Let me preface this by saying (for the haters) that I keep coming here because I LOVE Elite's core game play. Flying the ships. Combat. Buzzing bad guys in asteroid fields and rings. Its visceral and real and heady, and I cannot get enough of small ship combat in tight quarters, with obstacles and a sense of scale. Its possibly the most immersive, and one of the most enjoyable, experiences I have ever been privy to in gaming. And that is why I WANT badly to see this game succeed.
But I feel that many supporting mechanics - that is, non game play related stuff - drag the game down. Not only do they fail to increase the fun factor. They actively detract therefrom. Engineers are a big one. What should have been a simple credits and sliders tweaking system available at any station once unlocked (the better to allow us to get back to PLAYING the game as quickly as possible) instead turned into a multi tier, time gated, RNG grind that actively DETRACTS from the simple yet immersive fun of actually playing our way. That's a net negative, and thats a TON of dev time to spend on a net negative.
That said, I want to talk about why, to me - and I humbly suspect, many others - Elite feels so...gamey...for lack of a better term. And I want to start, by defining what I mean when I use that term, "gamey" so we can all get on the same page right from the get go. Gamey is a term I use to define aspects of a game that feel blatantly fake. Like they would never exist within the universe in which a game is based, and instead only exist BECAUSE its a game, and not for any other (better) reason.
Why are Gamey mechanics bad? They constantly remind players that they are playing a game. They yank us out of the fiction, kill our suspension of disbelief and detract from the enjoyment we derive from the experience of playing a game. Thus they are, in short, usually bad. Usually.
So which mechanics in Elite are overly gamey? You guessed it: Almost everything not directly related to flying and fighting. Flying in normal space, including turning, and maneuvering thrust, F/A off...even the sound model that accompanies these things, are top notch. A new bar was set with Elite's core mechanics, and I mean that wholeheartedly.
But even among these otherwise excellent - indeed, bar setting - mechanics, we see something unusually gamey. Something that utterly kills any sense of immersion. The Boost mechanic really feels...awkward. That it is limited to pre-determined lengths of time just feels gamey. Boost should engage when I set throttle to afterburner, should burn fuel almost constantly, dependent on Engine grade and ship mass, and then toggle off when I turn it off. That's how Afterburners work. Except in Elite, because..."balance" (whatever that claims to mean in the aftermath of the Engineers that destroyed any hope of it). That is, by definition, an overly gamey, immersion shattering mechanic, and as such, it actively detracts from the quality of the experience that is a Sim like Elite, by shattering suspension of disbelief.
And Boost is hardly alone.
Looking outside the combat system, we see multiple systems that are overly gamey and feel false. Engineers are one such. Basically a copy pasta fantasy MMO crafting system, (badly) inserted into a universe where such a system makes little to no sense. In this universe, Engineers would accept credits, materials would be market items many people would buy and sell (after all, most of them are pretty common and station markets would be more than happy to make money from the trade they bring). And people would know where to find these so called recluses...even if for a price. Lastly, these recluses would hardly need you to gather materials for them, as without those materials, they could not ply their trade, and would thus not be any good at it. Nothing about the Engineering system makes sense in a logical, science driven universe...reminding us that, hey, this is just a game and yanking the rug from under the suspension of disbelief many gamers prize.
And it does not stop there. Market data not trackable from our ship? This is the sort of data an Access or SQL Database could store and query now. In the 21st century. Third party websites PROVE this point. And yet, our magnificent, 19th century space ship tech (more on that in a bit) is utterly incapable of doing so.
Likewise, the things we need most in the game - ships and modules - are also overly gamey. Where are the competing sales? where are the stations hosting these sales to drive traffic to a system? The Galnet ads pushing these sales? Where are the plethora of manufacturers, and DEALERS/SELLERS, that are MORE than happy to tell us exactly where to find their ships SO WE CAN GIVE THEM OUR MONEY? That finding such key things in the game is such a hassle not only makes playing the game as inconvenient as possible, and a chore - an actual, unpleasant CHORE - for new players. It also makes no sense within the context of the Elite universe.
I can buy a car right now. On the internet. To spec. And have it delivered to a local dealer. All without even TALKING TO anyone. More less traveling anywhere. And yet, according to Elite: Dangerous, 1000 years in the future, in a universe with FTL flight AND communication...i have to wander all over the galaxy, HOPING to find the ships, and modules, I want to purchase. And when I DO find them, I have to pay the same price for a ship EVERYWHERE I go.
Sorry, no. NO corporation is going to ALLOW that to happen. They're going to TELL you where to find the merchandise you want to buy. Host sales. Take out ads. Do everything they can to sell you their product. And you arent going to have any trouble finding it, either. Not with the convenience of in-ship, FTL Internet style communications. Finding the things you need in this universe should be a cinch. It is now, so, why would it NOT be in 1000 years?
And the modules to fit those ships? A, B, C, D and E? REALLY? What is this? Diablo in space? Those modules should be made by different companies. Performance Parts Inc should make A rated modules. For the discerning customer concerned with getting the most, out of their ship.
The B Rated items would be made by a second company, offering near top notch performance, for a heck of a lot less price...and with more durability to boot.
Our C items would come from a company pushing the idea that theirs is the perfect mix of affordability and cost, with perhaps a perk thrown in for C Rated items, to match the Durability of B and lighter weight of D.
Modules formerly rated as D would become products of, say, Pathfinders Parts, Inc. Parts for the Explorer in all of us. When getting there quickly is more important than putting on a show once you show, buy from Pathfiner, fitting you for all of you Exploration based needs.
Finally, E rated parts would be Economy Class Customs, LLC. For when you just need it to work, without working over your wallet.
This is how a REAL, living universe would work. Competing companies. Different perks or benefits for buying various goods. Ads and sales to get you buying those goods. Galnet addresses to help you FIND the goods, services, ships, modules and commodities you WANT to exchange your hard earned credits for. Information would flow like wine in a universe like Elite...because if it didnt THE inhabited portion of that universe LITERALLY COULD NOT EXIST.
And yet...we get...this...instead. A universe wherein the entire 20th century...seemingly never happened. Its as if technology reached the point of, perhaps, the early biplane and magnifying scope combo...and then stopped. For nearly a century. Before mysteriously leaping to interstellar flight.
Where are the radars that control aerial conflicts for a 500 mile radius? The missiles that can fire on targets over the horizon, with minimal risk to pilots? The stealth ships, with light, carbon fiber frames and nearly no radar signature, to combat the above? Where are the ECM jammers, logistics ships, space-equivalent aircraft carriers to project military power? The Super Tankers that would be absolute REQUIREMENT to keep the economics of the Elite universe functioning?
Where are the light speed internet communications tools? The web browsers in ships? Why are scanners still 1 ton computers, as opposed to apps we install on the ENORMOUS hard drive space our ships contain in tiny sections of the dashboard? Why, in short, did technology in the Elite universe backslide for NEARLY A CENTURY...and then leap ahead to what we have, this curious mix of star trek level travel, and 19th century nearly everything else?
Because its a game. That's the reason. That's the ONLY reason. No justifiable, in universe reason even begins to make logical sense. And I humbly submit that this fact - coupled with the suggestions above - are things the devs should consider as they overhaul in game mechanics as part of their ongoing Beyond upgrades.
Thanks for reading.
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