Elite / Frontier How can we help?

[DrBaggy]

Like many others here, I am a devotee of the Elite world, having played with wireframe graphics on the Amstrad many, many years ago and waited patiently for Elite 4. I'm delighted that Frontier have updated their website and started this discussion board. The open question to David Braben and all at Frontier is how can we help make it the wonderful experience we all want it to be? Are our wish lists of any value, or are the details already sewn up? Can we be used to bounce ideas off?
The issue here is that to many of us Elite is more than a game, and those of us who spent maybe too long in it's universe have a sense of ownership. I think we all trust the genius that is Mr Braben to deliver, but are very keen that the things that made the game so special for us remain.
So for me, the essentials are a single-player option, open gameplay, in a universe believable because of physics rather than eye-candy (boo Freelancer/X etc) with a sense of the hugeness of space that makes us want to explore. Oh, and the ability to land on (procedurally-generated?) planets.
Sorry this is a long post, but many of us have been waiting a long time! Good luck to all of you at Frontier

 

[Matt]

I seem to recall a comment made by Braben (or was it someone else) that they were fairly reluctant to discuss "ideas" about Elite 4 with the "community" for legal reasons.

I know people are looking forward to elite 4 for ages, but it strikes me as slightly odd that so many people are posting "Ideas for Elite 4!" type posts on various message boards and newsgroups.

I guess enthusiasm is good though.

 

[Steve O B Have]

I seem to recall a comment made by Braben (or was it someone else) that they were fairly reluctant to discuss "ideas" about Elite 4 with the "community" for legal reasons.

I know people are looking forward to elite 4 for ages, but it strikes me as slightly odd that so many people are posting "Ideas for Elite 4!" type posts on various message boards and newsgroups.

I guess enthusiasm is good though.

I would assume that this being the official Frontier forums, any comment and suggestions/ideas posted on here are by nature released as intellectual property of Frontier. It would make sense that if an idea were likely to be of contentious value you'd be smart enough not to hand it over.

Personally, since I lack the knowledge to develop a game in my spare time of the caliber that I desire, I'm happy enough to leave it to the professionals and offer my 5p in the slim possibility that it adds something more to the production process. If by the end of the day, there is value added to a great product and my contribution has made a product better, then I am happy with that.

 

[DrBaggy]

It's a sad reflection on our lawyer-dominated society that companies should have to worry about this, though Frontier's history might give it grounds to be nervous! For myself, I'd be more than happy to make a disclaimer explicit if it would help free up discussions.
My sense of the "community" from these forums is that it is a well-meaning bunch of people who wish Frontier well, are excited that the long-overdue Elite 4 is on the horizon, and want to help make it the wonderful experience we all want it to be

The reason for the original post was to see whether we could contribute anything of value to the development of Elite 4, or just kicking around ideas for fun.

Of course we trust Mr Braben to make the next installment as groundbreaking and immersive as the original, but it would be nice to think we could be of some value. Please use us as a resource, Frontier; There is a groundswell wanting this project to be a huge success. I hope the fact that you set up this forum shows you value us, so I repeat my open question to Frontier: how can we help?

 

[Kipper]

I haven't read the T&Cs for this forum, but it should also be assumed that I don't hold any legal claim to any ideas I post here! What would I do with them anyway!