"No plans to port Elite Dangerous to PS5"

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

I'm not saying it's to do with broken promises over Odyssey - what I'm saying is since release Frontier's attention to the console playerbase in general and to a greater extent the PlayStation rather than the Xbox, has been apathetic at best; and that this drives dedicated players who have the ability to, to switch to PC, and dedicated players who can't switch platforms, to become disenfranchised.

I got the game in 2017, until I joined the forum I had no idea how disappointed I was supposed to be with the game

The point I'm making is, when I did get the game in 2017, it worked ok, the majority of problems were user problems. For me, I get a game, I either like it or don't. So I find it difficult to believe that FD's apathy for the console user has anything to do with it.

Some people may feel that FD have treated PS owners (in particular) badly, when you look at things like not being able to pre-order Horizons or Odyssey (meaning we miss out on exclusive offers that were available to others) and there is certainly a case for that. But the main point is, did/does the game work ok? On the whole, yes. It could use some improvement but that is not platform dependent. I can pretty much do in game on the PS what anyone else does on their platform except for VR.

I'm not sure I agree that console gamers predominantly want quick and easy games to play, or that that is the greatest factor when accounting for the low % numbers on trophies. I think the market for live service and simulation games is bigger than ever on console. I will point out though, that it's possible to create a free alt on Playstation, and perhaps that has a larger bearing on the Trophy percentages...

Well alts or not, and we can chop this up any way we like, less than half made it out of the free Sidewinder. I don't think alts or developer apathy explain that low number. I feel sure it is for a mixture of reasons, not least, as was pointed out above, the complex amount of controls required to be able to carry out the very basics of the game.

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

Or they were expecting something more enjoyable ? Something more rational ? Something with actual depth ? Something that doesn't allow then to become cannon fodder for some troll in Open ? A game that has an actual story ? A game that doesn't rely on you reading the forums or using third party sites ?

But those criticisms could be levelled at the game as a whole, they're not platform specific. I'm trying to understand why it would appear that PS players, in particular, give up.

 

[Latent Buzzard]

But those criticisms could be levelled at the game as a whole, they're not platform specific. I'm trying to understand why it would appear that PS players, in particular, give up.

It was the last platform to get the game and had a smaller population. The game is poor at explaining itself but that issue can be overcome if you are playing and communicating with someone else that is interested in reading forums etc. to find out how to play the game. The smaller the population though the less likely you are to find someone else to actively play with and it's an even smaller chance that any person you find is interested in reading the forums etc. to help each other understand how to play the game.

 

[[PS4] Filthymick420]

Some people may feel that FD have treated PS owners (in particular) badly, when you look at things like not being able to pre-order Horizons or Odyssey (meaning we miss out on exclusive offers that were available to others) and there is certainly a case for that.

This part makes me think of a screenrant pitch meeting video for a sequel movie.

"Do you remember how we offered exclusive items for pre-order but only gave 2/3 of the platforms the ability to actually pre-order the game?"

"Yea I remember. It was a huge PR fiasco. People are still complaining about the exclusive ship they couldn't get."

"Yea, well I think we should do that again with Odyssey"

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

It was the last platform to get the game and had a smaller population.

Agreed but it was released in 2016 and 5 years later, less than half of those that purchased it (small or large, makes no difference) failed to get out of the free Sidewinder.

The game is poor at explaining itself but that issue can be overcome if you are playing and communicating with someone else that is interested in reading forums etc.

Again, that is not specific to this platform though. I played for 2 years without coming here. I think most gamers, if they don't find a forum, know to have a look on Youtube. This still doesn't explain why it would appear that this specific platform has trouble maintaining the interest of someone who purchased the game.

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

Guys, btw, I'm not fighting anyone, I think it is a fascinating situation and am just interested to understand why the trophy stats are so low. Embarrassingly so.

 

[Aeorath]

Low or not, FD shouldn't even take that into account as in how to treat players on a certain platform; FD knows exactly how many players there are on the Playstation platform. That's where they get to make a decision.

