How To Make Elite Dangerous Odyssey Successful - A WIP Planning Doc. Please be Kind.

[Sighman]

You mention 10 CZ being too boring to do for one engineer unlock... but the engineer you unlock doing the CZ is specifically there to engineer weapons/suits with combat mods that help out in a CZ. Therefore, if you don't enjoy CZ, or combat in general, why unlock this engineer?

It's the same with doing x number of stealth missions to unlock the engineer offering stealth upgrades. Each has a focus, so just unlock the one related to the gameplay you enjoy.

 

[Ydiss]

It's much too late for me now but I'd love it if all engineer unlocks had missions like the tutorial for EDO, but just extended over more scenes and locations.

The thing EDO has introduced to the game is hands on content. This isn't possible in Horizons where everything we interact with must be done remotely (shoot, scoop, scan or carry). But in EDO we can now do limitless things.

This opportunity wasn't fully exploited by fdev. What they've done is given us a lot of good dynamic content based on settlements. The scope is there for curated content though.

 

[Zac Cocken]

Hey Kokiri! Thanks so much for putting so much effort into your feedback. I particularly like your idea around the different superpowers in the game - and of course, a Hutton Mug would be amazing.

 

[EidLeWeise]

Where are Hutton Orbital Mugs for Dashboards? That is not hard to implement. Make it available in the ARX Market. Make it free for anyone who makes the trip.
Offer Lavian Brandy in at the damn bar in Lave. Hell, offer drinks of any kind at every bar throughout the galaxy. Create emotes for CMDRs. Let them sit on chairs and stools.

Yes! Heck Yes!

 

[Badmiker]

Love all of this. Great 'big picture' thinking.

Frontier cannot say that Elite is all about 'personal narrative' without responding to what narratives the persons (players) are creating. It's criminal that there's no support for the racing communitry; there's no items or obstacles to place, no way to create routes, there's not even a damn clock on foot.

It's also tragic that the 'turning the wheel' initiative has not had the slightest reaction from FDev. This was an initiative by a small number of players but it was open to all (I think I dropped by the relevant station once or twice, read the standing orders on Discord and did some small stuff when I was bored grinding). This was a HUGE amount of work and should have had a real effect on the game. This was personal narrative created on a galactic scale but, nope, it just didnt matter to Frontier.

There are many other popular touchstones (ship interiors currently being a notable sore point).

The community are there, the writers, creators, players; any investment that Frontier put in to supporting community generated content would be returned many times over. A small team on Frontier's side could curate all manner of player submissions and leverage massively more and diverse exciting content into the game.

Instead Frontier seem to think that the only worthwhile gameplay is repetitive grinding.

 

[Stikkit]

I really appreciate this. Sometimes I wish I could be hired by FDev to turn the game around. I love it and it pains me to see it like this.

Thanks again.

Good effort but I think it's abundantly clear that Fdev had settled on minimul viable product and unless Odyssey was a genuine mistake coupled with all the other problems in the world then I really can't see them ever fleshing this out or reworking anything. They don't seem to have a clear vision other than minimal effort at large intervals, IMO. It's almost as if they are offering a half hearted attempt at providing the life time backers a break even on content, base game + 2 expansions.

 

[babelfisch]

Please, OP, don’t give up. That’s not my message to you. Take your ideas and planning and offer them to a developer that may listen. Most are at least somewhat open to suggestions. Even better, use them to build the game you want to play. Code, create, become the developer that Fdev is not.

What?

 

[Koma Pahu]

and of course, a Hutton Mug would be amazing.

Make it happen Zac, we’re all putting our faith in you.

 

[Gully Foyle]

WOW!

Give him a stuff. I’ve got a couple of used metalloys

 

[fourrunes]

This post has too much thought put into it - it will be most certainly completely ignored by fdev.

 

[Gully Foyle]

Yes! Heck Yes!

We shall begin a formal open letter request for this long overlooked iconic rare item to be awarded as a dashboard object and/or purchasable with ARX.
Prepare the template.
if they can render Hello Vera they can give us a ceramic mug.
iPhone spelling kept

 

[DarthLuca]

I am on the "How are new ships gonna make anything better?", side of the fence.
I am all for better missions but I am not sure ED: needs actual storytelling. There are many more 'space' games that do (and will) have good 'stories' if that's what people want.
Also all for better NPC's with actual AI's and 'data' and 'memories' behind them. Sure this was hinted at being in the plans though by some Frontier employee somewhere along the line.

 

[zikolach]

But yeah, 'everyone' wants a Panther Clipper

Nope, I want more Ship Interiors and on-foot VR

OP has nice idea of super-power related quest lines - I'd like to see a mix of this with https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/an-idea-to-replace-the-rank-grind-in-elite.574527/

And instead of adding more ships to the game maybe stick to the idea of player-owner megaships https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...-crazy-harrys-megaship-emporium-today.584406/.

