Open letter to FDEV

[Chancey_Dice]

I quite enjoy your game Elite Dangerous, but it simply costs too much of my "real life" to play.


It seems that I have to burn significant hours to make any notable progress within the game. The amount of time required is rapidly becoming unacceptable.


This past weekend I spent numerous hours trying to gather materials to engineer my FSD, and other ship parts. I've had to rely almost entirely on community created websites in order to find the information that I need.


I've finally just upgraded my ship to a Python, which feels more like a ship should in terms of the ability to "engage targets of opportunity,"
be it Unknown Signal Sources, land-able planets, or what have you.


As a fan of the game, I implore you to make some changes, any changes, to streamline certain areas of the game so I don't have to burn so many hours of my life in order to make meaningful progress.


One way to lower the time sink could be allowing for increased jump range for ships that carry more fuel. It seems that I burn about 10-20% of my fuel for each jump. Why not allow for "increased fuel burn" to jump farther, say 100 ly +?


Also please consider making it possible to fully outfit a ship with A grade components at all, or many, outfitting stations.


It's a vast universe, and the number of times I can stand hearing "Frame Shift Drive Charging... 4...3...2...1..." is nearing it's end.


In closing, I'll say that you are far more aware of the capabilities, limitations, and balance issues of your product than I am. So why not make an effort to make the game more playable, with less time spent, in consideration of your player bases limited life spans?


Many of us have significant demands on our time outside of the game world.


I would hope that on some level you are at least marginally concerned about the well-being of your player base, and would be willing to make adjustments to the game.


Best regards,


CMDR Chancey

 

[ozzyneil]

Ditto plus HUD customization

 

[Privata]

Removing many elements like that would not only cheapen the universe but out right kill immersion.
You gain money in matters of seconds now , you can afford a viper in hours instead of weeks. I understand everyone is different but changing the game to be something its never ment to be is wrong IMO.

Elite dangerous is ment to be a game played for years upon years. not just a few months.

Live in the elite universe , take in the ambiance enjoy it.
Yes the countdown can be anyoing (it can be turned off I think , in the settings) but its betty , thats just how it is

 

[Chancey_Dice]

Elite dangerous is ment to be a game played for years upon years. not just a few months.

Okay, but do you want to burn years of your life playing just one game? Sorry, but I get bored way before that!

 

[Privata]

Okay, but do you want to burn years of your life playing just one game? Sorry, but I get bored way before that!

If the game is good , yeah.
Of course I respect your opinion.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I am all for short-cuts in some areas, but even those short cuts need to be EARNED. That is why I am such a huge advocate of a Favour System....a means to convert your reputation or rank into some kind of physical benefit in other parts of the game. Want quicker access to a Fed Affiliated Engineer? Then gain Reputation with the Feds, or one of their affiliated factions, then call in one or more favours (in game terms, give up your earned reputation) to learn of their location or even get rank 1 access.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

The beauty of a favour system-IMHO-is that it:

(1) Addresses many of the concerns of the OP.....without cheapening the game or hurting immersion.

(2) It creates yet another form of currency to partly replace credits as the dominant in-game currency.

(3) Because of (2), it might also allow another re-balancing of credit pay-outs (bounties & missions, in particular) & in-game expenses to help solve the "too much money in the game" issue.

(4) It helps to deepen immersion, as how you can use favours will help to better tie together the various Factions, Powers, Super-Powers & Engineers together. After all, if you've insisted on only dealing with the Empire & their affiliates, then getting access to a Federal Affiliated Engineer is going to require you to take the longer, slower path! This can, IMHO, only help to deepen the role-play aspect of the game.....especially if it is coupled with a system where gaining Rep/Rank with one Super-Power slows down the rate at which you can Rep/Rank up with other Super-Powers.

 

[Jaylem]

"Slow and steady wins the race"

I too have to chip at things here and there...but I know where and how to make money quickly so there goes that problem.

The time input is by far the most rewarding aspect of the game.

 

[Lestat]

One way to lower the time sink could be allowing for increased jump range for ships that carry more fuel. It seems that I burn about 10-20% of my fuel for each jump. Why not allow for "increased fuel burn" to jump farther, say 100 ly +?

Well install a smaller fuel tank which increase your jump range and use neutron stars to double your jump range. Also use Engineer updates and ships that can do longer jumps like the Anaconda.

Also please consider making it possible to fully outfit a ship with A grade components at all, or many, outfitting stations.

Or you can search for High Tech stations that has A grade components? Make sure the station your going to has a large amount of Population it can help you. The game should not hold your hand and do everything for you.

It's a vast universe, and the number of times I can stand hearing "Frame Shift Drive Charging... 4...3...2...1..." is nearing it's end.

Do you want a load Screen or 4 3 2 1? For me I rather see the 4 3 2 1 then see a lame screen saying NOW LOADING.