I understand, this platform MIGHT have less players than others, but that doesn't give any right to FD for preferential treatment based on that. Because I know for a fact they're happy as pigs in mud to get our money, be it from buying the game, the DLC or Arx. They will never say no to that, right? So if you're more than willing to take my money, FD, treat me as a customer, not a second-hand citizen, ok? Or, put your big boy pants, come out and say it:

"Guys, since the demand and the number of players is so low on the Playstation, we took the hard decision to stop launching any new updates for this platform. In 6 months from now, we will stop hosting Playstation players on our servers. It's been a wild ride, and we thank you all for being with us all these years."

But no, they're taking the coward's way, don't let us live, but also don't let us die. They need to make a decision, sooner or later. Not like this.

 

[Latent Buzzard]

Again, that is not specific to this platform though. I played for 2 years without coming here. I think most gamers, if they don't find a forum, know to have a look on Youtube. This still doesn't explain why it would appear that this specific platform has trouble maintaining the interest of someone who purchased the game.

People that go onto forums or look at YouTube to figure out how to play a game are in the minority. The smaller the population of players, the smaller the chances are that if you're not that sort of person then you manage to connect with someone that is that sort of person. PlayStation has a smaller population. That is is the platform specific link.

Alternatively you can look at it as ED was treated as some sort of space MMO but a MMO with only a few players doesn't tend to make new players want to stick around. PlayStation has a smaller population. That is is the platform specific link.

 

[Old Duck]

I find it cute that you all think Frontier cared about ED on the Playstation platform even six months after launch. After FDev patched the initial release, the Playstation team was dismantled (even loyal Lloyd eventually left) and it's been an afterthought ever since. Just go back into the forum archives and see how FDev interacted with us those months leading up to the release compared to the months after 2.4 dropped, when they had our money and had moved on to other projects like Jurassic World.

I do wonder if this means FDev has reassembled a small team to bring Odyssey to PS4. Maybe it's just one guy doing all the work..

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

People that go onto forums or look at YouTube to figure out how to play a game are in the minority.

Really? Where do you get that info from?

 

[Aeorath]

I find it cute that you all think Frontier cared about ED on the Playstation platform even six months after launch. After FDev patched the initial release, the Playstation team was dismantled (even loyal Lloyd eventually left) and it's been an afterthought ever since. Just go back into the forum archives and see how FDev interacted with us those months leading up to the release compared to the months after 2.4 dropped, when they had our money and had moved on to other projects like Jurassic World.

I do wonder if this means FDev has reassembled a small team to bring Odyssey to PS4. Maybe it's just one guy doing all the work..

At this point, I'd take a hamster in a wheel if they can make it work.

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

PlayStation has a smaller population. That is is the platform specific link.

Ok but lets say (obviously making these numbers up) 500 people purchased the game on PC and 10 people purchased it on PS4. Then yes, it is a smaller group. But I suspect that well over 250 people on PC made it out of the Free Sidewinder ( Obviously have no figures to back this up), we know that under 5 people did there same on the PS4.

I'm obviously talking about percentages here. I have no stats that tell me that over half the PC players made it out of the free Sidewinder but I do suspect they did. If (and I grant you it is an unsubstantiated if) it is the case that PC players are more likely to go further in the game, then my question is, what is it about the PS4 players/platform that shows a lower return?

I don't buy there idea that it is about FD, YouTube or anything else. It makes no sense.

After FDev patched the initial release, the Playstation team was dismantled (even loyal Lloyd eventually left) and it's been an afterthought ever since. Just go back into the forum archives and see how FDev interacted with us those months leading up to the release compared to the months after 2.4 dropped, when they had our money and had moved on to other projects like Jurassic World.

I know that you had the EBL issue, but my question here is, were sections of the game (other than VR) unplayable on the PS and no other platform?

