I'm not going to address specific issues as there are more than enough threads on the various subjects already.
I'm going to talk about the 'feel' of the game. I began Elite just after release of v1.0. On the first day, the learning curve was steep and the challenge of just getting off the launch pad with mouse and keyboard was daunting. I took several dozen trips into Settings to get my key binds just right. I didn't go into supercruise for an hour, as I wanted to feel comfortable flying the ship. I truly felt challenged and the reward of getting that little Sidey do my bidding was incredible.
My first mission was a Black Box recovery for 17K which involved a series of embarrassing overshoots into a USS as I learned throttle control. The 7 second rule being unknown to me at the time. I persevered through that, the cargo scooping and return to the station. 2.5 hours to launch off the pad, recover a Black Box and return. And it was magnificent. The next night, I did more missions and slowly accumulated more money. Within a week, I had enough to grab a C-rated Eagle and RES became my hunting grounds. When I got my first Cobra, I was like Leo DeCaprio on the bow of the Titanic. King of the World.
Two years later, the game has changed dramatically. First, massive kudos to DB and his team for maintaining the central vision. If you watch the KS videos and hear DB talking about the game and it's future, then see what we have today, you see very little is different. That isn't the issue. The challenge in Elite: Dangerous is slowly disappearing. When I first began, I was nervous as I had one, maybe two rebuys covered. I had to be careful, keep my eyes open and think about what I needed to do. I died, many times. However, I was able to learn from the experiences and move on. I made more than I lost, and incrementally I acquired more assets and ships. From the Cobra, I got a T-7 and traded my way into an AspX over several weeks of play.
Today, money is so easy to make that people are in Anacondas in a week, which is frakking ridiculous IMHO. There's no suspense anymore. People have fifty rebuys covered in the bank and so they no longer have any concerns about dying. Indeed, they become cavalier and start doing stupid things as a result. There's no more incentive to learn how to do things right, the element of danger is grossly reduced. Why is this?
Frontier is giving in to vocal players who feel making more money makes for a better game. People who have no patience, no willingness to work toward a goal, no discipline and frankly, are in the wrong game. Since v1.0 rewards have gone up by a factor of 100 and people are still moaning it isn't enough. Giving players more money just turns this game into another mindless arcade shooter. And I hate to be the one to break it to you, but this will not shut up the moaners. They won't be happy until they get HALO in space ships and then they'll still trash the game because of it. They will never be happy and compromising with them will always be a losing proposition for you.
New players will now make millions, get into ships they don't know how to fly, die and blame the game. They will never take personal responsibility, so Elite will always be at fault. You will never win giving in to that type of player.
Devs - The game needs to return to its roots. Less is more. Don't give into the howling and impatient masses. Make them work for what they get and anyone who complains about it reinforces you made the right decision. They might even learn a valuable life lesson. Lord knows, many of them need it.
I'm going to talk about the 'feel' of the game. I began Elite just after release of v1.0. On the first day, the learning curve was steep and the challenge of just getting off the launch pad with mouse and keyboard was daunting. I took several dozen trips into Settings to get my key binds just right. I didn't go into supercruise for an hour, as I wanted to feel comfortable flying the ship. I truly felt challenged and the reward of getting that little Sidey do my bidding was incredible.
My first mission was a Black Box recovery for 17K which involved a series of embarrassing overshoots into a USS as I learned throttle control. The 7 second rule being unknown to me at the time. I persevered through that, the cargo scooping and return to the station. 2.5 hours to launch off the pad, recover a Black Box and return. And it was magnificent. The next night, I did more missions and slowly accumulated more money. Within a week, I had enough to grab a C-rated Eagle and RES became my hunting grounds. When I got my first Cobra, I was like Leo DeCaprio on the bow of the Titanic. King of the World.
Two years later, the game has changed dramatically. First, massive kudos to DB and his team for maintaining the central vision. If you watch the KS videos and hear DB talking about the game and it's future, then see what we have today, you see very little is different. That isn't the issue. The challenge in Elite: Dangerous is slowly disappearing. When I first began, I was nervous as I had one, maybe two rebuys covered. I had to be careful, keep my eyes open and think about what I needed to do. I died, many times. However, I was able to learn from the experiences and move on. I made more than I lost, and incrementally I acquired more assets and ships. From the Cobra, I got a T-7 and traded my way into an AspX over several weeks of play.
Today, money is so easy to make that people are in Anacondas in a week, which is frakking ridiculous IMHO. There's no suspense anymore. People have fifty rebuys covered in the bank and so they no longer have any concerns about dying. Indeed, they become cavalier and start doing stupid things as a result. There's no more incentive to learn how to do things right, the element of danger is grossly reduced. Why is this?
Frontier is giving in to vocal players who feel making more money makes for a better game. People who have no patience, no willingness to work toward a goal, no discipline and frankly, are in the wrong game. Since v1.0 rewards have gone up by a factor of 100 and people are still moaning it isn't enough. Giving players more money just turns this game into another mindless arcade shooter. And I hate to be the one to break it to you, but this will not shut up the moaners. They won't be happy until they get HALO in space ships and then they'll still trash the game because of it. They will never be happy and compromising with them will always be a losing proposition for you.
New players will now make millions, get into ships they don't know how to fly, die and blame the game. They will never take personal responsibility, so Elite will always be at fault. You will never win giving in to that type of player.
Devs - The game needs to return to its roots. Less is more. Don't give into the howling and impatient masses. Make them work for what they get and anyone who complains about it reinforces you made the right decision. They might even learn a valuable life lesson. Lord knows, many of them need it.
