Excellent, they'll have already paid for the game, but won't be cluttering it up with their unpleasantness, as above. A clear win all-around, it seems.
How realistic are this game's ambitions?
- Thread starter Hadrian Bently
- Start date
Excellent, they'll have already paid for the game, but won't be cluttering it up with their unpleasantness, as above. A clear win all-around, it seems.
Why would you not want a third person option for FPS boarding actions? If I drop a million credits on a suit or armor then what is wrong with getting to look at it?!
are you a backer ? if not what are your ambitions ?
His reputation from the 80s still stands. Barring disaster, I expect that he doesn't want to fail in delivering the whole promised vision.
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yes I'm a backer. Don't understand your question though...
A SC fanboy speaking here?
I'm afraid ED sacrificed a lot of what it could have been as a successor to First Encounters to becoming some MMOG only roughly related to the Elite series. FD is now chasing a completely different target group than the one originally adressed with an Elite 4. Sadly, its demands also break the originally intended design. I'm pretty sure that the missing damage models, ships, planetary landings and offline playing are because they saw that a big MMOG crowd got interested in the game and they wanted to tap into that market further than intended. Which meant: they had *a lot* of programming to do they hadn't originally planned. And to change the rules. Never ever there was something like the FSD in Elite. All there was was some tranquilizer that "accelerated" time for the pilot. The rest was hyperspace jumps and newtonian spaceflight. Which easily allowed for planetary landings - one just had to slow down at the right time and approach the planet cautiously. And consider its gravity. The game engine was relatively simple, but very effective.
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Enter Multiplayer: fast-forwarding time won't work anymore, as the universe has to be synchronous for everyone. So space-flight needed to go a different way. Which was the advent of the faster-than-light FSD. Which is fine in interplanetary flight - but how would we approach a planet now? With FSD on, we'd be too fast. With FSD off, we'd get nowhere in a long time, moving on only at about 300 kph (did anybody say something about Star Citizen not being realistic?). My conclusion to this is: there won't be a planetary landings like Frontier and First Encounter had. They added a lot to the game's appeal, had their own challenges and they also were how mining worked (landing on a distant planet and launching a mining machine). There will be planetarly landings, but I expect them to look like in Freelancer. FSD-drop at some entry point, then lean back and watch the animation. I'm pretty sure that wasn't what was originally intended, but that's all I expect from how the game evolved so far.
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Monetary-wise I think it's unfair to claim that Star Citizen is a money-making scheme. Well, of course it is to some extend, as is ED - they don't do it for the love of the game, they do it to earn their living. But RSI so far stayed to to their word that there won't be any game content that will not be purchaseable in-game with game credits. ED goes an entirely different way, even selling paint jobs(!) for 5 GBP apiece. Both are mostly milking the fanbois IMO.
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I was a very early backer of both SC and ED. But I think both games evolve into a direction that doesn't align with their original intentions anymore. They certainly don't align with my expectations anymore. SC was supposed to be a space sim, a Wing Commander/Privateer relaunch, and now that they got more money than they know what to do with they make it a first-person shooter, racing game and whatnot. ED was supposed to be E4 but now seems to be rather stuck somewhere between Elite and EVE for all I know. Both left what they wanted to be and became something I'm not sure I would have backed.
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Another game that went this route was Microsoft Flight Simulator. A very special game that appealed to a certain crowd only, but this crowd was at the same time willing to pay quite a bit of money for that game. Microsoft decided to dub it down for the masse and make it a multiplayer online game with pay content. They lost the target group that wanted a realistic, world-wide simulation. And they never reached the target group that wants arcade online flight (no shooting!) sim gameplay. Probably because it doesn't even exist. It took just a few month and the game was gone. And there once was a game series called MechWarrior...
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So far both ED and SC do it right in these regards. They did find their loyal customers. But they had to adjust their visions for that and now they have to deal with the results. No architect would voluntarily change the building's design in mid-construction. No good comes from this. And this is what IMO has happened to Elite. I feel like Star Citizen will be a little more consistent, simply because stuff like planetary landings and walking around and multi-player were included in the basic idea already. Stuff like FPS and boarding came later, but they are easier to fit into the original design. More like adding a garage to the house, and not changing from gothic to post-modern style.