I get that PS4 owners feel like the poor cousins and you can see how certain things that have happened would make you feel like that (you being used in the general sense), but was there a very specific part of the PS4 release that prevented players from continuing? I picked the game up in 2017 and apart from some bugs/broken things I was able to play the game, exactly the same way, with the same bugs/broken bits as everyone else on all the other platforms.

 

[amigacooke]

what I'm saying is since release Frontier's attention to the console playerbase in general and to a greater extent the PlayStation rather than the Xbox, has been apathetic at best; and that this drives dedicated players who have the ability to, to switch to PC, and dedicated players who can't switch platforms, to become disenfranchised.

As if this would happen ...... oh, macOS commanders.

 

[stormyuk]

I find it cute that you all think Frontier cared about ED on the Playstation platform even six months after launch. After FDev patched the initial release, the Playstation team was dismantled (even loyal Lloyd eventually left) and it's been an afterthought ever since. Just go back into the forum archives and see how FDev interacted with us those months leading up to the release compared to the months after 2.4 dropped, when they had our money and had moved on to other projects like Jurassic World.

I do wonder if this means FDev has reassembled a small team to bring Odyssey to PS4. Maybe it's just one guy doing all the work..

I went to the Fronter Expo is 2017 and was really enthusiastic about the game and future in PS4 after meeting and speaking to Lloyd and quite a few other developers face to face, all of who appeared to be equally enthusiastic about PS4.

Unfortunately the enthusiasm ebbed away when it didn't seem the PS4 was really going to get much more love from FDev in terms of focus or further development specifically in reality. It's just on the coat tails of work on the PC version.

This is what in part leads me to believe what happened with Quality mode. It just slipped off the radar as the focus will always be PC development (and even on PC, many people complain about bugs and issues).

It also goes a way to explain the delaying of the console versions of Odyssey. Just not a priority.

 

[Old Duck]

I went to the Fronter Expo is 2017 and was really enthusiastic about the game and future in PS4 after meeting and speaking to Lloyd and quite a few other developers face to face, all of who appeared to be equally enthusiastic about PS4.

Unfortunately the enthusiasm ebbed away when it didn't seem the PS4 was really going to get much more love from FDev in terms of focus or further development specifically in reality. It's just on the coat tails of work on the PC version.

I truly and fully believe that the original team that brought ED to PS4 were indeed enthusiastic and proud of their work. To this day I think that original release was a stellar port, especially with things like DS4 implementation. My own history of posts are incredibly positive, until 2.4 dropped and the Minecraft texture bug hit. After that, it was all downhill from there.

I speculate that it was higher management that reassigned most of the PS4 team to the JWE project. In theory the Cobra engine was supposed to be kinda like Java - write once, run everywhere, so that any updates made for PC would seamlessly run on PS4 Cobra as well. Unfortunately this was not the case, but by then the PS4 Cobra team was busy working on other projects.

 

[[Cancelled Consoleer] boppa_]

apart from some bugs/broken things I was able to play the game, exactly the same way, with the same bugs/broken bits as everyone else on all the other platforms.

I thought that for a long time. Until I played the game on PC. I won't repeat all of the things, as I've mentioned them many time in this thread, and I don't want to bore anyone.
I'd also include most of things that @OldDuck and @stormyuk have said in this thread too.



o7

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

I'll be absolutely gutted if I cant play this game on the PS.

I simply cannot justify buying an adequate PC to run it, for this one game.

 

[[Cancelled Consoleer] boppa_]

I'll be absolutely gutted if I cant play this game on the PS.

I simply cannot justify buying an adequate PC to run it, for this one game.

[Unless they go the Mac O/S route...] I think it will run on PS4, although what sacrifices will have to be made remain to be seen. PS4 owners will likely be happier and more accepting of that, than PS5 owners.

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

[Unless they go the Mac O/S route...] I think it will run on PS4, although what sacrifices will have to be made remain to be seen. PS4 owners will likely be happier and more accepting of that, than PS5 owners.

