Lower your Expectations for ED

[Cosmo]

ED is nearly 10 years old (December 16, 2014). The likelihood of additional big expansions depends on the success of Odyssey. Big reworks of existing features are very unlikely except maybe exo-biology. We'd be very lucky if Fdev bothers to add atmospheric planets with forests, seas, lava lakes, clouds and ship interiors. However, most game devs would call it a day and put it in maintenance mode.

If Fdev is secretly developing an ED sequel it would take at least 3+ years. It's easier and less expensive to release graphics upgrades for ED.

 

[Shabine]

I think Odyssey is likely the last expansion. Minor updates from now on? Sure. Big ones? Probably not.

This isn't WoW or EVE. Those games are both 2 decades old now, but they've never deployed an expansion that added anything other than content or tweaks to an existing framework. Graphics updates, new zones, new items, new raids, new ships - but all without wedging massive structural changes into the machine's inner workings. Odyssey is a major move in that it took commanders out of their ships, but you're right... anything else groundbreaking is probably off the table.

I'd just like to see them fix the bugs, do something with PP and CQC, and maybe figure out where they went wrong with crime and punishment, anarchy systems and bounties, and actually rework those so that they at least make some sense. That's really all I'm hoping for at this point.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. ED will carry on, but not with sweeping and resounding expansions that fundamentally alter the game in such a way that our dreams of detailed ship interiors and lush, explorable planets will ever come true.

 

[Red Rocket]

The only hope for Elite Dangerous future is if it gets sold to a company that cares about it.

I don’t think it would take a lot effort just some common sense with a vision of good game play.

 

[St0rmFury]

The only hope for Elite Dangerous future is if it gets sold to a company that cares about it.

I don’t think it would take a lot effort just some common sense with a vision of good game play.

Do individual IPs get sold separately in the gaming industry?

I'm not very educated on this subject but from what I understand, you buy the whole company even if it's just a single IP in their collection you're after.

 

[Old Duck]

Lower your Expectations for ED

Can't get lower than zero when it comes to expectations. I used to make up for that with hope, but that's gone now as well.

Still, I did my tours of duty, and I like to hang around the bar and wax poetic about the good 'ol days. I also love to discuss and debate the wouldas, couldas, and shouldas of this game.

 

[Shabine]

The only hope for Elite Dangerous future is if it gets sold to a company that cares about it.

I don’t think it would take a lot effort just some common sense with a vision of good game play.

Or just onboard private servers and let modders turn ED into customized paradises. Maybe. I didn't say that. Actually, I was never in this thread. This is all an illusion. I'm a ghost. Ooooooooo.

 

[metatheurgist]

maybe figure out where they went wrong with crime and punishment

For them to figure out what went wrong, there would have to be something for them to figure out. Elite 84 had Clean, Offender, Fugitive states. ED has Clean and Wanted.

The 84 game crime system had 50% more detail than the modern game! Systems are supposed to improve with further development, not go backwards!

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

I would still like to see frontier try to provide more justification to themselves to develop elite dangerous by being more creative with microtransactions.

Ship interiors being sold as ship kits is the most likely thing from a players perspective i can think of.

For an unlikely suggestion, some story content along the lines of voice acted overlay over a mission chain would also be welcome (say multiple small dlcs turing into an actual game plot arc). I don't think frontier have the ability to do this though, given how little they've been able to produce even as full blown narrative in their other games. Or say do the flight tutorial mission a few times to become a story arc rather than a tutorial, sold as dlc.

But yes, from how we sit now, and armchairing what what frontier are receiving from elite on the other side, zero expectations if things stay the way they are. They need to be making enough money from elite to justify the budget for something major.

Having said... it does seem crazy about how much player goodwill they are leaving on the table. All the people who left went away from a game they probably loved until frontiers neglect finally got to them. Over the games life id imagine there would be so many people willing to come back if frontier got their act together, not even considering the constant flow of new people still arriving (reddit is constantly flowing with honeymooner content).

 

[23RD]

Well, with all due respect to dev team, i see the only solution to save ED - is to make it offline, release SDK or make another possibility for fan base to mess with code in their on way. Because, again, with all due respect, current developers can't even fix game and won't fix in in the future. Of course content updates out of options this way, when you can't fix well known bugs for years.

