Obsidian Ant video - ARX: Thoughts On The New Currency And What It Means

[Barking_Mad]

There's going to be two sorts of people.

1) Those who play the game not worrying about earning ARX points but eventually get a little freebie for their time.

2) Those who prostate themselves on the alter of ARX points, play to get the skins and complain about how much time is required to get the skins they want.

Indeed in some ways it's not going to be too different to engineering. Some played the game and found themselves with mats to upgrade their ship, others grinded out the mats and complained about the grind.

Anyone playing for ARX points should heed the warning. Don't do it.

 

[znôrt]

Always been slightly amused by that term.

well, if you want to attract people so they attract other people to watch your ads you better give them a fancy selling name. "bait meatballs" isn't going to work well.
that said, "content" can't really be argued about, and some of it is even original so "creator" is also generically fine in my book.

how this is good business, and it has to be by now, has always amazed me. those ads must be really working, so someone must be not only watching them , but turning them into actual sales. go figure!

then again some people would rather have a summary read out in a soothing voice than digging themselves into sources. which i could even understand, the noise is strong here. actually, how this arx thing can stir up so much debate, doubts and controversy is also hard to grasp. apparently much of the audience of a game forum is completely unaware of how the game industry works!

it really is a nobrainer, nothing to see here, just wait a few months and we'll know the particulars, which in all likelihood won't be any real surprise either.

 

[Viajero]

So still three different systems. I would have thought that was the expensive bit rather than the manipulation of numbers within the shops.

The commercial and shop structure will now be the same in all platforms as opposed to the different set ups we have today. This will save resources and dev/tech time in maintaining multiple store fronts.

 

[amigacooke {macOS}]

The commercial and shop structure will now be the same in all platforms as opposed to the different set ups we have today. This will save resources and dev/tech time in maintaining multiple store fronts.

You mean Windows players are going to have to take out a subscription to play multiplayer like the console players have to and Windows players will have multiple accounts?

 

[Urbanski101]

how this arx thing can stir up so much debate, doubts and controversy is also hard to grasp. apparently much of the audience of a game forum is completely unaware of how the game industry works!

it really is a nobrainer, nothing to see here, just wait a few months and we'll know the particulars, which in all likelihood won't be any real surprise either.

Well to be honest it's the most recent thing FD have announced along with Fleet Carriers so of course in a 5 yr old game those "new" announcements will be discussed in the short term.

For me personally I'm left rather cold by both announcements but ARX is causing controversy for a few main reasons I believe.

1. Premium currency is often implemented in a rather opaque and obfuscated manner on purpose making it difficult to judge if you are getting good value from your purchases. Many on here will have come across some shady and at times downright offensive premium currency schemes in other games and there is understandably some real skepticism. Until we know more about in game earning rates and how the ARX will be sold ($ £ values) it's impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions.
2. It's also being assumed, and not without just cause (OA pointed this out in his vid) that micro-transactions will now be much more front and center and in your face, not something that appeals to everyone.
3. Personally I think most of the skins and cosmetics are of a poor quality, badly designed, badly implemented or just plain dull and unimaginative and that they do not represent value for money. I've bought a few over the years and generally felt extremely underwhelmed with my purchase...hopefully with a new focus on micro-transactions they may actually put some effort into these....which leads onto my next point.
4. The game is arguably in a stable state but there are so many broken mechanics, bugs, unfinished features that many (and I put myself in this camp) feel that dev time could and should be spent on actually fixing the game and creating new content. Yes, I know those that who work on cosmetics and store purchases are not the devs who would be working on bug fixing and updates but with the next real content more than a year away it feels like this should not be a key focus for FD (IMO).

FD are a business and they need to make money so I suppose during this content hiatus it makes sense for them to maximise their earnings. Premium currency is now a fact of (gaming) life and is everywhere so we just need to get used to it.

I'm very critical of FD at times (justifiably, I'd argue) but in terms of fairness and profiteering I think they have to date been one of the better game developers I've encountered so I'm hoping the ARX system will be handled fairly and offer the players good value...we shall see.

 

[Viajero]

You mean Windows players are going to have to take out a subscription to play multiplayer like the console players have to and Windows players will have multiple accounts?

I dot think I mentioned anything of the sort. The thread discussion is related to cosmetics/ARX. This is what I said:

The commercial and shop structure will now be the same in all platforms as opposed to the different set ups we have today. This will save resources and dev/tech time in maintaining multiple store fronts.

 

[amigacooke {macOS}]

I dot think I mentioned anything of the sort. This is what I said:

The commercial and shop structure will now be the same in all platforms as opposed to the different set ups we have today. This will save resources and dev/tech time in maintaining multiple store fronts.

Are the items I mentioned part of the console commercial and shop structure and therefore the Windows structure will not be the same as the console structure?

 

[Viajero]

Are the items I mentioned part of the console commercial and shop structure and therefore the Windows structure will not be the same as the console structure?

The discussion in this thread, including my posts, is about cosmetics/ARX.

 

[amigacooke {macOS}]

The discussion in this thread, including my posts, is about cosmetics/ARX.

So a limited section of the commercial and shop structure will be aligned. I trust that will be a big money saver to offset against the cost of delivering the change in the first place.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

You must be easily surprised. I've been around for a while and until the video by OA I never heard of that either

I believe Frontier points are a console thing, cos I never heard about them until recently. From console player.