 

[KokiriWolf]

I like some of your suggestions OP, but that's all they will likely remain.

It might also help if you can condense everything down into a single Twitter post so the devs will pay attention to it.

You mention 10 CZ being too boring to do for one engineer unlock... but the engineer you unlock doing the CZ is specifically there to engineer weapons/suits with combat mods that help out in a CZ. Therefore, if you don't enjoy CZ, or combat in general, why unlock this engineer?

It's the same with doing x number of stealth missions to unlock the engineer offering stealth upgrades. Each has a focus, so just unlock the one related to the gameplay you enjoy.

Having to do the thing isn't the problem. Having to do the thing over and over with no additional context or narrative is the issue, as it gets tedious. Having those things to do within a guided narrative would disguise that process and instead turn it into something more organic and would hopefully feel less forced.

 

[Ninjitsu]

@OP solid ideas, and yeah having no personal storyline to guide the player i think might be the biggest problem with the newcomer experience in Elite.

You mention 10 CZ being too boring to do for one engineer unlock... but the engineer you unlock doing the CZ is specifically there to engineer weapons/suits with combat mods that help out in a CZ. Therefore, if you don't enjoy CZ, or combat in general, why unlock this engineer?

It's the same with doing x number of stealth missions to unlock the engineer offering stealth upgrades. Each has a focus, so just unlock the one related to the gameplay you enjoy.

So are you suggesting that CZs are the only combat opportunity in elite? Because that would be incorrect.

Personally i've engaged in combat related to missions or random salvage but not done a single CZ so far.

 

[KokiriWolf]

It's much too late for me now but I'd love it if all engineer unlocks had missions like the tutorial for EDO, but just extended over more scenes and locations.

The thing EDO has introduced to the game is hands on content. This isn't possible in Horizons where everything we interact with must be done remotely (shoot, scoop, scan or carry). But in EDO we can now do limitless things.

This opportunity wasn't fully exploited by fdev. What they've done is given us a lot of good dynamic content based on settlements. The scope is there for curated content though.

Yeah, that's why I've tried to format this into a "work in progress" type thing. Like, if this is the base Odyssey experience, let make it into something extraordinary by adding to it!

 

[KokiriWolf]

Hey Kokiri! Thanks so much for putting so much effort into your feedback. I particularly like your idea around the different superpowers in the game - and of course, a Hutton Mug would be amazing.

Thank you for the reply, Zac! It really means a lot. I have more ideas coming and hopefully they'll be as well received. Can't wait for the day where we can see a dashboard full of mugs.
And thank you for the job you CMs are doing. I know it can't be the easiest role to have right now. Hope you have a great week!

 

[KokiriWolf]

Good effort but I think it's abundantly clear that Fdev had settled on minimul viable product and unless Odyssey was a genuine mistake coupled with all the other problems in the world then I really can't see them ever fleshing this out or reworking anything. They don't seem to have a clear vision other than minimal effort at large intervals, IMO. It's almost as if they are offering a half hearted attempt at providing the life time backers a break even on content, base game + 2 expansions.

I'm not so sure. I don't think FDev intended to make such a poorly received expansion to ED. I think that the overhauls and advancements made to the Stellar Forge and the hundreds of thousands of assets required to update the game just got away from them. From a technological standpoint, Odyssey is an astounding achievement. It just needs to be more fully fleshed out. The foundation for an excellent experience is here, it just needs to be followed through.

 

[KokiriWolf]

Hey Kokiri! Thanks so much for putting so much effort into your feedback. I particularly like your idea around the different superpowers in the game - and of course, a Hutton Mug would be amazing.

This post has too much thought put into it - it will be most certainly completely ignored by fdev.

Welp, a CM reply is a start...

 

[KokiriWolf]

I am on the "How are new ships gonna make anything better?", side of the fence.
I am all for better missions but I am not sure ED: needs actual storytelling. There are many more 'space' games that do (and will) have good 'stories' if that's what people want.
Also all for better NPC's with actual AI's and 'data' and 'memories' behind them. Sure this was hinted at being in the plans though by some Frontier employee somewhere along the line.

New ships won't magically make anything better, but as they've been the focal point for ED for years, there's clearly something about new ships that the community loves. Those are essentially -the- content injections for this game imo - new ships are essentially the new heroes for games like Apex or Overwatch or R6 Siege. It's an event that keeps people coming back. The Huge ships were an idea for Squadrons and Wings and bc both of those ships are community favourites; they've already been requested for years. The Medium ships were devised as alternatives and possible upgrades for the current Meta that is the FDL. Plus the Imperials have no medium ships.

As far as stories, I'm drawing from Odyssey's namesake. There's also that criticism about ED being a mile wide and an inch deep? More intimate, handwritten narratives would help with that.