Is elite still sparsely populated with cmdr’s?

[Jake Savage]

I left ED 4 years ago, because the game was empty of other players.
Is the ED universe more populated now?
Are the players still seperated in Odyssey and horizons, Xbox etc seperated from pc players. I think there was even something called legacy.
in other words which part of the game should I try in order not to be the only cmdr flying around.

 

[Darrack]

I left ED 4 years ago, because the game was empty of other players.
Is the ED universe more populated now?
Are the players still seperated in Odyssey and horizons, Xbox etc seperated from pc players. I think there was even something called legacy.
in other words which part of the game should I try in order not to be the only cmdr flying around.

Space is big, out here in the Galactic Centre i see nobody, the bubble should have plenty of folks but just remember how big this game is.

O7

 

[Ian Doncaster]

In terms of instancing, there are the following separations and you can't instance with someone in any of the others:
- Odyssey PC Live
- Horizons PC Live
- Horizons PC Legacy
- Horizons XBox Legacy
- Horizons PS4 Legacy

"Legacy" and "Live" are additionally two entirely separate game universes: you can't even interact indirectly with players in those, and even your pilot is separate too (at the moment, if you haven't played for four years, they'll be identical - but the moment you do something in either they'll start to diverge)

If you're on PC then Live has far more players than Legacy (probably about 100x); my friends list suggests that most of them are in Odyssey Live rather than Horizons Live but I've no idea how representative that is (there's no reason it should be!)



As Darrack says, the game universe is huge; even ignoring exploration the bubble has about 20,000 inhabited systems, each of which has on average more than ten places a player might be present but not visible outside of that location. So even if there were 100x more people playing the game you'd still very often be the only one about.


If you want to play with other players your best option is probably to find an active player group that focuses on a type of gameplay you like and is awake in your timezone, and find people to meet up with that way.

 

[varonica]

Push us all into one system, like in that other space game, and you wouldn't be able to move without bumping shields with another ship. Well apart from the instancing issue of course, but yes there are lots pf players, you just don't meet them very often.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

Legacy is basically there because they couldn't get Odyssey to work on consoles and this allows those players to at least have something, even if it's just an old version of the game with no support other than basic maintenance (it is open to PC players if you really want to try that mode).

 

[HappyMoonMonkey]

In Odyssey, I've found a reasonable number of CMDRs in both Cubeo and Khamadhenu (both powerplay centres) over the last couple of evenings. You'll also find plenty in other powerplay centers, Shinrarta Dezra, Sol, Deciat, rescue ship systems and whatever CG system for the week. Seeing hollow squares doesn't correspond to playing with people though unless you activity engage in organic PvP. If you want to play with others then you need to join a community. Powerplay, BGS squadron or one of the catch-alls like EDC or NEWP.

 

[Jake Savage]

Wow. Five versions of the game that can’t interact with each other!

• Odyssey PC Live
• Horizons PC Live
• Horizons PC Legacy
• Horizons XBox Legacy
• Horizons PS4 Legacy

I was primarily a combat pilot. Did a lot of haz rez.
What made this game so good was that you never knew what your play session was going to entail, it was always the possibility of some cmdr trying to kill you that made me a little nervous every time I logged on.
without that the game lacks.

 

[Darrack]

What made this game so good was that you never knew what your play session was going to entail, it was always the possibility of some cmdr trying to kill you that made me a little nervous every time I logged on.
without that the game lacks.

That's not changed if you fly in Open

O7

 

[Brrokk]

Wow. Five versions of the game that can’t interact with each other!

• Odyssey PC Live
• Horizons PC Live
• Horizons PC Legacy
• Horizons XBox Legacy
• Horizons PS4 Legacy

I was primarily a combat pilot. Did a lot of haz rez.
What made this game so good was that you never knew what your play session was going to entail, it was always the possibility of some cmdr trying to kill you that made me a little nervous every time I logged on.
without that the game lacks.

Even if there was only one instancing layer, the galaxy is huge compared to the number of players. If you want to meet someone you have to somehow arrange it, or at least go somewhere like a CG system where you think other players might also go.

 

[Cosmo]

I left ED 4 years ago, because the game was empty of other players.
Is the ED universe more populated now?
Are the players still seperated in Odyssey and horizons, Xbox etc seperated from pc players. I think there was even something called legacy.
in other words which part of the game should I try in order not to be the only cmdr flying around.

1. The Milky Way is huge (400 billion star systems)
2. There's usually less than 5 thousand concurrent players in-game (PC version)
3. multiple game modes (single player is popular)
4. multiple versions of the game
5. Result: chance that you'll encounter other players is very low.

