how to bring players back

[Ian Doncaster]

Aaaand after few days this online peak disappear.
Sadly, I don't think that adding new shiny, shiny content each week is possible

Looking at previous additions / new releases / in-game events which caused sustained increases in general activity:
- initial release of Horizons (several months)
- initial Thargoid attacks in 2.4 (persistent increase, kept going until masked by later Beyond releases)
- engineering rework in 3.0 (a few months)
- mining/exploration rework in 3.3 (several months)
- Fleet Carriers leadup/release (several months)
- start of NMLA/Azimuth/other storylines and/or Epic giveaway and/or pre-Odyssey hype (persistent increase until Odyssey release) [The storylines did have fresh weekly content, as an exception to the general nature]
- Colonia Bridge CGs (a few months)
- introduction of Thargoid war (several months)

So based on that the big things seem to be:
- new features that allow new ways of experiencing existing content (mining, exploration, fleet carriers)
- new content which generates fresh weekly scenarios (either mostly automatic like the Thargoids or mostly manual like the NMLA story)

 

[Rubbernuke]

Looking at previous additions / new releases / in-game events which caused sustained increases in general activity:
- initial release of Horizons (several months)
- initial Thargoid attacks in 2.4 (persistent increase, kept going until masked by later Beyond releases)
- engineering rework in 3.0 (a few months)
- mining/exploration rework in 3.3 (several months)
- Fleet Carriers leadup/release (several months)
- start of NMLA/Azimuth/other storylines and/or Epic giveaway and/or pre-Odyssey hype (persistent increase until Odyssey release) [The storylines did have fresh weekly content, as an exception to the general nature]
- Colonia Bridge CGs (a few months)
- introduction of Thargoid war (several months)

So based on that the big things seem to be:
- new features that allow new ways of experiencing existing content (mining, exploration, fleet carriers)
- new content which generates fresh weekly scenarios (either mostly automatic like the Thargoids or mostly manual like the NMLA story)

Its why the BGS needs / needed to have more synergy across other features. Because when it does, it acts as an ever changing self contained narrative that people can sculpt endlessly.

The reason why we get spikes is that while these features are wonderful, they are often introduced in isolation and do not enrich other aspects.

Example: mining- the art, sound and detonation mechanics are great. But then, thats it. Why can't we have unstable asteroids, mined (as in military) mined areas we sneak through, have areas that are off limits we can illegally mine in, harvest creatures for flesh / chemicals (tied to illegal poaching) and so on.

 

[amigacooke]

The Christmas (or other holiday of your choice) ARX giveaway always gets me back in the game.

 

[Rubbernuke]

The Christmas (or other holiday of your choice) ARX giveaway always gets me back in the game.

Being Snippy Simon or Critical Colin, it would not for me. Nothing FD have done cosmetics wise really grabs my modules.

Again, synergy, quality and imagination are lacking in ED cosmetics- the scope of what could be offered that nicely slots into lore etc is astounding. Given what PP leaders wear, faction heads wear, engineers wear etc you wonder if they are from the same game.

I mean, where are the Imperial, Federal uniforms, livery, in world company branding (not just anonymous logos)? All of these could and will reinforce lore aspects, a players grounding as an Imperial or Federal / pirate / indie etc (and that also have an in game cosmetic response, such as an Imperial salute you)?

Instead its as generic as possible, or ill conceived (like racing paints)- I mean, this?

I did these as a laugh ages ago, but could you imagine having actual in game companies (such as Brewer, Manticore) having extensive decal presence, and that decals, paints etc were done in a way that made buying decals actually worth it (and not the limited way we do currently with limited slots, no resizing)?

FD did massive amounts of quality concept art for clothing, looks, lore and promptly ignored it, thus destroying the draw.

 

[zimms]

Unfortunately Frontier read this forum and they concluded snowman hats is all the community wants.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Being Snippy Simon or Critical Colin, it would not for me. Nothing FD have done cosmetics wise really grabs my modules.

Again, synergy, quality and imagination are lacking in ED cosmetics- the scope of what could be offered that nicely slots into lore etc is astounding. Given what PP leaders wear, faction heads wear, engineers wear etc you wonder if they are from the same game.

I mean, where are the Imperial, Federal uniforms, livery, in world company branding (not just anonymous logos)? All of these could and will reinforce lore aspects, a players grounding as an Imperial or Federal / pirate / indie etc (and that also have an in game cosmetic response, such as an Imperial salute you)?

Instead its as generic as possible, or ill conceived (like racing paints)- I mean, this?

View attachment 377981


I did these as a laugh ages ago, but could you imagine having actual in game companies (such as Brewer, Manticore) having extensive decal presence, and that decals, paints etc were done in a way that made buying decals actually worth it (and not the limited way we do currently with limited slots, no resizing)?

View attachment 377980

FD did massive amounts of quality concept art for clothing, looks, lore and promptly ignored it, thus destroying the draw.

Just saying: I'm using deLacy Logo as player characzer logo in X4.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Unfortunately Frontier read this forum and they concluded snowman hats is all the community wants.