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Enter Multiplayer: fast-forwarding time won't work anymore, as the universe has to be synchronous for everyone. So space-flight needed to go a different way. Which was the advent of the faster-than-light FSD. Which is fine in interplanetary flight - but how would we approach a planet now? With FSD on, we'd be too fast. With FSD off, we'd get nowhere in a long time, moving on only at about 300 kph (did anybody say something about Star Citizen not being realistic?). My conclusion to this is: there won't be a planetary landings like Frontier and First Encounter had. They added a lot to the game's appeal, had their own challenges and they also were how mining worked (landing on a distant planet and launching a mining machine). There will be planetarly landings, but I expect them to look like in Freelancer. FSD-drop at some entry point, then lean back and watch the animation. I'm pretty sure that wasn't what was originally intended, but that's all I expect from how the game evolved so far.
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Monetary-wise I think it's unfair to claim that Star Citizen is a money-making scheme. Well, of course it is to some extend, as is ED - they don't do it for the love of the game, they do it to earn their living. But RSI so far stayed to to their word that there won't be any game content that will not be purchaseable in-game with game credits. ED goes an entirely different way, even selling paint jobs(!) for 5 GBP apiece. Both are mostly milking the fanbois IMO.
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I was a very early backer of both SC and ED. But I think both games evolve into a direction that doesn't align with their original intentions anymore. They certainly don't align with my expectations anymore. SC was supposed to be a space sim, a Wing Commander/Privateer relaunch, and now that they got more money than they know what to do with they make it a first-person shooter, racing game and whatnot. ED was supposed to be E4 but now seems to be rather stuck somewhere between Elite and EVE for all I know. Both left what they wanted to be and became something I'm not sure I would have backed.
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Another game that went this route was Microsoft Flight Simulator. A very special game that appealed to a certain crowd only, but this crowd was at the same time willing to pay quite a bit of money for that game. Microsoft decided to dub it down for the masse and make it a multiplayer online game with pay content. They lost the target group that wanted a realistic, world-wide simulation. And they never reached the target group that wants arcade online flight (no shooting!) sim gameplay. Probably because it doesn't even exist. It took just a few month and the game was gone. And there once was a game series called MechWarrior...
.
So far both ED and SC do it right in these regards. They did find their loyal customers. But they had to adjust their visions for that and now they have to deal with the results. No architect would voluntarily change the building's design in mid-construction. No good comes from this. And this is what IMO has happened to Elite. I feel like Star Citizen will be a little more consistent, simply because stuff like planetary landings and walking around and multi-player were included in the basic idea already. Stuff like FPS and boarding came later, but they are easier to fit into the original design. More like adding a garage to the house, and not changing from gothic to post-modern style.
Harbinger
Volunteer Moderator
It was a shame The Outsider got canned due to the publisher pulling out. I'd be cool if Frontier get an opportunity to revisit it at some point in the future now they've changed to a self-publishing model.
I think ED has a lot of potential and so far the updates have been pretty good. They've all been relatively large new features that added quite a lot of content considering they're free (though arguably the game was a bit incomplete at launch). I'm most excited for planetary landings by far, it would make exploring so much more than just select and wait for it to finish spinning, repeat. I'm not sure how I feel about boarding, based on experiences from FTL I have a feeling I'll dislike it. Walking around is in the same vein as planetary landings, so I'd expect that to be the first paid DLC, hopefully this year.
I would say Elite's ambitions are likely possible, but far from certain.
On the one hand, release wasn't perfect, we are still missing quite a few features from the DDF, and the Galaxy still seems rather lifeless, though things are improving in that regard. Also, procedural generation has a long way to go if it is to provide entire planets of interesting, believable content.