The multiple game versions and modes divides the player base too much. Switching between single and multiplayer should have a penalty so that people don't circumvent game situations.

 

[Walter2]

Switching between single and multiplayer should have a penalty so that people don't circumvent game situations.

It's been eight years and still this meme won't die.

 

[Robert Maynard]

It's been eight years and still this meme won't die.

It's as if some players can't accept that, in the game they bought (on the same terms as the players they're complaining about), no-one is forced to play with other players.

 

[Cosmo]

It's been eight years and still this meme won't die.

Yeah, cause it's a game design flaw imo. I think having a single and multiplayer mode is ok, if there's some kind of penalty to switch between the modes.

Having all players in the same world generates true MMO interaction that is hard to find in ED. Eve Online does this very well.

 

[Crank Larson]

In terms of instancing, there are the following separations and you can't instance with someone in any of the others:
- Odyssey PC Live
- Horizons PC Live
- Horizons PC Legacy
- Horizons XBox Legacy
- Horizons PS4 Legacy

"Legacy" and "Live" are additionally two entirely separate game universes: you can't even interact indirectly with players in those, and even your pilot is separate too (at the moment, if you haven't played for four years, they'll be identical - but the moment you do something in either they'll start to diverge)

If you're on PC then Live has far more players than Legacy (probably about 100x); my friends list suggests that most of them are in Odyssey Live rather than Horizons Live but I've no idea how representative that is (there's no reason it should be!)



As Darrack says, the game universe is huge; even ignoring exploration the bubble has about 20,000 inhabited systems, each of which has on average more than ten places a player might be present but not visible outside of that location. So even if there were 100x more people playing the game you'd still very often be the only one about.


If you want to play with other players your best option is probably to find an active player group that focuses on a type of gameplay you like and is awake in your timezone, and find people to meet up with that way.

Is that right? Odyssey and Horizons PC live can instance with each other.

 

[Darrack]

Yeah, cause it's a game design flaw imo

Nope its actually a brilliant design

penalty to switch between the modes

Why?

O7

 

[Robert Maynard]

Having all players in the same world generates true MMO interaction that is hard to find in ED. Eve Online does this very well.

I expect that Frontier foresaw the consequences of such a decision and specifically chose to avoid it, i.e. they did not decide to make an EvE-like game.

At EGX 2014, DBOBE expressed his take on the possibility of player groups denying access to areas of space, i.e. one EvE-like behaviour:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJzizYUEF9c;t=19m40s

 

[Cosmo]

I expect that Frontier foresaw the consequences of such a decision and specifically chose to avoid it, i.e. they did not decide to make an EvE-like game.

At EGX 2014, DBOBE expressed his take on the possibility of player groups denying access to areas of space, i.e. one EvE-like behaviour:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJzizYUEF9c;t=19m40s

Yes it's a design choice. The Milky way is gigantic, we've explored a tiny fraction. So Fdev could designate a bubble for such gameplay. Most players wouldn't visit it, nor be bothered by such groups.

Eve Online is doing a lot better in terms of 1. active players and 2. revenue per year. Here you can see the Eve Online Servers:

1. The Tranquility server has 28,308 thousand players currently online. There were 30,403 (2024-02-02 19:26:13). The current record is 65,303 (2013-05-05 19:09:04).
2. Serenity has 7,619 concurrent players atm.

ED is a small fry in comparison to EVE.

People like to dismiss EVE, but they made good game design choices which explains why EVE is still thriving after 20 years.

 

[Darrack]

Eve Online is doing a lot better in terms of 1. active players and 2. revenue per year.

Who cares about Eve? Its a toxic mess
The reason we are here is because it isn't Eve

O7

 

[Felix DiCestria]

So surely it would be more productive to harass the makers of Eve to produce more Elite-like gameplay than vice versa.

 

[aRJay]

I left ED 4 years ago, because the game was empty of other players.
Is the ED universe more populated now?

Probably not but as has been said it is a mind bogglingly big place so even if there were no mode choices or instancing issues you could lose the population of a planet in there.

Are the players still seperated in Odyssey and horizons, Xbox etc seperated from pc players. I think there was even something called legacy.

Yes.

in other words which part of the game should I try in order not to be the only cmdr flying around.

Depends on the hardware you play on but where in the game you play is likely to be more significant.

Yeah, cause it's a game design flaw imo. I think having a single and multiplayer mode is ok, if there's some kind of penalty to switch between the modes.

I don’t like the idea of penalising people for changing their minds.

Having all players in the same world generates true MMO interaction that is hard to find in ED. Eve Online does this very well.

Yawn. Trots out the old counter arguments of ED not being Eve and ED is not a true MMO as usually thought of.