I accept that there maybe quality issues, though, to be honest, I'm fine with how it looks on the PS4. Some require better definition or whatever, I'm not bothered. Maybe there are other issues (not being rude but I'm not wading through 55 pages) but as the game sits on my console, not knowing any better, I'm happy with it. I have done gaming on a pc, many moons ago and I didn't enjoy it. Maybe the game runs smoother, whatever, I prefer to play through the PS on to my massive TV.

I can imagine that PS5 owners have a higher expectation and really, this is where I am at. I used to be a solid gamer. Complete new games in a week, move on to the next. I don't spend any less time gaming but I seriously have cut down own the amount of games I play. Elite as but my main squeeze since purchase, really. A few forays of to Ghost of Tsushima, GTA, a couple of the Assassins titles, but Elite mainly.

I have not seen a game that has made me ache to get a PS5. If I won one, great, but I'm not overly excited by it. The only game that would make me consider upgrading is if Elite was somehow different to what I have now. I would consider it.

The more I read and think about it, the more I think they'll just blow us off, like the Mac crowd (I own a Mac also). So I'm left with this:

But no, they're taking the coward's way, don't let us live, but also don't let us die. They need to make a decision, sooner or later. Not like this.

I'd rather they cut me off now than let me sit here, watching all these people get the latest expansion then tell me, adios.

 

[Stinja]

I think it is a fascinating situation and am just interested to understand why the trophy stats are so low.

It's not just Elite, many games have very low trophy unlocks for very early progression.

Looking back at trophy history for some of my games:

Spiderman

• Kocking Down Kingpin = 91.3% - basically do the tutorial iirc, most did this clearly.
• Demons Emerge = 69.6% - complete act 1, people starting to drop off
• End game = 50.8% - complete act 3, so half gone.

Very popular game, high completion rates, but then it's pretty easy and short.

Days Gone

• First time buyer = 61.4% - upgrade your bike once, so a third never even got this far.
• Lost and Found = 49.6% - drive south with Boozer, this is basically like leave the starter systems in Elite, if you didnt do this, you barely touched the game.
• Days Done = 31.4% - complete the main story, i think this is actually quite high, but a big and now free on PS+ game only gets a third completion.

Quite high trophy unlocks, and i'd say those that started about a third played all the way through, with the other two-thirds dropping along the way.


Rock Band 4

• Tune Up = 58.4% - This is to calibrate your TV to adjust for lag, almost essential, and just over half did it.
• Fast Learner = 29.0% - Complete the basic guitar solo tutorial, just a third did this.
• Embrace you destiny = 8.0% - basically finish the story mode, really not many songs.

RB4 has a dedicated fanbase who still play, but sales to those that stopped skew things to lower percentages. Not even adjusting your tv or the guitar tutorial indicates some people barely touched it. The instrument ones where any regular player would have done, like hit 80% kicks on a Hard or better drum song are about 15%.

Easier popular games have higher completion rates, Last of Us 2 or Ghost of Tushy, while longer hard games much less so, like Demon Souls or Fallout 4, ther really grind hardcore games see rates drop off, like Rock Band or Sniper Elite 4. The latter has a 0.2% rate for the platinum (zero point 2 percent), and the DLC Authentic Plus "Better than the Best" is 0.1% (which i've got BTW epeening time), but even things like using a trap only 25% ever did.

Dunno, i dont see Elite's rates as differnt to the more niche games, where the difficulty is "harder than expected" and the genre is less popluar.

From my firends list, most gamers just dabble with a game and stop playing after 2-4 weeks. Only those who really enjoy it play longer, and only the most dedicated complete the story / end, or get the platinum.

===

As for Fdev and PS4/5 support etc, i'm more along with Old Duck's reasoning. They were enthused, got a decent port out, then for whatever reason stopped supporting us, much like Xbox really. Now we get the scraps off the PC table. One just has to accept that.