On the other, FD seems determined to continually improve the game, they have laid a stable foundation for the game with a great deal of potential, the PtP infastruture brings several problems but also greatly reduces server costs (making it much more likely the game will be around many years), and the game has sold well and still has the Mac and Xbox releases coming in addition to whatever expansion packs we end up getting.
I forsee Elite having a long life filled with continuous gradual improvements, but not quite fulfilling all of the above visions and promises.
On the one hand, release wasn't perfect, we are still missing quite a few features from the DDF, and the Galaxy still seems rather lifeless, though things are improving in that regard. Also, procedural generation has a long way to go if it is to provide entire planets of interesting, believable content.
On the other, FD seems determined to continually improve the game, they have laid a stable foundation for the game with a great deal of potential, the PtP infastruture brings several problems but also greatly reduces server costs (making it much more likely the game will be around many years), and the game has sold well and still has the Mac and Xbox releases coming in addition to whatever expansion packs we end up getting.
I forsee Elite having a long life filled with continuous gradual improvements, but not quite fulfilling all of the above visions and promises.
As long as the money goes into the cash registers, the ambitions are realistic
and im a backer and i dont understand the point of your question
How many people are still playing WoW?
I still regularly play DDO - released in 2006. Up until I got ED I played Everquest 2 since 2005. How long have people been playing Eve?
10 years is not an unrealistic expectation IMO. FD just need to ensure they keep up to the game, keep releasing paid expansions (or go subscriber/F2P model) and I cant see any reason why the game shouldn't be around in 10 years. I just hope I am
It does have an ace up its sleeve with the built in support for 3D and the (hopefully not dead before its even out) virtual headset tech that's on its way. Is Oculus EVER going to get released - I mean before the next ice age?
I still regularly play DDO - released in 2006. Up until I got ED I played Everquest 2 since 2005. How long have people been playing Eve?
10 years is not an unrealistic expectation IMO. FD just need to ensure they keep up to the game, keep releasing paid expansions (or go subscriber/F2P model) and I cant see any reason why the game shouldn't be around in 10 years. I just hope I am
It does have an ace up its sleeve with the built in support for 3D and the (hopefully not dead before its even out) virtual headset tech that's on its way. Is Oculus EVER going to get released - I mean before the next ice age?
I personally would have much preferred to see ED with dedicated server system and a subscription model, allowing focus to remain on the original vision and maintain development.
I think those points above mean the money will run out as the game is eclipsed by newer titles.
I honestly don't believe we will ever see landing on planets. We've seen a tiny percentage of the 'Design Discussion Forum' in play, and ideas used for marketing the game, as it is.
I think those points above mean the money will run out as the game is eclipsed by newer titles.
I honestly don't believe we will ever see landing on planets. We've seen a tiny percentage of the 'Design Discussion Forum' in play, and ideas used for marketing the game, as it is.
10 years time huh? Well maybe, but I see the gaming landscape as being very very different in the future to be honest. Regardless, it may well be possible but it will depend very much on content put in E: D.
As a player who joined after launch and didn't back it (my friend was an alpha backer) I found the game to be unbuggy and initially really good and hearkening back well to the vibe of the original and the second incarnation, taking the best bits of each.
However, after playing for a couple of months now I am getting pretty bored to be honest, I've got close to Dangerous in combat and needed a break from it, trading I can only do so much of repeating the same process over and over and so exploring is my main thing. Sadly, the points of interest (nebulae/black holes/neutron stars) especially the nebulae are all very samey and graphically extremely underwhelming. I've covered maybe 150K Ly now and seen probably over half of all the nebula in this galaxy and honestly, unless things get upgraded in a serious way, i'm done with exploration.
You may say "you obviously just don't have the patience" etc, however I have played MMO's for 20 years and on each went through some horrific xp/item grinds to get what I want (legendary WOW/Final fantasy online weapons as examples) but always saw a point to these goals. In E: D i'm struggling to find any goal other than "buy an anaconda, then umm...."
So, that begs the question, where is the content I am going to play next? Powerplay is just a faction addon to existing gameplay options and personally doesn't hold much interest to me.
