Just don't feel like logging in...

Not sure how it's off topic. Not to mention this thread is just a tired rehash of every other thread that complains because the game isn't exactly what they think it should be.

I don't think its tired at all. And that recent review posted up here echoes everything said and more. What's tiring is the constant blind defending and denial by Frontier that anything is wrong. It has nothing to do with "what I think Elite should be" and everything to do with "what Elite was promised to be."
 
Not sure how it's off topic. Not to mention this thread is just a tired rehash of every other thread that complains because the game isn't exactly what they think it should be.

Yeah but I dont think what Altissimus wanted to say is the game needs to tell exactly people what they have to do. Its more like "you have to set yourself some ridiculous goals cause we lack more deep goals, and this gets boring at some time". I'm not sure I'm clear (bad english :) ) , it's just the lack of impact we have on the world that ultimately gives people a strange feeling of "pointless".

Otherwise yeah, threads like this one are popping recently. I'm ok with that cause I can recognize with the OPs most of the time, feels less lonely :D. When I was posting my comments and feelings on some french forum, I had replies like "this game is not for you", or "the game is real nice like it is, just do some trading, do you think in real life you can always have fun ?" (when I was complaining about the teddious task of trading)...
 
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Some people need to be told what to do, how to do it and where to go. This isn't the game for them.

You are correct, that's why this is little off topic. Constructive criticism form passionate Commanders, I would call it this way. But I know looking at everything black and white is easier.
 

Jex =TE=

Banned
Lots of people don't understand the sandbox genre, which is fine, but that's what this game is. They look at minecraft and say "what is there to do except for goals you set yoursefl", and its the same with Elite, or Lego, or the cool box fort I built with my son yesterday! If you want a game with a definitive ending then this is not for you!

OMFG really?

You have just demonstrated to the entire forum here that you have no idea what a sandbox game is and the fact that you mentioned Minecraft and compared it to ED is laughable and ironic at the same time!
 
Please keep this thread as constructive as possible and true to how the OP started it. There are many posts out there but frankly I consider this to be one of the best articulated and commented on and I'd hate to see it degenerate like the rest.
 
I got a refund for the game back in December on the basis that I was affected by Offline. I travel a lot and own two other houses abroad that do not have Internet due to their remoteness, and therefore dropping offline really impacted my ability to play. I tend to only buy offline playable games for these reasons.

Nonetheless, up to that point I followed the game quite closely and did play some of the last beta, and I was really shocked that FD were seriously going to release the game for XMas. I understand the commercial pressure they were under to do so; having committed to it in their shareholder report they really had to release it then or risk a sell-off, which given the tiny number of shares in circulation would have caused them a lot of trouble. But, in no way was the game ready. What I saw of it I liked as a framework for a game, but it was clearly unfinished and all felt rather kludged together. More like a series of promising demos hung together by a tenuous thread, rather than what we'd call a cohesive game. And some choices were just so old fashioned I felt rather embarrassed for Frontier. Yes, we had all these people telling us there was this amazing secret build hidden in the wings, but they were quite clearly irrational with massive confirmation bias.

The main issue I could see in the game was a complete lack of any strategic (or even tactical) challenge. I didn't play much at all due to my location\online issue above, and yet I amassed a lot of money without trying at all. And then the question was, what do I do? Well, had I not suffered from the offline issues I could have carried on that trajectory and earned even more money, but even with the limited amount of playtime I invested in the game I was already bored, so I could see that would not do. Sure, I felt flying about the universe was a great feeling, a quite relaxing feeling, rather like fiddling with a Newton's Cradle on my desk while pondering a business deal - but not really a game with any depth or draw. We have this small list of commodities to trade, these predictable NPCs, this dull looking (but well rendered) universe where everything is cut and paste and what, three space stations? And then the elephant in the room which is the horrid multiplayer we were forced to adopt by removal of offline, and yet adds nothing at all to the experience, in fact in beta it detracted from the experience by being so unwieldy (I am assuming all the grouping and Wings etc is in the game now and those issues are gone).

So you know, this vast game in terms of planets procedurally deployed and yet no strategic elements to the game, and even the tactical elements got old fast. So I totally see where the OP is coming from and fingers crossed for those people who are in for the long-haul, that FD start getting some juicy content out there fast because, a sand box with no sand is just a massive empty box.

My advice to the OP, leave the game for 3-6 months, focus on something else (no shortage of amazing games out there right now) and when you come back you may be pleasantly surprised. It's often the way when something is a botched release, you need to leave the game to breathe a little before it's of any interest to anyone except the most ardent of fans.

As ED currently stands it's a game of vast scale but tiny scope and vision. But it may not always be so limited.
 
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Jex =TE=

Banned
Having read the majority of replies, the overwhelming consensus is that Elite can be a great game if the devs put the work into it but right now, it's very shallow and there isn't much to do and it gets boring real quick. I would have to agree with this viewpoint (which I have said in other threads).

The fix is obvious - more content! I predicted 6 months to a year, if the game stays the same that people won't be playing it but that's going to need to change to 3 - 6 months.

