Not really feeling the Multiplayer component of the game...

watto33 · Jul 31, 2014

I thought the online part of the game was going to be very "MMO"ish, hundreds of players flying around going along their business.

No private "Matches" just all purely online, if you did want to play single player you wouldn't be able to use your single player account online and vice versa.

I just get the feeling that I'm in a lobby of 30 random players (which I'm never going to come across).

Was I wrong in picturing 10000's of players in open space, trading, pirating, mining like Star Citizen ?

The millions of stars is oh so pleasing but multiplayer really isn't very multiplayerish ?

Philip Coutts · Jul 31, 2014

You need to give it a bit of time. During Alpha and Premium Beta there were times you could fly about and see no-one, then there times when loads of people were about. You tend to see a lot of people around the stations and combat zones which makes sense as they are the places everyone wants to go. The instancing will no doubt improve the further into the game we get at least I hope it will because one of the attractions of Elite is playing with your friends and helping other players out.

watto33 · Jul 31, 2014

Philip Coutts said:
You need to give it a bit of time. During Alpha and Premium Beta there were times you could fly about and see no-one, then there times when loads of people were about. You tend to see a lot of people around the stations and combat zones which makes sense as they are the places everyone wants to go. The instancing will no doubt improve the further into the game we get at least I hope it will because one of the attractions of Elite is playing with your friends and helping other players out.

Yeah even if it were just 30 people to an "Instance" If these Instances were in very close to proximity to the player then it'd work, right not it feels the instances are the whole galaxy so you're playing on a server with just 30 people rather than a 30 player instance..

Hobbs · Jul 31, 2014

watto33 said:
I thought the online part of the game was going to be very "MMO"ish, hundreds of players flying around going along their business.

No private "Matches" just all purely online, if you did want to play single player you wouldn't be able to use your single player account online and vice versa.

I just get the feeling that I'm in a lobby of 30 random players (which I'm never going to come across).

Was I wrong in picturing 10000's of players in open space, trading, pirating, mining like Star Citizen ?

The millions of stars is oh so pleasing but multiplayer really isn't very multiplayerish ?

I think you may have slightly the wrong idea of Elite Dangerous if that's what you were expecting. It's not EVE with a cockpit and it's not Star Citizen either, whatever Star Citizen is right now.

Half Giant · Jul 31, 2014

watto33 said:
I just get the feeling that I'm in a lobby of 30 random players (which I'm never going to come across).

It sounds like you might of missed exactly how it works. Sorry if you didn't. I just read the above part as you might of thought there is about 30 people in your entire game shard that you might meet. It's not like that. We all might meet (if we are in the Online, Open play). The number around 30 that you might read about is people you might actually see on your scanner at the same time. So this only really kicks in if a large number of pilots happen to be in the same area at the same time - say a busy station. That number and the algorithm to match will change. So a lack of people is just due to size and people on the game at any time.

Kulin · Jul 31, 2014

watto33 said:
I thought the online part of the game was going to be very "MMO"ish, hundreds of players flying around going along their business.

No private "Matches" just all purely online, if you did want to play single player you wouldn't be able to use your single player account online and vice versa.

I just get the feeling that I'm in a lobby of 30 random players (which I'm never going to come across).

Was I wrong in picturing 10000's of players in open space, trading, pirating, mining like Star Citizen ?

The millions of stars is oh so pleasing but multiplayer really isn't very multiplayerish ?

I think the reason you're feeling that the game is so empty is that there are no real scanners in the game. You cant scan the star system and see where peoples are flying around going after their business. Its also not possible to interdict someone or follow his hyperspace-cloud at this time. So player pirates are no big problem.

There also aren't any real wars or mulitplayer battlefield scenarios. Just little death matches.

You have a huge, empty system at hand. And you only see people when you try to dock. No wonder you feel alone.

Lanar Drexel · Jul 31, 2014

Since I started playing I have not seen more than 5 people at a time, and this is at stations in or near the starter system. Surely with a few thousand people online at least, we should be seeing the occasional full instance?

filth · Jul 31, 2014

I like this game, but i can understand your feeling too.
I hope this will change, dont forget its still beta. I´d wish a busy universe with much more interaction too. At the moment all you can do, is make some trading, accept missions and shoot some NPCs.

