Hullo Commanders!
Lots of you have questions that can be answered here:
https://support.frontier.co.uk/kb/faq.php?cid=16
A definite must read for any commander seriously considering purchasing the current lifetime expansion pack offer... And a great clarification for those who have the different kick starter packages. The forum unfortunately hasn't been very well informed and it is difficult to answer questions individually in all the different threads.
To address a few that I can remember just catching up on the thread presently:
If you have been one of the original lucky few to already own a Lifetime Expansion Pass offered during the kick start period, you are good to go and your faith and investment has come to yield its dividend... The Horizen expansion pack is the first of many over the next ten years that you have full access to including beta privileges. You will receive the Cobra MK4 as well. Congratulations on your vision... You can already see how much we late comers are paying to receive the same benefit.
The current Lifetime Expansion Pass offer is an extension of the account you log into the store with, meaning that if you have more than one account, you will need to buy each account a LEP in order for both to receive the benefit... They do not interchange: The LEP does not give you another account/avatar... It is essentially required to already have an ED account in order to purchase the LEP.
The current LEP offer is a limited time offer... There has been no official word or speculation on how long it will last... It's part of the marketing tool to increase purchases of course. During the kick starter, they did announce a "last call" in order to drum up last minute sales, but there is no guarantee they will do such this time around.
The LEP not only gives you access to all future expansions, it entitles you to all the special digital gifts that are being offered as well... Like the Cobra MK4.
The LEP gives you beta access to each update (like wings & power play) and each expansion pack prior to being released to the general public. This entitles you to an exclusive period to figure out the new game mechanics and benefits before everyone else does including any new modifications, weapons, & ships that are introduced with it. You'll also be on the front lines of helping the developers find & figure out any bugs or loopholes that they can fix before releasing it.
The expansion packs are exactly that... They only expand the original ED universe as we have it now... It is not a separate game, mode, or universe, it just unlocks more features of the same core game in the same universe everyone utilizes in all three modes (solo, group, open). Horizons will be the planetary landings and planet side expansion... If you have no need or desire to land or roam around the surface in your on board jeep rover -- exploring, attacking, doing missions, interacting with the bases and populations you discover on the surface -- then you also won't be able to enter the planets unique atmosphere and fly around for kicks & giggles checking out the surface from above and dog fighting through canyons or dodging mountains. The initial release of Horizons will be exclusive to simple rock planets and develop into each of the more complex planets during the Horizon season which will lead up to the next expansion pack season.
Like ED core has been a development in progress, so will Horizons... This is a game that is best considered a massive 10 year project to realize the huge dream of the creators... It is too huge & too expensive to develop all at once and release for purchase as a perfect finished product, it'd be way too expensive... It will continue to require patience. The good news is that these expansion packs increase the number of virgin commanders entering the online game atmosphere in addition to continuing the future funding for this massive project which is not being served by subscription fees or utilizing real money to purchase in-game credits... You wanna progress you're gonna have to learn it & earn it like everyone else.
This is why the LEP is such a bargain if you are totally immersed into this game... You pay a single price now, save money later, have full beta access privileges just like the kick starters, and you get all the digital free stuff offered along the way... It's FD's way of saying thank you for believing in us then which gave them the capital to continue moving development forward to where they will be in the future. Heck of a bargain... I think many of us still would have purchased it if it was more expensive than it is being offered now.
Like other games with expansion packs... Some might be dependent on having one expansion pack to work while another might operate independently (like without/skipping Horizons). You will unfortunately be missing out on opportunities that that others who purchase the expansion pack if you decide to just continue with the ED core game... It's my guess that once you see & hear all the feedback after Horizons is released that you will go ahead and pay for the expansion pack. It hasn't been said for sure, but don't be surprised if the expansion pack is slightly more expensive than the pre-order price being offered.
For sure, the Cobra MK4 will be exclusive to only those who pre-order Horizons (or have the LEP).
For clarification... If you just buy the horizon pre-order without already having the ED core... You will get a separate account/avatar, but you will not be able to play ED core until Horizons is released this December.
The Frontier Store does accept PayPal as a form of payment... During the ordering process it will direct you to PayPal to sign in there after which PayPal will ask you what form of funding do you desire to pay this with and will be based on the information you already have enrolled/on file with PayPal (cash, eft, debit card, credit card, PayPal credit w/6month interest free financing).
Just like ED core, Horizons will not be immediately available through Steam, meaning that you have to purchase it and download it from the Frontier store. Once it is made available via Steam, you can request a Steam CD Key so that it can be added to your library. The expansion pack works via your log in... So you will still be able to start & play the game with Horizons via Steam.
Currently, Horizons is only offered on PC! It has not been announced for Mac or XB1, but like the ED core, they will extend it first after full PC release to Mac, then most likely XB1 (unless Microsoft utilizes their purchase power to get ahead in the que). If you play a Horizons account on both PC & Mac platforms, they have said that you can continue playing the avatar on a Mac but it would just be the ED core version... as if you didn't have the expansion pack.
Hope this helps to clarify... I will continue to follow this thread.
