priorities FD. (Rant/Plea)

StephenB · Jun 20, 2015

I have been getting increasingly frustrated with Frontier development's priorities for this game. We had PowerPlay recently and now CQC is on the way. These are good updates that add new levels of gameplay to Elite Dangerous that most of us will really enjoy. I'm always happy with new content however there is a ship in this game that is called the "Orca". You may have forgotten about this ship, added in Gamma with the sole purpose of transporting different classes of people who could give side missions with/without pay and adding a new level of richness to the game. Have you forgotten about this ship FD? Most of the people here haven't and I'm sure that I am not the only one here who would have preferred Passenger Transport missions over PowerPlay or CQC.

I ask very seriously; why has the intended purpose of the Orca been left out for so long? Why have you stopped adding/finalising ideas added to the DDF/DDA (Design Discussion Forums/Archives)?

I love this game and I loved reading through the DDA and watching development videos with an excited David Braben talking about the plans for Elite Dangerous and the richness that these plans will add to the game. I was excited about these plans, about Passenger Transport, about watching stations getting built slowly over time, about selling Slaves for organ transplants. I was not exited for PowerPlay nor am I excited for CQC. I want the plans in the Dev diaries and DDA to continue being added! I want to get the game that was promised to be built over time made before adding any more updates like Powerplay or CQC.

It's like you started making a circus, you had the Ferris wheel built but before you could finish it by making it spin you started work on a different part of the circus. Finish what you started, that's all I ask. The Orca has no dedicated purpose. It's the least used ship because you have refused to finish that part of your game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsBPDnHiTi8

I have nothing against Powerplay or CQC, as I said they add more levels of gameplay to the game but instead of adding new ideas can you finish the existing ideas first?

Please FD Finish what you started, give the Orca a purpose, add/finish the plans in the DDF and Dev Diaries.

I love this game, I really do. This game will continue to grow larger and better with every update, just don't forget about your dev diaries or the DDF/DDA.

CMDR Starschulz · Jun 20, 2015

Game development takes time, man. A lot of time.

Also, they added CQC to consoles so people on consoles can pick up the controller and start having fun immediately, in order to fit Elite into the console market. there is a learning curve to this game, and if you think it was bad on these forums when the game released, it would have been much worse if they didn't put CQC in there. atleast, that is what i hear.

Powerplay also isn't a new idea, if you look at the things included in powerplay, you can go back many months and see them testing it...

Shiny Danger · Jun 20, 2015

I'm pretty sure the passenger stuff isn't in because they want to integrate it with some other feature like walking around . If they just add it as a freight type that needs certain ships the community will get super mad over it. Really i'd prefer them to wait and add modules/walkable areas that we have to fill with suitable decorations/facilities(super rich passengers should only fly on the classiest federal dropships). I imagine they'll overhaul the slave trade mechanics at the same time so they're not just this really valuable commodity that we somehow manage to flatpack(especially Imp slaves whose rights should generally be protected).

Theres also the fact there isn't even a low tier passenger transporter(unless the adder becomes that I suppose it's plausible) so they probably want that in place too so newbies aren't cut off from that profession.

Also what would differentiate it right now from exploring or trading beyond some very basic mechanics, fly to this star stay here for x minutes so people can look. Fly to this station drop off ythe people get more people fly to another star then a station ad infinitum, hopefully they'll add some more complex mechanics to differentiate it from trading with life support.

Soon(TM) · Jun 20, 2015

Exactly, you don't fit the furniture in your house before they've built the walls and put the roof on.

FD where are the walls and the roof?

All I see is foundations!!!!!!

ste · Jun 20, 2015

The priorities are probably in order of what they think is most complained about.

Darth Ender · Jun 20, 2015

< cry > Things dont benefit me directly by nature of being an early adopter nor will they further differentiate me from the masses of new players. I'm not as special as I want to be. I'm not being made aware of the reasoning behind every decision as is my right as a paying consumer.< /cry >

It's infant stages for this game. Complaints like the OP's can be made in 5 years when the game has reached it's stride (middle aged compared to at least a couple other space combat / simulator MMO's...). Right now design decisions are determined as much by finances as they are by technical feasibility and roadmaps. There are concerns the company has for achieving their long term vision that you may not be privy to or it might bother you in this short term period you're experiencing. I wouldn't worry about where the game is heading and how it's doing for a couple years. Let FD handle things without this constant noise for a little while.

Kayweg · Jun 20, 2015

Soon(TM) said:
Exactly, you don't fit the furniture in your house before they've built the walls and put the roof on.

FD where are the walls and the roof?

All I see is foundations!!!!!!

I like that positive approach, you could have said "All i see is a hole in the ground".

Shiny Danger · Jun 20, 2015

Kayweg said:
I like that positive approach, you could have said "All i see is a hole in the ground".

You see a hole in the ground? I'm planning to ship the digging equipment to them so they can get started on that.

X-Terminator · Jun 20, 2015

Please FD provide 1, just 1 update that fixes the game you sold us. Then do carry on your wishes as developers to add features. Else it will all be forgotten about and we all lose interest to go play Star Wars Battlefront and Star Citizen. Come on lads, you can do it!

