Elite Dangerous is half-baked. Perhaps more accurately, it's a buffet full of half-baked "dishes". PowerPlay is half-baked. Multicrew is half-baked. Economics in ED are half-baked, and by proxy this makes things like trading and even the BGS at least feel half-baked. Engineers, C&P, scenarios, squadrons, the list goes on... And don't get me started with the game on PS4!

There was hope that Beyond would finish baking the half-baked items, but instead it just replaced a few half-baked game mechanics with new half-baked game mechanics. Even exploration, which is my current favorite thing to do in ED (and I love the new tools), feels half-baked.

HALF... BAKED...

Is there any hope that all these things with so much potential will ever be put back into the oven and fully-baked, or will Frontier just continue to add new half-baked experiences to the game and call that progress? As I said in another thread, space games really don't need new ideas, they just need to better execute the ideas already there.

This isn't meant to be a "DOOM" or a rage-quit* thread. Even half-baked, I think ED is a pretty good game. But I also think it would be so much more amazing if everything already available to us was fully-baked. Unfortunately I'm not seeing any evidence that Frontier is a company capable of giving us a fully-baked game... And on that note, let the discussion / debate begin!



* the next time I quit the game, I promise to do so without fanfare
 
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I, too, am half baked. Perhaps that's why I enjoy the game, and don't notice the parts I don't use.

I still enjoy the game too, despite all the flaws. That's the thing - what Frontier has done well, it has done really well. I'd just like to see them take that same "well-done" ethos and apply it to all the "uncooked" parts of the game.
 
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That's just frontiers style. Its not just elite, jurassic world evolution and planet coaster have the same attributes when reviewed...

Frontier will never hit mainstream going with their core development philosophy that's for sure.

For the niche market they're hitting i think it comes down to whether the depth added to the 1/2 baked systems is good enough for you to enjoy.

Back when elite was first released, i think everyone wrote this off because of the kickstarter get out of jail free pass. How it turned out was this is actually a core part of their development dna.. its what they know. I think the astronomy simulator part has always carried elite for me personally.. there is no game (except for maybe games as a service hope for the future). Its literally choose your own adventure or nothing.

EDIT: I don't think the baking is the problem. Its the almost offensive way they treat their playerbase in the games as a service context. I don't think its productive to try and be fond of frontier, you just have to take what you're given.
 
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Agree with OP.

I like the game and enjoy playing it, even in its doughy, soggy-bottomed, half-baked state.

... but I would enjoy it so much more if it had a nice crispy bottom, a golden brown colour, some icing, and maybe a few sprinkles on top.
 
It’s almost as if, after releasing ED, FD didnt know quite what to do with it so they just threw some half-thought-out ideas at it to see what worked. And so what’s left is a lot of poorly inplemented stuff. If only they could’ve concentrated on seeing things through.

FD’s seemingly scattershot approach is, for me, perfectly summed up in that cracker of a quote from them, ‘if you use it we’ll develop it’. That says everything one needs to know about ED’s development.
 
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The game is a mishmash of sim, sandbox, shoot 'em up and MMO. By trying to make a game that does everything FDev have made a game that does nothing well. As long as they continue trying to appeal to all the different player groups (and to be fair, we yell something rotten if they don't) they're going to continue adding half-baked features that don't satisfy anyone.

Of course, the forum would have a meltdown if FDev picked a single aspect and said "We're going to spend the next 18 months finishing feature x".

It doesn't help when the lead designer keeps changing since, like the players, they all have a different idea of what the game should be.
 
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Elite Dangerous is half-baked. Perhaps more accurately, it's a buffet full of half-baked "dishes". PowerPlay is half-baked. Multicrew is half-baked. Economics in ED are half-baked, and by proxy this makes things like trading and even the BGS at least feel half-baked. Engineers, C&P, scenarios, squadrons, the list goes on... And don't get me started with the game on PS4!

And, this is news to you?

Wait 'til you find out who's president of the USA now. :O

*EDIT*

The OP's avatar reminds me of the DW episode "Smile". ;)
 
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No argument here. I do love the game, but most elements lack polish. C&P is still badly done IMHO. I've never understood the BGS and Power Play to me is just bounty bonuses, and some unique toys (some of which are useless.)
Let's take PP cops, aka in my case Shield of Justice NPC's who hang out even in haz res sites. What do they do? Diddly squat, except mouth off insults even when your an ALD supporter. Do they help with fights? nope. Do they get in your way, as in fly between your guns and the target? yup all the time.
 
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