 

[Viajero]

So a limited section of the commercial and shop structure will be aligned. I trust that will be a big money saver to offset against the cost of delivering the change in the first place.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion on how much dev or tech resources are saved by unifying all cosmetics store fronts. There is indeed a potential saving there and I just pointed it out in response to a post that was only assuming exactly the opposite.

I personally think it is far from insignificant.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Unlockable cosmetics is what I wish engineers would have been.

 

[marx]

For what it's worth, I've been with ED since the very beginning, and I haven't heard of Frontier points either. PC player, though.

It was in one of the recent fss threads. They are way too long to look though, and it would be naming and shaming. If you must see it by all means. Search for his posts and the word 'reddit' maybe.

Oh, never mind, I misread and thought you meant Obsidian Ant making such a list, not Stuart.

Also, a fun tidbit: I just noticed that the Frontier forum here has 214k members. Active members is debatable, and the quality of content posted, even more so, but we can at least say that the largest audience is likely here.

 

[sollisb]

You are certainly entitled to your opinion on how much dev or tech resources are saved by unifying all cosmetics store fronts. There is indeed a potential saving there and I just pointed it out in response to a post that was only assuming exactly the opposite.

I personally think it is far from insignificant.

'Potential' but you really have no idea do you?

I personally thing it's going to be a a major part of their tech/support. Extra dev/tech to design/implement/maintain. Add to that the small problem of Frontier never being able to release something that works from the gates and requires ongoing tech if not complete rewrites!

What we're looking at here is not a game bug, that leads to a few upset players, but if a bug occurs (And their historic competence highlights there will be) then you have a situation of financial importance.

Add to all that the extra support.. 'I played x but didn't earn y Arx blah blah' type support, and we're looking at a catastrophe in the making.

Frontier have a credibility factor of zero in being able to produce bug free (as can be) code, so the future is not looking at all bright.

And the irony is... We didn't and don't need it !!

But that's my opinion..

 

[Viajero]

'Potential' but you really have no idea do you?

I personally thing it's going to be a a major part of their tech/support. Extra dev/tech to design/implement/maintain. Add to that the small problem of Frontier never being able to release something that works from the gates and requires ongoing tech if not complete rewrites!

What we're looking at here is not a game bug, that leads to a few upset players, but if a bug occurs (And their historic competence highlights there will be) then you have a situation of financial importance.

Add to all that the extra support.. 'I played x but didn't earn y Arx blah blah' type support, and we're looking at a catastrophe in the making.

Frontier have a credibility factor of zero in being able to produce bug free (as can be) code, so the future is not looking at all bright.

And the irony is... We didn't and don't need it !!

But that's my opinion..

Well I have my opinion, much as you do. Keep in mind I have always been referring to the store front. I personally think the savings will prolly be more important than the what will be required to update it. Many reasons for that, the system is not new, it exists already in the consoles platform just with a different name and the learning curve is already quite mature there. Also the fact all store fronts will be essentially the same should reduce and limit most issues and wasted time related to lack of consistency. It should also eliminate a good number of redundant requirements plus it will simplify the work of those involved in maintaining it to a single system.

 

[marx]

I personally thing it's going to be a a major part of their tech/support. Extra dev/tech to design/implement/maintain. Add to that the small problem of Frontier never being able to release something that works from the gates and requires ongoing tech if not complete rewrites!

Oh, I don't know. This will be the #1 source of revenue for Elite: Dangerous, so I think they'll actually test this one thoroughly. Like you said, they can much less afford to leave bugs in there for months than they apparently can in the game.

Plus coding store front-ends is really quite different to coding a complex game.

 

[StuartGT]

Oh, I don't know. This will be the #1 source of revenue for Elite: Dangerous, so I think they'll actually test this one thoroughly. Like you said, they can much less afford to leave bugs in there for months than they apparently can in the game.

Plus coding store front-ends is really quite different to coding a complex game.

Elite Dangerous has sold roughly 600k copies every year since its release. As of Jan 2019 Horizons had sold 1.3m copies. In FY2018 Elite Dangerous had its best year ever with revenues of £22m, of which £4m came from cosmetics sales. the New Era paid-for update is scheduled for 2020.

Cosmetics aren't the #1 source of revenue for Elite Dangerous.

 

[xzanfr]

Hello Hedgehobbit,

The 'Arc' product that was visible on the PS4 Frontier Store was a test product that should not have been live and has now been removed. To clarify, this is not indicative of any products coming, nor is it reflective of upcoming Arx prices, which we'll detail in the near future.

Purchasable Archimedes 440 upgrade for cockpit bbc micro confirmed.

 

[marx]

Hm, never mind that part then, I didn't know there was a separate statistic for cosmetic sales, I thought they were included in the revenue. I can't seem to find them broken down as such in the 2018 annual report, where can I find it?

 

[StuartGT]

Hm, never mind that part then, I didn't know there was a separate statistic for cosmetic sales, I thought they were included in the revenue. I can't seem to find them broken down as such in the 2018 annual report, where can I find it?

In this video, I'll edit in timestamps from 27 minute mark:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0O-xoBvs0