Is Elite Dangerous a Dad's Game Played mainly by "non-gamers"?

This is the impression I get and I think it's a big problem for ED. Or at least, deciding what it is, gamer's game or dad game will be key to deciding it's success. Indeed, the devs may come under pressure from gamers to make it more gamery, or rather "less of a game, more 'real', action packed etc", which may put the "dadfolk" off it! I'm not sure there's that much crossover between the two communities (though I'd say I am one) and trying to please both can be tricky.

Who are the dadfolk? No set type but "non-gamer", in term of the breadth of their experience even if they spend all God's hours playing their games. The dadgamer player base also has a higher than average "settled down, middle aged" contingent who game whilst "the wife" does what ever it is women get up to. Many of the things that attract the dadfolk: the routine, the regular flow of events, non-too challenging combat etc, are what will put off the gamers and vice versa. And if any of my friends are reading this, yes! I mean you! Like many players of other dadgames like World of Tanks and Warships (also dadgames) many players play those games only and nothing else, which seems to be the case with ED... Indeed, for many, one of the last games they played seriously before ED was the original Elite of yesteryear. They make forum posts with titles like "What do your wives think about you playing Elite?".

EDIT: by dadfolk being non-gamer I don't mean they are crap at games, they just aren't into games as a broad church but just "their games", a relatively narrow selection which they often play for hours and hours. They may spend all god's hours playing it and have high levels of expertise but just not much gaming experience outside that. People spend thousands of hours and pounds on world of tanks, but don't play much else, and often haven't played much before hand. The head of my clan in WoT was in his 70s and hadn't touched a game in his life before he took it up ... and though they were younger (many in their 40s and 50s, though many were also younger) the same was true of many other clan members.

Come to think of it, ED was one of the few other games I have heard WoWS and WoT players talk about playing.

One of the reasons for the enthusiastic support such games get from some of their devotees seems to be the inexperience of their players.

EDIT: I don't mean inexperience regarding the games they play, I mean experience of the wider world of games

They think the game is the best thing since sliced bread, but don't have that much to compare it against. Not that this makes them bad games and or the players bad people. I have played my dadgames for many hours but in the very small sample of players I know, it seems to be the way things are.

That's not to say that dadgames are a small or invalid market, World of Tanks turns over more than $300 mil anually I believe, for example and there are plenty of other examples.

EDIT: One could argue that attracting a more mature, more devoted audience with more cash to spend is a good recipe for success.

I should also say that I am not young myself. Old enough to be a dad, granddad and technically a great grand dad for a few years now, but I'd still class myself as a gamer-gamer, though I am in a sense caught between the two camps. I enjoy dadgames but also like the occasional gamergame, and recently played: Witcher 3, Dark Souls, Cities Skylines, Fallout 4. There's nothing wrong with dadgames, I play them quite a lot. I only have 1 t10 tank in WoT, the IS7, but I have it!

I'd be interested to know what other games people play or have played, if any and no judgement if not, and in conjunction with this, what you think of ED. Or rather, how much you like it. No judgements, more research material! :p You could also mention your age. I am not saying mine! :eek: Yes, I am expecting a roasting over this post. Give it your best shot! :D

Almost 2am here, and I was quite tired at the start of the evening, hope that makes sense!
 
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Defying the stereotype (again! Similar thread yesterday) as a 20 year old gamer that also plays mainstream "gamery" games like fallout 4, witcher 3, and strategy like Wargame and Cities skylines. Cut and paste boring and obvious "made for profit" only games are out of bounds for me though. (Call of duty, dragon age, assassins creed, Star Wars battlefront ad infinitum)
 
I would largely see myself as a 'DadGamer'. I do have a varied experience with games. My son grew as, and continues to be a 'GamersGamer'. He worked in the coveted Game Stop store as a teen and was a local authority. I quickly moved on from console FPS games to the MMORPG world where I can go at my own pace. I have also faced/face a partially paralyzed right hand that has served to slow me down as well. He, as always finds a way to hit all of the bases.

When my Son and I consider what we enjoy and dislike in games I find a real overlap between the two. We would just play them differently. The last game we played concurrently was Elder Scrolls I believe, and our characters couldn't have been any more different, but we were at basically the same place in game regularly looking for hints from each other. Some games cater more to the differences between us, i.e. GTAXX. Some more to the games we have in common. I dazzle him with my Starships, and he dazzles me with Destiny, and the new FPS that just came out.

I am sure that a game like Elite stands a very good chance at bridging the gap. He plays Elite on a console, and enjoys the fighting. I use the PC and have a flightstick. So far, ELite has been the only game I can wow that guy with. I don;t worry much about the generational thing. Frontier seems to know where all the itches are.
 
I'm 45 I played the original elite and I play elite /horizons that is the only game on my PC apart from my lads minecraft ed is all I need at the moment especially on the rift amazing. So I'm not sure where I sit in this poll lol
 
Translation of OP : I'm a newborn generation e gamers who had no clue about space sims and just want shinny action packed action games!


Spoken like a true old guard.

r.e. World of Tanks, it's Campaign time, which is different to your usual World of Tanks. I play in Campaigns, and know exactly what you mean by all those 45%ers who drop the whole 'I'm bad at the game but good at life' card.

r.e. World of Warships, I'm a super tester for it but stopped playing as the testing times are only in Russian Timezone.
 
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Yes.

Mention PvP and you get the full brunt of the Old Guard 'blaze-your-own-trail-but-don't-touch-me crowd.

- Going from League Community to ED Community has been a learning curve in itself

Sorry but this dadgamer played EQ, Ultima Online, DAOC, EVE, Warhammer, GW, Gw2, Defense of the Ancients for W3 (you know the original League... Lulz) so ya, some of us know a bit about pvp. Keep the glorious generalizations coming.
 
Many of the things that attract the dadfolk: the repetition, the regular, predictable flow of events, non-too challenging combat etc, are what will put off the gamers and vice versa.

This is an interesting..."observation"...that runs totally contrary to what I've seen the industry doing over the last 20 years. As developers cater more to the "gamer" generation, games become simpler and easier with more forgiving mechanics and choice structures. Anymore games from developers like From Software are the exception to the rule, niche really. While games with checkpoints every 15 seconds, heavily scripted and static AI and extremely reliable "cheese" strats dominate the market.
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I think you may also find that we "dad gamers" are some of the strongest advocates for less forgiving mechanics in ED, tougher AI and more punishing consequences. It's the "gamery gamers" that need things without investment, consequence or penalty.
 
Translation of OP : I'm a newborn generation e gamers who had no clue about space sims and just want shinny action packed action games!

Translation of actual text of post:
I am not young myself. Old enough to be a dad, granddad and technically a great grand dad for a good few years now.

"I'm not a newborn generation e gamer who had no clue about space sims and just want shinny action packed action games".

Translation of your post: I have no valid comments, so let me start the name calling without even reading what he has to say.
 
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I enjoy dadgames but also like the occasional gamergame, and recently played: Witcher 3, Dark Souls, Cities Skylines, Fallout 4. There's nothing wrong with dadgames, I play them quite a lot.

Are those games listed examples of Gamer-Games or Dad-games?
 
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