Hobbs · Jul 31, 2014

Hobbs said:
I think you may have slightly the wrong idea of Elite Dangerous if that's what you were expecting. It's not EVE with a cockpit and it's not Star Citizen either, whatever Star Citizen is right now.

Sorry, I read my post back and it sounds very dismissive. Wasn't intended that way.

I'm sneakily posting at work but I'm just going to get on with some work now instead.

Capt. Hook · Jul 31, 2014

Lanar Drexel said:
Since I started playing I have not seen more than 5 people at a time, and this is at stations in or near the starter system. Surely with a few thousand people online at least, we should be seeing the occasional full instance?

it's possible alot of folks are trying out the solo online gameplay atm as (1) it's new and (2) want to practice on npcs before going for the full multiplayer version

Half Giant · Jul 31, 2014

Lanar Drexel said:
Since I started playing I have not seen more than 5 people at a time, and this is at stations in or near the starter system. Surely with a few thousand people online at least, we should be seeing the occasional full instance?

I think the 32 number is a possibility the final game. I don't think it is there at the moment is I think they'll put it up as the net code improves. I think it is one of the variable they can play with. Final number could even be more.

filth · Jul 31, 2014

I would wish that all players are in the same universe, not instances

Lanar Drexel · Jul 31, 2014

Half Giant said:
I think the 32 number is a possibility the final game. I don't think it is there at the moment is I think they'll put it up as the net code improves. I think it is one of the variable they can play with. Final number could even be more.

Is there an actual number stated for now?

jabokai · Jul 31, 2014

filth said:
I would wish that all players are in the same universe, not instances

Technically impossible for this type of game. Maybe in a decade or two it will be so.

watto33 · Jul 31, 2014

Well, the game is purchased and it feels good to support such a potentially huge game, it is in beta, so hopefully player interactions will come further down the line

Raquel · Jul 31, 2014

Usually im all for mass pvp and no instances but that would be a huge mess in this game :S

Dai · Jul 31, 2014

I think a lot are missing the point of Elite, and how crowded the servers are going to be imagine if we had 1 million players, they are going to be spread over 400 billion systems. How crowded do you think the servers will be with PvP?

Zavijah · Jul 31, 2014

When you say 'Was I wrong to think of 1000's of players doing x,y,z just like in Star Citizen' - you kind of answer your own question and maybe have a clearer idea of game play preference out of the two than you realised?

It's okay, they're both going to be great but I think hype and convoluted expectation is building up not just for yourself but many others about what should be happening as well as the direction that second day of standard Beta is taking.

fireFly1000 · Jul 31, 2014

watto33 said:
I thought the online part of the game was going to be very "MMO"ish, hundreds of players flying around going along their business.
At the moment that dream is technologically impossible. Devs said they will try to increase the number of people in one instance but that depends largely on things they can't control like people connections.

No private "Matches" just all purely online, if you did want to play single player you wouldn't be able to use your single player account online and vice versa.

After you select online in the menu you are presented with three options open play, private group and solo. In all of these you will use the same character. They only affect the number of people you meet.
If for some reason you don't feel like meeting people in a particular day, you can just go solo. But the next time you play you may choose open play and you will continue from where you left with the solo session while encountering lots of people.

watto33 said:
I just get the feeling that I'm in a lobby of 30 random players (which I'm never going to come across).

Was I wrong in picturing 10000's of players in open space, trading, pirating, mining like Star Citizen ?

Star Citizen will also have a max of 32 people in one instance. You will never see 10000 people at the same time.

watto33 said:
The millions of stars is oh so pleasing but multiplayer really isn't very multiplayerish ?

Well, Elite is truly epic in that regard. The playground is not 10x10 meters like in all the other MMOs, which is good.

filth · Jul 31, 2014

Can anyone explain, how the instance concept works here? Are the systems single instances, that hold ~30 players at once?