even if there is no ingame connection (and the universe seemed to be alive because of the GalNet articles). It was also nice to listen to the news stories during supercruise / exploration with GalNet audio.

I think everyone of us has his breaks from the game - during this breaks the regular GalNet articles gave me a feeling of still being part of the game and also sometimes a reason to boot it up again.
 

simulacrae

simulacrae
Stephen Benedetti said:
Hello Commanders,

Our galaxy is filled with a plethora of stories, places, and people, which are all part off the rich canon of Elite Dangerous, explored through many of our GalNet articles.

While GalNet provides an understanding of life in the 3300s, it hasn't always had a direct impact on your gameplay. We have been reviewing the effect this has had on your in-game experience, along with your feedback, and as a result, we’re going to be reducing the number of GalNet stories that we produce and instead focus on covering in-game content.

In the foreseeable future, GalNet articles will concentrate on in-game activity, such as Interstellar Initiatives, the release of new ships and modules, and significant narrative developments. With this change, we will be stopping the 'off-camera' narratives that we have previously published via GalNet.

We hope you have enjoyed the many stories that we have told, and as always please share your thoughts and feedback with us.
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This sounds like a terrible responce to peoples wish for more interactive lore. Yes we want to see celebratory activity in Achenar when there is an imperial wedding. No that is not an excuse to remove all lore/ and random fun stories from galnet because you cant be bothered outside of interstellar initiatives... If you are cuting back on your contet call it what it is... A sows ear.
 
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