PC Gamer - One year on, Odyssey still misunderstands what made Elite Dangerous great

[Shir]

I was watching a YouTuber video where the guy was explaining how negativity attracts viewers. He was saying how his analytics always show the negative parts of his videos have more votes and greater viewer retention. Common knowledge among content creators..

So the art of being negative, even when saying something positive, sells. As we see everywhere on the internet nowadays.. Why is that? .. Probably because humans would be happier away from computer screens

 

[metatheurgist]

The difference is in the scale and the versatility of ships. The frag cannon could be on a trading ship to fend off pirates. It could be on a combat ship on a mission to kick a faction out of a star system. It could be on an exploration ship as a precaution, etc...

A shotgun serves just one purpose: to shoot at a character a few dozen meters away.

What a complete load. A shotgun could be used to push a faction out of a system. A shotgun could be used to assassinate someone. A shotgun could be used in a heist. A shotgun could be used to fend of scavs....See what I did there.

 

[varonica]

It certainly offers a retro FPS experience, at least 10 years behind contemporary FPS shooters in terms of player movement, environment destruction (or lack thereof), smoothness ("netcode" & framerate & micro-stutters) and ease of in-game communications (wheel of frustration).

In my more charitable moments I also look at it as a necessary stepping stone to other content such as the oft mooted ship interiors, EVAs, boarding etc, all of which require a player-centric perspective.

Certainly the case they didn't need to go full mainstream FPS, that, I suspect, was their downfall. There are entire studios that only make First Person Shooters, and at times even they come unstuck, the FPS side of Odyssey was never going to compete in that arena, they don't have the experience in the area. If the on foot shooting part was restricted to the occasional, to the entirely optional and incorporated into the game properly I am sure we would only have half the complaints. I mean forget the full blown red v blue ground CZ's, Assassination missions to ground settlements sure, restoration missions and etc, they fit ok, discovery and exploration of wrecked ships and stations, the odd encounter with pirates or maddened space refugees, sure. But full blown FPS, essentially a system that no-one expected or asked for?

Now I am not saying no-one enjoys playing them, but if they were never introduced that wouldn't have been an issue, right?

 

[Frop]

But full blown FPS, essentially a system that no-one expected or asked for?

Now I am not saying no-one enjoys playing them, but if they were never introduced that wouldn't have been an issue, right?

What full blown FPS?

 

[HRDiagram]

[placeholder for a Steam chart]

I will add one later on, depending on what direction is taken by the thread, and what agenda I would like to push.

 

[Krieger]

What a complete load. A shotgun could be used to push a faction out of a system. A shotgun could be used to assassinate someone. A shotgun could be used in a heist. A shotgun could be used to fend of scavs....See what I did there.

Yes. You ignored the scale. A shotgun is for fighting on a few square meters. A ship is for fighting in a star system or a whole galaxy.

 

[Disemboweled Ego]

Now I am not saying no-one enjoys playing them, but if they were never introduced that wouldn't have been an issue, right?

In that case it might be fair to judge odyssey as if it was a standalone game in the Elite universe.

Would anyone still play odyssey for its content if it was truly standalone and not tied to the main Elite game/account?

 

[varonica]

What full blown FPS?

The ground CZ's, they are essentially a mini full FPS event with teams and respawning, they are like many of the maps in the early battlefield games.

 

[varonica]

[placeholder for a Steam chart]

I will add one later on, depending on what direction is taken by the thread, and what agenda I would like to push.

Sounds like a smart move.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Now I am not saying no-one enjoys playing them, but if they were never introduced that wouldn't have been an issue, right?

On this forum?

Although, for me, if they hadn't been introduced in EDO, I doubt I would have pre-ordered the expansion, nor bought copies for all of my CMDRs.

I've spent my time in game doing a lot of combat even during EDH years... (Yet still passed 1 mill LY doing sightseeing before EDO launched) Had the same opportunity not presented itself, the expansion, for me, would have been far less atrtractive.

I'm not an 'explorer' as such, more 'tourist', so wouldn't find an expansion focused on such as particluarly interesting.

 

[Rat Catcher]

A ship is for fighting in a star system or a whole galaxy.

Well, with targets just a few KM away, certainly.

Even in space, combat is still very much 'up close & personal', not a lot different to the on foot combat introduced in EDO - without arranged fights there is no combat in the majority of the galaxy, the same can be said for foot combat. Outside of a very, very, tiny part of the galaxy combat doesn't exist as part of the game, does it?

 

[DYSEQTA]

Makes sense, apparently. The Apex shuttles fit in well, for those who have no interest in flying a spaceship. But do they really choose Odyssey as their shooter of choice?

Why does it always seem to be a question of this or that feature considered separately? I see Elite as a singular whole and enjoy all aspects of that whole as a CMDR.

 

[Darrack]

O7

 

[metatheurgist]

The scale is completely meaningless when you can achieve the same results.

And. The small scale is more interesting. Boba Fett was a cool and mysterious guy when he was just an agent of the Empire. Then he started a faction on Tatooine and now he's as boring af.

 

[Darkman Returns]

And yes, I agree. Despite everything, I love having space legs. And Odyssey’s visuals are beautiful of course.

Fair point. Despite some questionable design decisions and performance that remains very much a work in progress I would never go back to Horizons.

It's ironic that I hated the UI more than anything else when Odyssey launched but FDev listened and acted on the feedback and now it is one of the biggest improvements over Horizons along with the planetary tech and upgraded visuals. Fingers crossed for Update 12

 

[varonica]

Why does it always seem to be a question of this or that feature considered separately? I see Elite as a singular whole and enjoy all aspects of that whole as a CMDR.

Well that's true, we can surely pick and choose what we do also, I very rarely combat, but I used to do a lot of FPS combat in my younger days and now I just kick back and explore, so the FPS aspect of Odyssey isn't something I would take much interest in.

 

[Rat Catcher]

It's ironic that I hated the UI more than anything else when Odyssey launched but FDev listened and acted on the feedback and now it is one of the biggest improvements over Horizons along with the planetary tech and upgraded visuals.

I agree entirely.

Of course, there are some who might make an effort to convince you that your view is through rose tinted glasses

 

[dannysquid]

I still think stealthing around settlements is the best thing in the game.

 

[CMDR Serra]

I would love to believe that EDO legs isn't in its final form and that we'll get more legs content. However, the mooted plan - that FPS brings in the punters so you can develop more niche (but potentially less commercially viable) gameplay with that extra revenue - has not gone smoothly. That means FDev have to decide whether the extra features will be financially justifiable or if it'll end up with them throwing good money after bad.
So while I'm hopeful that there will be more flesh added to the currently bare leg bones, the ED galaxy is littered with good-intentioned but ultimately half-finished features which doesn't fill me with optimism.
Roll on 2023 and the intriguing prospect of updates to existing content.

 

[Krieger]

Well, with targets just a few KM away, certainly.

Even in space, combat is still very much 'up close & personal', not a lot different to the on foot combat introduced in EDO - without arranged fights there is no combat in the majority of the galaxy, the same can be said for foot combat. Outside of a very, very, tiny part of the galaxy combat doesn't exist as part of the game, does it?

In a ship you don't need to order a taxi to get to the next battlefield.

Fighting on a beach is not comparable to fighting in a battleship that can clean out the Pacific. Again its the scale that makes the difference. It's OK if you like small scale brawls in a settlement. Apparently Frontier like that too. In my opinion Elite is about the large scale... galaxy-sized.