In closing, I'll say that you are far more aware of the capabilities, limitations, and balance issues of your product than I am. So why not make an effort to make the game more playable, with less time spent, in consideration of your player bases limited life spans?

Well there has to be time sinks or their will not be a game for us to go to.

Many of us have significant demands on our time outside of the game world.

Well everyone has demands on our time outside the game world and we don't whine about it. But we have to choice Game or life.

I would hope that on some level you are at least marginally concerned about the well-being of your player base, and would be willing to make adjustments to the game.

I more concern for the company so they can continue to give us good game updates and not have dead game that we can not play.

Removing many elements like that would not only cheapen the universe but out right kill immersion.
You gain money in matters of seconds now , you can afford a viper in hours instead of weeks. I understand everyone is different but changing the game to be something its never ment to be is wrong IMO.

It took me 20 Minutes from a Sidewinder to a Cobra. So money pretty easy.

Elite dangerous is ment to be a game played for years upon years. not just a few months.

Agree

 

[Chancey_Dice]

Well there has to be time sinks or their will not be a game for us to go to.

Well, you got this point right, excepting grammar.

The entire g game is shallow... this game needs more game in it!

So many things they could add to it to make gameplay more interesting...

• planetary resource harvesters (ala SWG)
• deploy-able nav beacons
• an actual trade network
• a ship ui that doesn't look and behave like it was generated on an Apple 2e
• resource fields, instead of isolated nodes

So many more things could be added to create some depth. Timesinks, like spending an inordinate amount of time hopping from point A to point B, or searching for rocks widely spread across a planetary surface, only serve to accentuate the lack of depth, and sense of wasted time.

I feel like the game has great potential that is not being capitalized upon, which is a real pity.

 

[Lestat]

planetary resource harvesters (ala SWG)

Na we don't need another eve when you can set a drone to harvest stuff while your offline.

deploy-able nav beacons

I think the best your going to get is what called a BookMark

an actual trade network

There is a actual Trade network. Some area have a Boom. But when you bring a large group of players with large ship like a Anaconda, type 9 and Cutter with a large amount of cargo. It act like the California gold rush. Tons of gold nuggets and a large amount of people. Then POOF there hardly any gold. Which end the Boom of the California gold rush.

a ship ui that doesn't look and behave like it was generated on an Apple 2e

You need to learn Elite is 30+ year old game with a history. If you don't like it. There Other game like No man sky which I heard not a very good game and Star Citizen which might have pretty ships. But not released yet and has game issues.

resource fields, instead of isolated nodes

So many more things could be added to create some depth. Timesinks, like spending an inordinate amount of time hopping from point A to point B, or searching for rocks widely spread across a planetary surface, only serve to accentuate the lack of depth, and sense of wasted time.

Well start looking at asteroid belts around planets.

I feel like the game has great potential that is not being capitalized upon, which is a real pity.

Thing is yes Elite Dangerous could had so much more. But it could equal another Floop like No man sky or Star Citizen which should of been out a few years ago and still in alpha. With Bugs and problems. Frontier taken the bare bone game which was close to Elite classic. To help future upgrade. Then upgraded over time vs build the whole game at once and expect it to win.

 

[Chancey_Dice]

You need to learn Elite is 30+ year old game with a history. If you don't like it. There Other game like No man sky which I heard not a very good game and Star Citizen which might have pretty ships. But not released yet and has game issues.

Elite is a 30+ year old FRANCHISE. The game Elite Dangerous has been out since, what, 2014? I expect more from an A-Rated game with a supposedly modern UI, than how it's currently represented.

I believe that Chris Thursten of PC Gamer put it very succinctly, from wikipedia: "Chris Thursten of PC Gamer rated the game 86/100, considering it to be "potentially a classic", depending on Frontier's ability to build on the "broad but somewhat shallow foundations" of the released version. Thursten described the gameplay experience as "exhilarating excitement, matched by nothing else this year, contrasted with moments of emptiness, frustration, and boredom""

I am simply suggesting ideas to fill those moments of emptiness, frustration, and boredom with joy. How? By streamlining "long-winded" areas of travel, and adding more content!

I also am playing Star Citizen which seems to offer quite a bit more, and it's still in an Alpha state.

 

[dogsolitude_uk]

I'd beg to differ personally. I like the apparent emptiness of the game. It enables me to project whatever I want on to it, to play it however I like. I can dip in and do a trade run or a mission for 30 mins, or spend an afternoon exploring and taking screenies or doing something more involved if I choose. Or I can leave the game for a few weeks and come back to it whenever I like.

The 'emptiness' allows me to fill the gaps with my own imagination, creating my own story on a blank (ish!) slate, which is something very few games allow us to do. It's why I love it so much.