I don't believe E: D universe will sadly see most of the "we already had this planned for the future" content as the kickstarter model already showed a lack of faith from the industry to front the cash on the game initially. I think people will get bored way before we see any of it and new people joining (who are needed to fund these ideas) will be put off by the swathes of people saying "i played it for 6 months and got bored".
I hope i'm wrong, I want it to work, I just can't see it happening in light of the fact most of the big guns in the industry will be probably preparing something themselves for oculus use and have the money to throw at it.
As a player who joined after launch and didn't back it (my friend was an alpha backer) I found the game to be unbuggy and initially really good and hearkening back well to the vibe of the original and the second incarnation, taking the best bits of each.
However, after playing for a couple of months now I am getting pretty bored to be honest, I've got close to Dangerous in combat and needed a break from it, trading I can only do so much of repeating the same process over and over and so exploring is my main thing. Sadly, the points of interest (nebulae/black holes/neutron stars) especially the nebulae are all very samey and graphically extremely underwhelming. I've covered maybe 150K Ly now and seen probably over half of all the nebula in this galaxy and honestly, unless things get upgraded in a serious way, i'm done with exploration.
You may say "you obviously just don't have the patience" etc, however I have played MMO's for 20 years and on each went through some horrific xp/item grinds to get what I want (legendary WOW/Final fantasy online weapons as examples) but always saw a point to these goals. In E: D i'm struggling to find any goal other than "buy an anaconda, then umm...."
So, that begs the question, where is the content I am going to play next? Powerplay is just a faction addon to existing gameplay options and personally doesn't hold much interest to me.
I don't believe E: D universe will sadly see most of the "we already had this planned for the future" content as the kickstarter model already showed a lack of faith from the industry to front the cash on the game initially. I think people will get bored way before we see any of it and new people joining (who are needed to fund these ideas) will be put off by the swathes of people saying "i played it for 6 months and got bored".
I hope i'm wrong, I want it to work, I just can't see it happening in light of the fact most of the big guns in the industry will be probably preparing something themselves for oculus use and have the money to throw at it.
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I backed Elite: Dangerous at premium and Star Citizen, also have Space engineers; looking forward to No Mans Sky. THe ED universe is amazing and as the game grows with planetary landings walking around the ship etc the game is going to get better and better. The different games seem to offer similar aspects of space in very different ways. In this new trend of space games (which is awesome) exploring different avenues will benefit the future of this genre. I must say ED definitely works the best of any game I own on oculus rift DK2. All of these games are growing and all companies involved seem to be listening to their supporters when it makes sense. Excited to see how all developing games I love look/play in the future and enjoying the ride as it comes.
Seamless planetary landings and flying in atmosphere/no atmosphere over surreal alien terrain will keep me for ages. Space House would be nice. Place to park the ride.
Seamless planetary landings and flying in atmosphere/no atmosphere over surreal alien terrain will keep me for ages. Space House would be nice. Place to park the ride.
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since i realized they really think they can get anywhere with a foundation based completely on peer2peer technology i dont believe in their tech skills anymore and dont expect anything special.
just enjoy what you have when you have it and dont expect wonders, i cant even count how many mmorpg's i played promised server housing and/or a bunch of other cool things just to realize later they cant pull it off ....
i am even glad when i would be able to do missions for factions in the future without unfixed major gamebreaking bugs for months xD
just enjoy what you have when you have it and dont expect wonders, i cant even count how many mmorpg's i played promised server housing and/or a bunch of other cool things just to realize later they cant pull it off ....
i am even glad when i would be able to do missions for factions in the future without unfixed major gamebreaking bugs for months xD
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'What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and people are now seeing DBOBE's Vision!' I disagree with you on the idea that the game 'is changing'. It is becoming EXACTLY what was advertised all those years ago. Thankfully.
The boarding action would be done with multiple players playing in the same ship. I am sure that was mentioned before as well. You can have pilot in the seat while others board the ship. You have noticed the other seats in your cockpit right? Wing mates can also run security to prevent being jumped while a boarding party is on a ship.