How influential will Elite Dangerous be as a game for the market?

[MarcusAurelius]

With the release of the Alpha just a few days old (12 December) It seems Elite Dangerous is making more waves than ever before. Before the 12th December you would be hard pressed to find anything on youtube about Elite. Largely shrouded in mystery since the beginning, you might of even been forgiven for not knowing ED existed at all. But now there is an influx of material popping up everywhere on how the in game engine handles flight and dogfighting. Its really making a spill.

So much so that in recent days either by direct influence or sheer coincidence even Star Citizen took abit of a nose dive in pledges since the 12th. Now that the gaming world is seeing more and more of what ED is capable of it might be destabilizing the comfortable zone other games enjoyed and raising the bar in peoples minds.

Consequently Elite has been on a sharp rise since the Alpha. Sitting somewhere around £2,149,000 before the new store launched. And as of now in just 4 days:

Things are abuzz that Chris Roberts might have even had to postpone their Dogfighting module abit so as to offer something worthy and comparable to the Elite Dangerous Alpha. So will other games be as affected by what Elite Dangerous has in store, all this before even Premium Beta or Standard Beta release! Its going to be very interesting days indeed. I can only imagine the potential of things to come.

So do you guys think Elite Dangerous is going to be very influential and a force to be reckoned with for other games out there, especially with games like SC?

 

[Crash_Happy]

I think overall Star Citizen will prove more influential. I say that just because they raised so much gosh-darned money that there's no way the big developers are going to ignore that. I wouldn't be suprised if they're fighting over No Man's Sky as we speak.

You've now added a poll with a very different question to the title of your post.

 

[Kroy]

Influential, yes. It has already influenced peoples' opinions as visible on various forums around teh interwebs.

However, for it to be truly a pivotal moment in gaming history, much, much more is required.

 

[izzy]

I think people will expect that SC alpha will be as good as Elite alpha ... with no (or few) bug
RSI can do it

 

[cassius]

How influential will Elite Dangerous be?... as a game, incredibly so. Space sims (and to a lesser extent, the whole scifi game genre) have not been as main stream as other titles for many years. The charts tend to be dominated by FPS's, racing games or the endless rehashes of this years football title. A quick look in Amazon's top 10 PC games shows no less than 4 of The Sims games! (correct at time of writing )

I think we'll come to know Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen and Limit Theory as "the big three", that bring this type of game to the forefront of the public's knowledge, and show just how exciting, immersive and beautiful they can be. ED has a lot of big dreams and i've not doubt it'll deliver.

How influential will Elite Dangerous be?... as a social revolution, incredibly so! Remember that bit at the end of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey? ED will unite nations, increase crop production wherever its played, clear smog over cities and take us out to the solar system. All to kickass rock tunes lol

Seriously though, its works of media such as ED (just like books and movies have been in the past) that will inspire younger generations. I see it as training for our future astronauts who will set foot on Mars in a few years.

The visions of the future produced by authors, artists, directors, and nowadays games designers help shape that very future. People look at those works of art and it inspires them to create.. look at the film 2001. They were using handheld touchscreen devices to watch video while eating their lunch. And 40 years later (holy crap just realised that film is over 40 years old!!) we have tablets in front of us doing the same thing.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

You should define what do you think with "influential". It will prove that PG games can be made good for sure, thus removing current negativity towards it, and putting spotlight to other games using this technique (No Man's Sky, Limit Theory, maybe Infinity etc.). Will it be market hit? At least FD doesn't plan it sales to be that many, judging from their reports to investors. They are interested in this in long run.

Will alphas/betas influence SC community? It will. I know there's lot of dual backing of both games going around, and space sim fans celebrating renaissance of space games. I see SC/Squadron 42 as something I really welcome. However, there's also lot of koolaid drinkers, who will see some feature implemented in ED and will require it in SC. Nevermind that SC as the game is very early in it's dev cycle, and you can't really compare them right now. So there will be lot of bickering and lot of "why SC alpha aren't released yet". Chill out people. It's just a game.

ED is underdog currently in certain circles of gaming community. I think such low flying under radar has suited game development quite well.

 

[Sterlino]

... sure it will be a ''kick-ass'' to SC devs to put out asap something for the players to chew... hehe

I just can smell a lot of 'pressure' in the StarCitizen quarters now...

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

In the space of a month we've seen the worst of games development and hype (X-Rebirth), and the best of games development in ED (one that had no hype and was painfully low key).

Hopefully the way Frontier have gone about it - i.e. just getting on with the job and not relying on bull**** hype to sell their product - it will set the standard for other development studios to live up to. If nothing else it may even give studios the incentive to go the crowd funding route themselves to free themselves of the pressures they must be under from publishers.

I really hope the disgrace that was the X-Rebirth release is the last time a publisher gets away with misleading and ripping off its loyal customers. Players should look at ED's alpha and demand nothing less quality-wise from now on.


As for ED's alpha influence on Star Citizen, I don't think it will make any difference. SC is unique. Yes its gone down the traditional route of hyping the game beyond belief - almost to sickening levels - but I believe it will be one hyped game that will actually live up to it and deliver a quality product. Chris Roberts is a perfectionist like DB and he won't let his fans down.

 

[Thargon]

Being both a Star Citizen backer and an Elite Dangerous backer (both ridiculous amounts of money for a game!) I felt compelled to comment here.

The apparent "nose-dive" you are seeing on the SC funding graphs is due to LTI (Lift Time Insurance) stopping. You can no longer purchase ships with LTI - you now have to pay for your ship insurance in game.

