How do you feel about Elite today?

[Neilski]

For example:

Yup, in fact I participated in that one (shortly before taking a complete break from the game)

Meanwhile, I'd say I'm still lurking in positive territory, but slipping back from a 3 to more like a 4 or even a 5. I feel another sabbatical may be in order, but at least this time around I finally managed to fire up EDH in VR mode (having been meaning to do that last year but somehow totally failing). (Btw, on that particular day I was definitely a 1! ...even though the VR headset in question was only a Rift CV1.)

 

[The Old Coder]

That's great, but unless you are privy to the internals of Frontier, it still doesn't add up to more than speculation. I guess it's safe to assume your company is in software development, is it in the games sector?

No, we do business and corporate software. But managing a large software project is pretty much same no matter what you're working on. We have a couple of developers that came out of the gaming industry because they wanted fewer crazy hours and less stress. They had no problem getting up to speed with us because the industry has adopted many of the project management practices pioneered in business software development. With the cost of game development going up and up they had to.

Were you a Kickstarter backer?

Me after seeing the Kickstarter:

So, yes, I was a backer, and I talked a few more people into backing it as well.

Again, upper management decisions, in any industry, are based on information and intentions that neither of us are privy to, when talking about Frontier specifically. I won't disregard your opinion, but to say that automatically invalidates others isn't correct, you could be wrong, or do you think it's not possible for you to be wrong? You called the console cancellation, so did I as a possible outcome, so I guess we're 1:1 at the moment.

I wish I was wrong. I'd love to be wrong. But knowing what I do about software development doesn't let me think that way. That's why I said consoles would be cancelled instead saying they might be, and I was right. Once a project has been driven into a ditch and the cost of rescuing it exceeds any possible ROI then it's over. The only time I've seen a rescue done is when the project is critical to a company and Elite doesn't qualify for that. Frontier can survive without it. They've probably come to that conclusion as well.

As I said before, you can discount the word of David Braben as wishful thinking, and forgive me if I still take his words over yours. Though one must be careful to not attribute too much dishonesty about what he says, especially if your primary source of information is based on what you would do in that situation.

Well, I wasn't attributing any dishonesty to him or accusing him of wishful thinking. I said he was putting the best face on it and that's all he could do. In saying I'd do the same thing I was expressing some sympathy for the position he's in. I'm quite sure that killing console development didn't make his day.

All the best.

And the same to you.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

As an aside; someone in charge of a 400+ employee company doesn't spend time moping about some game on a forum -- they've got more important things to do.

It's usually golf, so I assume it's raining where they are.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

As an aside; someone in charge of a 400+ employee company doesn't spend time moping about some game on a forum -- they've got more important things to do.

Idk, my father is in charge of a ~100 employee company yet has too much spare time IMO.

 

[Gleitfrosch]

As an aside; someone in charge of a 400+ employee company doesn't spend time moping about some game on a forum -- they've got more important things to do.

It's not about how many employees you have but how you organization structure looks like. If one person is responsible for 400+ employees and does everything alone, then the company has bigger problems than a buggy game.

 

[Erei]

Today I'm a bit scared my contribution for the 75% in the mining CG will not be enough.
So the emoji for fear is apparently :
I feel however it's a bit overdone as I'm not that scared.

 

[Neilski]

bit scared my contribution for the 75% in the mining CG will not be enough.

I suspect you'll be fine as the 75% threshold will probably barely move today. How many did you deliver?

 

[Erei]

I suspect you'll be fine as the 75% threshold will probably barely move today. How many did you deliver?

114, threshold is 93 according to inara. It was 80ish yesterday^^ So it's close

 

[Neilski]

114, threshold is 93 according to inara. It was 80ish yesterday^^ So it's close

Ah fair enough then I can see why you're nervous, and you're probably right to be. I (cough) had forgotten just how low the 75% level is right now... Doh.

 

[Dinbar]

3 = EDO
7 = Frontier. The Silence and lack of progress. They are wasting a fantastic opportunity.

 

[VR Golgot]

I'm asking you to make a business case for continuing to expend resources on Elite when they are needed on other projects that stand a much better chance of making a profit for Frontier. How will Frontier make a profit by continuing the development of Elite?

One longer-term strategy which they may be pursuing is: To demonstrate that Cobra can handle classic gameplay fare (character based RPG, FPS, open world etc) via Elite. And from that base gain IP commissions which are more lucrative than Jurassic Park management sims. (Say, Jurassic Park action adventure campaigns, for example ).

If EDO represents that roll of the dice, then there would be reasons for them to persevere with it in earnest. (Beyond whatever revenue is available through maintaining Elite, and beyond Braben’s doubtless soft spot for it )

You may be right that Cobra itself might not be up to the task. But at minimum they seem to be gamely wrestling with it for now ¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[Susanna]

Still 9!