I'm not taking crazy pills for wanting cosmetics to reflect the game, am I?

cries

 

[zimms]

I'm not taking crazy pills for wanting cosmetics to reflect the game, am I?

cries

As you said, there are so many "obvious" possibilities for cosmetics like super power affiliation. Frontier could even sell outfits not just for player characters but also crew and FC staff.

It's good that Frontier are making enough money from Arx to support the current level of development Elite gets, but I suspect they could do even better with not too much effort.

 

[Greasetrap42]

Aaaand after few days this online peak disappear.
Sadly, I don't think that adding new shiny, shiny content each week is possible

As I said in my post, some features work well for bringing players back to the game, while other features are good for retaining players.

And of course there are some aspects that might drive players away. Odyssey launch is a great example of this. The new features brought back many players, so it kinda worked but the terrible launch made it fizzle rapidly. Making the game unplayable for a large percentage of the player base isn't a good strategy for player retention.

 

[metatheurgist]

I'm not taking crazy pills for wanting cosmetics to reflect the game, am I?

cries

On a level I can understand wanting to cater to all tastes (and Fortnite players) but I'd rather the game have a consistent, credible visual look.

 

[Factabulous]

Unfortunately Frontier read this forum and they concluded snowman hats is all the community wants.

 

[zimms]

The new Santa action figures are... something.

 

[BackToTheMud]

Raaxla DOES exist as a game myth. Burden of proof concept doen't apply to a universe where dieties (FDev programmers) can magicaly add/remove content. These dieties have the power to add million-year-old content at any time.

In the context of this thread and the suggestions being made, FDev can choose to do whatever they want with this myth by adding/removing content whenever they want without telling us.

If you scroll up a bit you can read what I actually wrote (well, almost what I wrote; some admin seem to have had a problem with the short form of "Richard") and not just what the one that doesn't understand that you can't prove that something doesn't exist cropped out.

 

[BackToTheMud]

As I remember it, the Brebus himself confirmed that Raxxla is in the game, and that the story about a commander honking it is indeed just hearsay.

Even assuming he did, there's a more than even chance that he was lying to drum up hype.
I don't doubt that they intended to do something involving Raxxla, but they never got around to it. At the very best, the added a "Raxxla" station to a permit locked system we have no way to gain access too. Meaning that, for all intents and purposes, it isn't in the game.

 

[Screemonster]

I like my pumpkin hat because it lets me be a horrible gremlin in-game as well as in my forum avatar

 

[Greasetrap42]

As Raxxla is not in the game, it would be somewhat of a move to release more in-game rumors about it.

If you scroll up a bit you can read what I actually wrote....

Replying to what you said, there is no need to prove if Raaxla content exists in the game for the OP's suggestion.

Whether ingame content has existed beyond rumors and myth is irrelevant to the suggestion.

Even if I did prove Raaxla content in the game, there is no way to distinguish if its old content from 2015 or new content. Kinda like IRL how its impossible to tell if a deity added dinosaur fossils with evidence of being really old but might have been created that way when the world was created only 6000 years ago. In the case of ED we are certain that deities in the form of programmers actually do exist, and they modify the ED universe as they desire.

 

[Factabulous]

Kinda like IRL how its impossible to tell if a deity added dinosaur fossils with evidence of being really old but might have been created that way when the world was created only 6000 years ago.

 

[Frankymole]

Correct. That's because you don't control systems.
Factions control systems. Players don't own factions.

Well, aside from all those PMFs.

 

[Kira Goto]

I'm not taking crazy pills for wanting cosmetics to reflect the game, am I?

cries

I could only shake my head when I saw those silly armor suits that looked like they came (almost) straight out of a rugby(american soccer) design team’s idea.

And on the vaguest and most slightest possible related note, I just hate how you cannot separate hats or hoods from helmets at all, you either take both or none. As if there aren’t those of us who’d wear a hat in a station, or would maybe like to hide some of our facial features without literally covering the entirety of the head up by wearing a helmet(or some sort of opaque visor) where there is absolutely no need to.

And who wears a hat on a helmet like they’re trying to imitate a Wild West cowboy in the 34th century anyway. That helmet would look… almost perfect without that.

 

[DjVortex]

I must admit that it's sometimes hard to understand Frontier's decisions and what can only be assumed to be wilful moments of missing-a-great-opportunity. It's a bit like:

Dev: "The consoles are a huge market, especially now that the next-gen consoles are out. Surely we'll port Odyssey to the consoles too, which would certainly boost sales?"
Frontier: "Nah."

Dev: "Hey, Sony has announced the PSVR2, which has just astonishing specs! Imagine if ED were a launch title for it, having full support, being among the dozen or so rare launch titles for the system. Just imagine the boost in sales! Just imagine how many new players it would attract!"
Frontier: "Nah."

Dev: "Ok, if we are not spending any resources on the consoles and are concentrating on the PC side only, then surely we now have the resources and time to implement all the new features that players have wanted for literally years and years?"
Frontier: "Nah."

It just baffles the mind. So many great opportunities missed. Never seizing the opportunities that present themselves on a silver platter...