CMDR Starschulz · Jun 20, 2015

Darth Ender said:
< cry > Things dont benefit me directly by nature of being an early adopter nor will they further differentiate me from the masses of new players. I'm not as special as I want to be. I'm not being made aware of the reasoning behind every decision as is my right as a paying consumer.< /cry >

It's infant stages for this game. Complaints like the OP's can be made in 5 years when the game has reached it's stride (middle aged compared to at least a couple other space combat / simulator MMO's...). Right now design decisions are determined as much by finances as they are by technical feasibility and roadmaps. There are concerns the company has for achieving their long term vision that you may not be privy to or it might bother you in this short term period you're experiencing. I wouldn't worry about where the game is heading and how it's doing for a couple years. Let FD handle things without this constant noise for a little while.

Pretty much this, if you back a game in kickstarter you are in it for the long run. sometimes the really long run

Aewarin Jameson · Jun 20, 2015

ste said:
The priorities are probably in order of what they think is most complained about.

Most likely in order of what brings in the most funds - they're a limited company after all ( nothing against diversifying the pot as long as they thicken it over time )

FredTA · Jun 20, 2015

Remind me, what does CQC stand for again? I've seen the acronym tossed around loads but no actual explanation of what it is

Aewarin Jameson · Jun 20, 2015

FredTA said:
Remind me, what does CQC stand for again? I've seen the acronym tossed around loads but no actual explanation of what it is

close quarter combat

FredTA · Jun 20, 2015

Liqua said:
close quarter combat

ah, thanks

rightsideupsidedown · Jun 20, 2015

This post was bothering me until I got to the word Orca then I totally lost it, busted out laughing. I hear the Orca is used to impregnate worm holes. No but seriously it would have been more interesting to see a ship that is designed to transport another ship providing the transported ship has an empty cargo hold and lands on a medium/small pad. Even if the transport ship was expensive it would have been a more logical addition methinks.

There is a thread on the forum where a player rages about an Orca repeatedly "griefing" him and his friend at a res site by ramming and destroying them. Gave me a chuckle. I've come to the conclusion the Orca is used to troll. Load it up with a Plasma Accelerator/Torpedoes and randomly interdict players asking for directions.

StephenB · Jun 20, 2015

CMDR Starschulz said:
Game development takes time, man. A lot of time.

Also, they added CQC to consoles so people on consoles can pick up the controller and start having fun immediately, in order to fit Elite into the console market. there is a learning curve to this game, and if you think it was bad on these forums when the game released, it would have been much worse if they didn't put CQC in there. atleast, that is what i hear.

Powerplay also isn't a new idea, if you look at the things included in powerplay, you can go back many months and see them testing it...

Shiny Danger said:
I'm pretty sure the passenger stuff isn't in because they want to integrate it with some other feature like walking around . If they just add it as a freight type that needs certain ships the community will get super mad over it. Really i'd prefer them to wait and add modules/walkable areas that we have to fill with suitable decorations/facilities(super rich passengers should only fly on the classiest federal dropships). I imagine they'll overhaul the slave trade mechanics at the same time so they're not just this really valuable commodity that we somehow manage to flatpack(especially Imp slaves whose rights should generally be protected).

Theres also the fact there isn't even a low tier passenger transporter(unless the adder becomes that I suppose it's plausible) so they probably want that in place too so newbies aren't cut off from that profession.

Also what would differentiate it right now from exploring or trading beyond some very basic mechanics, fly to this star stay here for x minutes so people can look. Fly to this station drop off ythe people get more people fly to another star then a station ad infinitum, hopefully they'll add some more complex mechanics to differentiate it from trading with life support.

ste said:
The priorities are probably in order of what they think is most complained about.

CMDR Starschulz said:
Pretty much this, if you back a game in kickstarter you are in it for the long run. sometimes the really long run

Liqua said:
Most likely in order of what brings in the most funds - they're a limited company after all ( nothing against diversifying the pot as long as they thicken it over time )

Then why add the Orca? It was added in during Gamma so you would assume that at the very least a basic level of passenger transport was going to be added. Even if FD are waiting until you can walk around ships or land on planets it still doesn't explain why the Orca even exists yet.

If FD are running low on funds, which is a very likely situation if the recent timed exclusive is anything to go by, then they should at least tell us. I would happily buy a couple more paint packs or even donate some money to help the cause like many others would. I don't mind that CQC is a timed exclusive for the Xbox One, I mind that FD's reason for the exclusive is crap. If they are running low on funds they should tell us.

Darth Ender said:
< cry > Things dont benefit me directly by nature of being an early adopter nor will they further differentiate me from the masses of new players. I'm not as special as I want to be. I'm not being made aware of the reasoning behind every decision as is my right as a paying consumer.< /cry >

It's infant stages for this game. Complaints like the OP's can be made in 5 years when the game has reached it's stride (middle aged compared to at least a couple other space combat / simulator MMO's...). Right now design decisions are determined as much by finances as they are by technical feasibility and roadmaps. There are concerns the company has for achieving their long term vision that you may not be privy to or it might bother you in this short term period you're experiencing. I wouldn't worry about where the game is heading and how it's doing for a couple years. Let FD handle things without this constant noise for a little while.

The Orca exists in-game now, It's purpose does not. I wouldn't mind so much if it didn't exist at all yet but the fact that it's there is frustrating. I'm probably not the only one that assumed that most of the ideas in the DDF/Dev Diaries would have been completed for release. Obviously that hasn't happened. I guess I'm not used to buying into a game that is essentially always in Beta Stage which is probably the nature of most Kickstarter games.

In any case a simple message from FD to explain what their priorities are, whether it's based on their funds, what they see is more important or what they want themselves would help quell a lot of the complaints.