Well... There are some people who truly fit in this category, and I have them on ignore. There are other people who either loved the game at one time or continue to love the game, and / or they feel great disappointment because of the direction things went, and they express that disappointment here. I consider myself in this category, though these days I'm pretty much over the disappointment and consider this more a local diner where retired vets share war stories and opinions about how the military was vs. what it has become. I also don't accept the "It's just a game, get over it." argument that is often used to try to shut some people up, because here we ALL are (including you), wasting countless hours on this forum discussing "just a game", so obviously it's more to us than "just a game".
Is Elite Dangerous a dead game? I compared it to some others ...
- Thread starter Alien
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There are those who are, as you said, dissapointed about one thing or another, but at some point they usually just stop and either go away, go quiet or give it another try. That's fine by me. As is someone who used to play but doesn't anymore but is still hanging out having a nice relaxed chat about things (I guess that's you
). I would argue that those would not really fit the "dead to me" category.And then there are some truly aweful figures hanging out that haven't even played for years, but have a (bad) opinion on everything. That's terrible.
As for the "just a game" spiel: That's also the usual ganker excuse, but in reality something like ED is an actual time commitment, more so for someone not living in their mom's basement anymore, and thus by default it is more than "just a[nother] game".
Edit: But I still argue that you have to know when to let something go, and some people clearly either missed that point or completely miss the ability to do so.
If only things could be this simple!
Oh I'm sure we have certain identical individuals in mind in this regard.
What has made Elite more than "just a game" for me personally is the immersive aspect of it, where I have memories from the game that on some level mirror memories of real life experiences. Going on a long exploration trip in my spaceship in Elite triggers similar brain centers (I think) that going on a trip in my car and seeing things IRL does, especially once I started playing in VR. Add the social aspect of multiplayer, along with unique one-of-a-kind experiences like the great days of PvP piracy in the rings of Borann, and Elite feels way more "real" than say a match of Overwatch or a typical arcade shooter. The fact that Elite is grounded in our Milky Way galaxy, with stars and planets I can see in the nighttime sky, and it can almost feel like a real "second life".
This is a fair point based on a solid observation; games like elite tend to transcend the simple definition of "a game" for those who play it, not simply because of its depth, complexity and the time (and money) we end up investing in it, but because games like ED also tend to be fall into the category of "hobby games". This isn't Getting Over It, Pogostuck or Hundred Days, which are "drop in for some fun then drop out" titles. It isn't as disposable. Or forgettable. And the people who play it often further invest, as I have, in additions to their rigs in order to make the experience all that much more immersive. Flight sticks. Steering wheels. Wall-sized displays. Entire rooms. And furthermore, it's a specific kind of game that people often bounce into from similar games; flight and space sims, albeit occasionally arcade-like ones. People who like it, like myself, gravitate toward titles like it; DCS, ETS, farming simulators, racing simulators, and so on. The niche in which these games fit is one in which those who occupy the space are generally more immersed overall.
That said, I don't think it's healthy for one specific title to define you, because when one does, everything is amplified for you. And while that's fine in terms of your experience, your expectations and your ability to adapt to change are something else entirely. You feel let down more easily. You anger or become jaded more easily. And ultimately, you burn out more easily and more spectacularly. It isn't a simple thing to find a balance that leaves you more optimistic and simultaneously realistic about the future of the game you love if every decision made about its direction affects you negatively because it doesn't measure up to your own grand vision for it.
I don't like the direction ED took, but I'm learning to find the good times anyway. It's quite heartening really.
Probably
.Very eloquent - and equally true.
The commonest negative comment made here is that the game had 'potential' - usually mentioned by those for who the game didn't fulfil their own ambitions for what it might be, and its development doesn't offer things which enthrall them.
Walking away, for a while, spending time doing something else might help, opting to return when they are ready, if ever.
I think you explained why it was on the list in your comment as quoted here.
I'll just leave this over here:
mmo-population.com
Not at an all-time high but looks like it's doing fine at around 175K per day.
Elite Dangerous - 2025 Server Population & Player Count - MMO Populations
Elite Dangerous player count, server population, subscribers and game activity stats, updated daily in 2025 (aka EliteDangerous).
mmo-population.com
Not at an all-time high but looks like it's doing fine at around 175K per day.
I'll just leave this over here:
Elite Dangerous - 2025 Server Population & Player Count - MMO Populations
Elite Dangerous player count, server population, subscribers and game activity stats, updated daily in 2025 (aka EliteDangerous).
View attachment 345645
Not at an all-time high but looks like it's doing fine at around 175K per day.
Do not trust that site at all.
It says Star Citizen averages over 500k players per day. Currently with a 720k peak. There is no way CIG are getting those numbers and i question from where they pull those numbers, although i suspect it rhymes with bass.
It's not coming from anything that accurate. It's based on Reddit subscriber numbers.
Server Population & Player Count - MMO Populations
All about the website MMO-Population.com and the data we provide.
mmo-population.com
Is it me, or is that data more like "There's either two or one but we will scale it up by 175K"?I'll just leave this over here:
Elite Dangerous - 2025 Server Population & Player Count - MMO Populations
Elite Dangerous player count, server population, subscribers and game activity stats, updated daily in 2025 (aka EliteDangerous).
View attachment 345645
Not at an all-time high but looks like it's doing fine at around 175K per day.
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FakeData.comI'll just leave this over here:
Elite Dangerous - 2025 Server Population & Player Count - MMO Populations
Elite Dangerous player count, server population, subscribers and game activity stats, updated daily in 2025 (aka EliteDangerous).
View attachment 345645
Not at an all-time high but looks like it's doing fine at around 175K per day.
And that's just on PS4!
This site is utter rubbish, it lists Everquest Next as an MMO l
O7
IIRC, at one point it was listing a dead game (literally no servers) as having an active playerbase.
Something just died, but I don't know what... (Caution: This is non-offensive irony.)
