Fair play, I consider Horizons 4.0 to be the base game as that's what you get when you just buy Elite Dangerous, then you have to purchase the Odyssey expansion. But, if Frontier release their next expansion with the expected rolling in of the Odyssey expansion to make that the base game you get when anyone new purchases Elite Dangerous, then it still doesn't really affect what I was saying. I'm not moving the goalposts, and we're just talking, there's nothing to be bothered about from my perspective.
The equation for this is that Frontier add major things to the game via expansions, which will offer new opportunites and/or advantages to those who purchase it - btw; I think all the new things we're seeing are still part of the original Odyssey expansion plans, nothing changes there from Horizions to Odyssey, that's been the case all along. Some will complain that these features are "pay to win" because you have to purchase the expansion, but selling expansions has been the method Frontier have employed to keep money coming in to support further development of the game.
To go back to my analogy, and expand it further; there is Ableton and then there is FL Studio. One features paid updates, the other gives you free updates for life. Ableton's model of paying for new features via an upgrade (or in Elite terms, an expansion) is the more traditional route for continuously developed software, which Elite is, even though it is a game and not a DAW, whereas FL Studio have made it work a different way by 1) the sales/marketing hook of free updates for life making it a preferred choice in comparison to competitors. 2) They develop premium plug-ins for FL Studio which are sold separately, generating revenue. 3) Tying into that, offering different tiers for the initial purchase of the DAW to include some or all of those premium plug-ins.
One might say that No Man's Sky has gone the FL Studio route by making all upgrades free, and as far as I can see, that's worked out well for them, even after one of the worst product launches in games history (and good for them!). I believe they are operating on just initial purchases for income, which I guess works because they keep their overheads in check and has been enough over the years. Though they are making their new game, Light No Fire, which is a way to generate new sales as it's likely that new NMS sales have tapered off to a degree and they can't at this point introduce PDLC. It will remain to be seen if they go down the PDLC route for Light No Fire or keep it the same, but if they made it work once, then maybe they can do the same.
The question for Elite Dangerous is whether Frontier could adopt the buy once and get free updates for life model? I think it would be a popular move but ultimately its success relies on either Frontier generating enough money through cosmetics and new sales. That equation is purely down to the financials of it and Frontier's openness to it, if they haven't already looked at it. o7