Secondly, there is a distinct lack of "new stuff" right now on SC - they haven't released any new ships nor much new information lately - this is having an effect on the funding totals.

I'm not an SC fanboy, but just wanted to correct IMO, this thread, because although ED is having an effect, it's not the primary driver why the funding rate has reduced to a more realistic level.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

... sure it will be a ''kick-ass'' to SC devs to put out asap something for the players to chew... hehe

I just can smell a lot of 'pressure' in the StarCitizen quarters now...

I wouldn't call 35 mil. USD and +47k each day 'pressure' They should really take their time with development. It is time SC hype died. It has been useful for them, but it is time to go.

 

[Sav112]

You cant reinvent the Wheel, The original Elite was akin to inventing a whole new way to play and thinking of games. It built its own universe that you played in after all when everything else was more or less platforms. I don’t think Elite Dangerous will have that same Erika moment but it could introduce a whole new generation so something that has been lacking a decent space sim.

I hope it also shows up how to make a game, I’m sick of these lazy developers that more or less sell games half complete out the box with bugs and limitations relaying on the fact they can patch it after taking everyone’s Cash. Look how polished this Alpha is, everyone else should be embarrassed.

 

[Crash_Happy]

Are we talking about Erika, Archimedes girlfriend?

I don't think it's so easy to say that SC's funding rate was due to any one thing. Whether that one thing is E: D or insurance. Besides anything else it simply had to slow at some time.

 

[coldcall]

I don't think the space combat alpha (Dangerous) is really very influential. There's nowt revolutionary about it, looks like a modern space shooter. I don't mean that in a bad way but i think its the guts of the game and universe which *could* be influential if developed with enough depth.

Actually No Man's Sky looks to be the influential release at this stage. I look forward to what planet landing will look like in Elite Dangerous because i think that will be a major litmus test.

 

[cassius]

Are we talking about Erika, Archimedes girlfriend?

lol i want to know what she did to him in the bathtub to run naked through the streets

 

[coldcall]

You cant reinvent the Wheel, The original Elite was akin to inventing a whole new way to play and thinking of games. It built its own universe that you played in after all when everything else was more or less platforms. I don’t think Elite Dangerous will have that same Erika moment but it could introduce a whole new generation so something that has been lacking a decent space sim.

I hope it also shows up how to make a game, I’m sick of these lazy developers that more or less sell games half complete out the box with bugs and limitations relaying on the fact they can patch it after taking everyone’s Cash. Look how polished this Alpha is, everyone else should be embarrassed.

One good thing about this type of game funding is it appears to make a a stronger connection of responsibility/accountability from the developer with its customers. So i think promises are more likely to be kept and the developers will do everything they can to make it the game it was expected to be.

I'm hoping....

 

[Rattatay]

Well, consider this:

Out there, somewhere, J.M. Straczynski is hoping to be able to continue his Babylon5 saga. Until today, it is THE series where space combat felt real to me.

And with all due respect, here comes David Braben and the folks at Frontier, and creates a game where the game mechanics feel real and suck you in right from the Alpha stage.

Maybe JMS and DB should get connected?

 

[Slawkenbergius]

I don't really enjoy these threads comparing the two games. Elite's every movement doesn't need referring back to Star Citizen. It just makes our fanbase look like the poor relation, envious of our rich cousins, and reflects badly in my opinion.

It's awesome that the alpha has been so well received, and that bodes well for the future. However, the dip in funding to Star Citizen is because there's no LTI, and no limited-time ship sales currently. If RSI released a new ship tomorrow, they'd bring in another million dollars in no time at all. Our alpha is nothing compared to their ship sales.

As for the future influence of Elite, time will tell. I don't really see it being as ground-breaking as the original, or having much impact in how EA go about their business. Hopefully it will be a great game and last a very long time though.

 

[Shoklar]

I feel Elite: Dangerous will once again set the stage for many 'firsts' like the orginal Elite game did. The combat in it is amazingly fun. Have this coupled with upcoming expansions that allow so much immersion and detail it will as I say, set them firsts once again.

FD delivered it once, oh boy are they set to do that again!
Shok.

 

[nats]

I don't really enjoy these threads comparing the two games. Elite's every movement doesn't need referring back to Star Citizen. It just makes our fanbase look like the poor relation, envious of our rich cousins, and reflects badly in my opinion.

Elite Dangerous will stand on its own as a high quality game made for the 'serious' space sim crowd. Star Citizen will be all show but with little in the way of substance, just like Robert's older games. I will probably buy and play both games, but I am fully expecting to love ED and play it for many years, whereas I will play SC for a few weeks before getting bored I am sure. But this is all based on faith, because at the moment I have no real idea how either game will turn out and everything I think could be wrong. Once I see more of ED than just the combat I will be happier.

 

[CaptTamer]

The visions of the future produced by authors, artists, directors, and nowadays games designers help shape that very future. People look at those works of art and it inspires them to create.. look at the film 2001. They were using handheld touchscreen devices to watch video while eating their lunch. And 40 years later (holy crap just realised that film is over 40 years old!!) we have tablets in front of us doing the same thing.

Some very interesting analysis and I do think Braben will be looked back as one of the true visionaries of our time. He is somebody who from the very start saw way beyond the games industry. What he did with Elite was to create the impossible while others made Space Invader clones.

The problem we have is great minds like Braben are dismissed as gaming people while society will quite happily listen to some pompous politican. If Braben gets anywhere close to his true vision for Dangerous I think he will again rewrite the rules of what is possible and what a game even is.