So now, FD need to tell us what they're going to do to provide us with more content so we know where they stand on this. I want to know what decision they make about the games future because they have said, categorically (sorry there's no way I'm going to find the quote), that things like building your own space stations and everything that goes with that is a big no.

With 400 billion systems, having a universe where players can own space stations and eventually star systems and then build and empire with working trade routes..... Does anybody see where this leads? That you eventually have a universe ran by players that everyone can benefit from.

I hope people like Chris Roberts are watching these threads and taking head. Without meaningful content these games are going nowhere. Even when I played Wing Commander I felt like I was part of something, even though it was a linear plot the missions where still fun and engaging. Right now combat with the AI is shockingly bad and exploring is pointing at a dot in the sky, waiting 30 seconds then pointing at another dot in the sky - I challenge anyone here to tell me how that is fun or how you are playing a game.

I loved the original Elite, loved Frontier and want ED to kicks ass but right now, this isn't it. A road map of where they're taking the game is required now because if their next expansion which we have to buy is wings with planetary landings and walking around stuff, I think the player base is going to be disappointed and it should be obvious to the devs that other than the MP fix, the other two things are not going to cut it.

Edit: I just checked the forums and can find no post with their road map which is a little worrying.
 
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During the beta stages there was a contingent (I was one) that wanted to see some more modern gameplay mechanics added into the game, for fear of exactly what is being described in a lot of these posts: it's a 1984 game with a 2014 shine. If that's what you want, then fine, but it appears that for many of us our tastes have changed over the years. Things like persistence in the world, some directed content, voice-overs, strong writing, etc. Take elements that are popular in other games and make them work in the Elite world.

Why don't we have remote pricing info at our fingertips?
Why aren't NPCs persistent?
Why can't we store equipment we purchase in inventory?
Why isn't there an API that we can use to build a community around the game?
Why isn't there coop PVE content?
Why aren't there map filters that direct us to content?
Why isn't there multiuser or general chat?
Why can't we form guilds or corps or whatever you want to call them?

And on and on. Some people complained about trying to turn this game into something else, but I would argue that these kind of things are expected in a modern online multiplayer game. If you compare Elite to other games as an MMO it is sorely lacking. I really hope they are planning to add most if not all of the above because I consider them the basics for an MMO, certainly an online-only game.
 
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I've not really played properly for a while as I've been on the other side of the world, exploring! And a bit of in-game exploration fatigue too. Things that I feel will make it better in the long term? Random variables that you can exploit as an in-game entity (not bug exploits) to gain something of a unique identity.
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Think about Borderlands 2 and the variety of weapons you could get in that; it's what essentially kept drawing people back to a fairly mundane shooter (albeit with good humour). One thing I'd like to see is this sort of variation in ship and weapon mods (whether bought, salvaged from space wrecks, ancient artefact discovery, alien tech etc) in order to make your own unique character.
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The Milky Way needs to have more about it i.e. things to discover with which you can interact and exploit for resources/randomly generated site events (not USS)/even, dare I say, one time use wormholes/new civilisations/astronomical oddities etc.
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Chat - station, local & solar system is absolutely needed right now.
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Dare I say we've become slaves to the Immersion Police, but this game desperately needs to go proper hard sci-fi and not just a futuristic version of 2015.
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I do have a lot of faith in FD, and as the gamma release showed, they are working on a lot of stuff in the background, but I just wish someone at FD HQ would turn around to Braben and say, "Look, we respect your vision and everything, but here are some ideas that will make the game a lot more captivating and draw new people in, without it turning into an arcade shooter."
 
Another way to look at it is people who grind their way up to 200M CR+ over 6 weeks have got good value from the game.

How can you say that is a good value? If they earned that much money that fast, they did it through repetitive grinding, not merely playing.

I imagine they got less actual enjoyment then the player that earned 2 million credits in 6 weeks by casually playing and experimenting, and treating the game less as a second job, and more as a video game.
 
I feel the same as the OP. Managed to get to an asp. Now I'm not sure what to do, it's just rinse and repeat no matter what profession you choose. Over and over again. I don't feel any drive, money doesn't make a game work. You need more, you need content, missions, plot and engagement. ED is missing pretty much all of that.

I do Love the audio though, it's cracking! :D
 
This is a point that can't be stressed enough. Of course FD will always say that they love the game and will keep developing it, it would be stupid to say otherwise.

But in reality they will evaluate constantly if it's still a good choice to keep pouring money into it. Once they decide that no more profits are to be expected they will pull the plug.

And the way things are shaping up lately this moment might come much sooner as any of those saying "just give it time, in a year we will see an entirely different game" are willing to believe.
They are already diverting resources to a new Tycoon game, because bills need to be paid.
 

Ideas Man

Banned
Some people need to be told what to do, how to do it and where to go. This isn't the game for them.
Total myth.

Do missions, go mining, go shooting, go exploring, go trading.
You are lead by the hand to do any of these activities as surely as you are in any other game.
Elite is a good game, I enjoy it but the 'play your way' stuff is pure marketing and nothing else. This is no sandbox my friend.
 
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