hi,
i have to admit it's getting really tiresome to read the forums, nowadays.
The '84 crowd had a game which fit on a floppy, yet they spent zillions of hours "playing" the game - which nowadays is called "grinding".
Gawd, the choices to us then were so much more limited, so much more scripted, yet i feel EVERY player, (almost to an individual) loved the game.
You are a Star Wars virgin only once. Same with your first car, your first sex, your first digital audio recording, and your first space ship game. After that, some primitive center of your brain wants "more"... frequently without being able to explain what 'more' means, since it only has a vague, "feeling" - based idea of what it wants next. i've seen frustrated postings to that effect. Don't post a picture of the Enterprise, and say "give me more THIS", because each person has a very different picture inside their cranium - and opinion of what "THIS" is. When they all say "Yes, THIS!!!!" we're all saying 'yes' to something different and undeclared.
Early on, Dave Braben made a series of promises that was sure to set himself up for trouble: he tried to give everyone everything - EVEN that old-fogey subset of players (including myself) who played the original game.
When this strategy is adopted, you end up doing a whole lot and pleasing almost no one.
Once that race to the Anaconda is won, there needs to be more in the world than pew-pew. Spaceship size & credit balance just won't cut it in the longer run. Believe me, your brain will tire of the 'new' 32 planets once you see them twice. Searching for that incredibly 'rare' thing will be the source of complaints ("not enough rare things"). People want more depth: for one, that means more 3d objects, for another, a layering of politics, for another, the return of the ultimate enemy.
Give it ALL to them David. By definition, the first pass will be paper-thin, and dissapointing to most.
Powerplay is one meaningful direction. it provides a different sort of status - a different sort of goal.
My original game came with 2 books of stories. i enjoyed them EVEN THOUGH they weren't even visible in the game. That's because most of the game happened inside my head as opposed to what was on the screen. For me, Elite is a form of "Firefly" - a story about a man, his ship, and the choices he made. It was interesting how short-lived Firefly was. freakin' unappreciated genius.
Now, an attempt is made to actually mix stories & politics into the game, with results visible & determined by game players.
i don't use PP. i'm watching it carefully. i have considerable fun operating below their scope of interest. It might be fun if PP missions appeared to us minions - which could provide a "wildcard" function to the game, but not a big loss.
AGAIN, this game (unless supported by the crowd) is in its INFANCY. A few years down the road, you should be impressed at how far its come - unless it does a "Firefly" (not understandable, not enough killing, want more fist-fights, more aliens, dum it down to the lowest common denominator, ...)
The most amazing part is; that i can STILL play the game the way i want. i do. i still enjoy it.
..and i still have not encountred a carapace-concealed weapon yet
- Slick
i have to admit it's getting really tiresome to read the forums, nowadays.
The '84 crowd had a game which fit on a floppy, yet they spent zillions of hours "playing" the game - which nowadays is called "grinding".
Gawd, the choices to us then were so much more limited, so much more scripted, yet i feel EVERY player, (almost to an individual) loved the game.
You are a Star Wars virgin only once. Same with your first car, your first sex, your first digital audio recording, and your first space ship game. After that, some primitive center of your brain wants "more"... frequently without being able to explain what 'more' means, since it only has a vague, "feeling" - based idea of what it wants next. i've seen frustrated postings to that effect. Don't post a picture of the Enterprise, and say "give me more THIS", because each person has a very different picture inside their cranium - and opinion of what "THIS" is. When they all say "Yes, THIS!!!!" we're all saying 'yes' to something different and undeclared.
Early on, Dave Braben made a series of promises that was sure to set himself up for trouble: he tried to give everyone everything - EVEN that old-fogey subset of players (including myself) who played the original game.
When this strategy is adopted, you end up doing a whole lot and pleasing almost no one.
Once that race to the Anaconda is won, there needs to be more in the world than pew-pew. Spaceship size & credit balance just won't cut it in the longer run. Believe me, your brain will tire of the 'new' 32 planets once you see them twice. Searching for that incredibly 'rare' thing will be the source of complaints ("not enough rare things"). People want more depth: for one, that means more 3d objects, for another, a layering of politics, for another, the return of the ultimate enemy.
Give it ALL to them David. By definition, the first pass will be paper-thin, and dissapointing to most.
Powerplay is one meaningful direction. it provides a different sort of status - a different sort of goal.
My original game came with 2 books of stories. i enjoyed them EVEN THOUGH they weren't even visible in the game. That's because most of the game happened inside my head as opposed to what was on the screen. For me, Elite is a form of "Firefly" - a story about a man, his ship, and the choices he made. It was interesting how short-lived Firefly was. freakin' unappreciated genius.
Now, an attempt is made to actually mix stories & politics into the game, with results visible & determined by game players.
i don't use PP. i'm watching it carefully. i have considerable fun operating below their scope of interest. It might be fun if PP missions appeared to us minions - which could provide a "wildcard" function to the game, but not a big loss.
AGAIN, this game (unless supported by the crowd) is in its INFANCY. A few years down the road, you should be impressed at how far its come - unless it does a "Firefly" (not understandable, not enough killing, want more fist-fights, more aliens, dum it down to the lowest common denominator, ...)
The most amazing part is; that i can STILL play the game the way i want. i do. i still enjoy it.
..and i still have not encountred a carapace-concealed weapon yet
- Slick