There are a lot of game series which is alive thanks to fans: TES and Fallout, which sell fine after several years thanks to modding support; Stalker and Corsairs series, games without dev support for over a decade are still alive thanks to community.

My english is garbage, i know, but i hope my message is understandable: leave ED for community, release SDK and let people with passion deal with game. Couldn't be any worse by now, seriously.

 

[Flimley]

I see frontier as a typical British company....
• Producing stuff on a low to middle budget, and so never quite works properly.
• maintenance on an even lower budget.
• hope no one notices.
• broke

Flimley

 

[Agony_Aunt]

If my expectations were any lower at this point they'd have to be lowering me bread and water on a rope.

Don't get me wrong, its still a good game, in my mind the best damn space sim out there, but boy, do i feel ripped off for buying the LTE. 2 expansions, a few free skins, and the ability to play it during beta were not worth the money I paid for it.

If FD were to release one more expansion, with all planets unlocked in some way, then the explorer in me would be overjoyed and i'd feel better about it.

I just hope the next expansion (if there is one) isn't either some dumb stuff like Powerplay, CQC, or ship interiors.

 

[Rubbernuke]

I see frontier as a typical British company....
• Producing stuff on a low to middle budget, and so never quite works properly.
• maintenance on an even lower budget.
• hope no one notices.
• broke

Flimley

Don't make me post the Artax meme.

 

[Astaran]

 

[amigacooke]

I suppose I feel honour bound to remind that some of the expectations for ED were not player created, they came straight from Frontier via the KickStarter. Take a bow ship interiors, planets with atmospheres and support for platforms other than Windows.

 

[Northpin]

What was the likehood of a big expansion in 2019?
Not like we're in a similar situation, just saying

Anyway, i personally think the chances ED gets another PDLC are close to zero.
DBOBE stepped down as CEO and for all we know, Jonny Watts may be really hating Elite.
I mean, with his zoology background and fascination for Dinos, there are more chances to Planet Zoo 2 and JWE3 than to another PDLC for Elite

But still, apparently Elite is still their most played game, their most iconic francize and may still make up for the running costs (especially now when everything seems to be shrinking: from the CM Team, to their involvement, to the Updates and to the Bug fixing which imo went from Critically Endangered to Extinct in the Wild status - to use a zoology expression)

In the meantime, we still have a game to play and i'm playing it

 

[SasaThargoidsHunter]

Expectation is since the release of EDO in the basement. Since then there was so many changes in their approach to help elite back on its feet. And every move was cutted down half the way. I let the nature do their work and hope that some good things come up, like fixes for a gameplay loop which was introduced with Odyssee (salvage missions) or hit the recommended specs with solid 60 frames in on foot war scenarios.

I guess the shortage of money is a huge point for the stagnation of the game. no doubt about their talents.

 

[metatheurgist]

I guess the shortage of money is a huge point for the stagnation of the game. no doubt about their talents.

The original definition of Talent was sum of money.

 

[Globusdiablo]

...I'd just like to see them fix the bugs, do something with PP and CQC, and maybe figure out where they went wrong with crime and punishment, anarchy systems and bounties, and actually rework those so that they at least make some sense. That's really all I'm hoping for at this point...

 

[Christopher Roberto]

However, most game devs would call it a day and put it in maintenance mode.

I think most gamedevs would have re-invested in their success rather than siphon the money off to make race cars and roller coasters. Warframe released around the same time as ED, had a rougher start, but the perseverance paid off and it'll probably be around 10 years from now.

Licensed games aren't good for longevity as the owner controls if you get to make a sequel, and can raise the cost to eat your lunch. But Frontier drains money from its own IP to spend it on licensed games. It's a mistake. They're so deep in licensed games now that they're outsourcing them, which is a double mistake.

 

[Darrack]

ED is nearly 10 years old (December 16, 2014). The likelihood of additional big expansions depends on the success of Odyssey. Big reworks of existing features are very unlikely except maybe exo-biology. We'd be very lucky if Fdev bothers to add atmospheric planets with forests, seas, lava lakes, clouds and ship interiors. However, most game devs would call it a day and put it in maintenance mode.

If Fdev is secretly developing an ED sequel it would take at least 3+ years. It's easier and less expensive to release graphics upgrades for ED.

O7