Python Mk II & Updates To The Gamestore

[Hugh Bourbaki]

I am not one to hop in and comment very often and I haven't logged in for a while, but I have been really excited for the upcoming updates and new ships. I am really torn about the early release of the new ship using ARX for 3 months for $10 (yes I used US$ can't be bothered to look up the ASCII code for Pounds) it seems excessive. I hope you reconsider as a few others have remarked, consider the good will that you have built up and do not squander it. If you are trying to soft launch the ship because you are not sure about balancing, then do a beta fork (I am sure this is significant work) or just remind folks that there will be ongoing balancing and do what needs to be done to get the desired result. If you are going to paywall an early release, the wall should be significantly lower ~1000 ARX and the delay should be weeks or days but in my opinion should not exist at all. Over monetization will not help the game, it will create ill will and drive players, like myself, who remain interested but hesitant to return.

Note that I have spent over $200 on ARX for cosmetics in my 2500 hours of the game and don't regret those expenses, but my first reaction to the thought of $10 for early access to a ship was mild excitement and positivity, but this does feel more like a cash grab. Please do not become CIG or EA or any of those other companies. You have loyal pilots out there that will be by your side if you treat us right, but this isn't the way. It isn't too late to change your mind.

 

[Mrc_NorthEast]

I will wait to see exactly how it is rolled out and if the ship(s) that can be bought with real money are engineered or not. The devil will be or will not be in the details.

I hope Fdev does not go down the full pay2win route, as that is a very fast way to turn off the playerbase that remains in my opinion. And this feels like a possible step in that direction.

I am fine with pay to get early access to ships (unengineered) or cosmetics, etc. But it should stop there. No engineered ship modules, ody suits or ody weapons as that is fully pay2win.

 

[CMDR Daiyus]

Well, they've got to make money somehow, and as people are already pointing out, the base and Odyssey can be had cheap as chips. That's never going to sustain the updates that people have been wanting for so long. There's already people working out how long it'll take to earn the ARX to get the stuff without putting in real money, and I'm sure most people want to be somewhat financially conscious.

While there's a fine line between what is and isn't acceptable to be purchase able vs. earnable, I personally don't mind donating a bit of money here and there towards development after getting so much content for effectively peanuts.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

CDKeys is dubious, but even the official price is £9.99. Must be an incredible ship to cost almost as much as Odyssey

It's possible that the ARX price will come down for Horizons players once it's out of early access.

On the other hand it might be entirely intentional to encourage Odyssey sales for the "not interested in feet" crowd.

we didn't miss that that happened just after Tencent bought 9% of Frontier

"Just after" is a bit of a stretch here - Tencent bought their stake in July 2017, while ARX weren't introduced until September 2019 on PC

Given Frontier's December 2012 plan was to allow credits to be purchased for cash (at a time in the Kickstarter when non-credit currencies hadn't even been considered) I don't think this one - or any other "copy what hundreds of other companies have already done for monetisation with various levels of success and unpopularity" - can be put down to any specific minority shareholders.

It's a tiny proportion of the playerbase, surely it's the smallest concession that could be made for some benefit in how this is percieved?

Well, though equally only a benefit to a tiny proportion of players, so unlikely to really affect wider perceptions.

 

[Rubbernuke]

@Paul_Crowther - what extent will be the pre built-ness of the ships? Will they have a limit (to say, G3) in a few areas? Also, I hope you won't monetize CG unique modules because that will trigger a lot of animosity.


Dare I say....whats happening to The Ship That Must Not Be Named™?

 

[Rainbro]

Well, though equally only a benefit to a tiny proportion of players, so unlikely to really affect wider perceptions.

Still gets an outsized spotlight in discussions like this, though that is also a niche within a niche for sure.

 

[texasp8]

Unless there are no LEP owners surviving.

Hey, we're not that old!

 

[Alien]

It's possible that the ARX price will come down for Horizons players once it's out of early access.

On the other hand it might be entirely intentional to encourage Odyssey sales for the "not interested in feet" crowd.


"Just after" is a bit of a stretch here - Tencent bought their stake in July 2017, while ARX weren't introduced until September 2019 on PC

Given Frontier's December 2012 plan was to allow credits to be purchased for cash (at a time in the Kickstarter when non-credit currencies hadn't even been considered) I don't think this one - or any other "copy what hundreds of other companies have already done for monetisation with various levels of success and unpopularity" - can be put down to any specific minority shareholders.

Virtual currency and Pay 2 Advance is right up Tencent's alley and playbook.

 

[Alien]

And as an LEP holder myself, I'm not bothered one jot that LEP holders still have to pay for early access to the Python MkII ... that's not the problem here.

 

[angusmadmac1]

New Elite Dangerous content such as the Python MkII, Powerplay 2.0, ship bundles etc are for the Live version of Elite Dangerous. As previously announced, there are no current plans to bring updates to Legacy outside of critical fixes should they be necessary.

Non-Odyssey owners will be able access ship variants from the store for ARX..??
So is legacy not non odyssey ?
@Paul_Crowther
I just want to clear that up because I would be rocking buying the python MK2 for legacy. But it was pointed out that legacy gets nothing new since consolgate

 

[MAD_DT]

If the pre build kit is included in the 16250 preview,Then I think this is a bit more resonable

 

[TalonKarrde72]

Pay to win incoming

More like pay to get a temporary leg up. I mean, it can help us that won't/don't buy it out, because by the time we can get it in game, there will be builds, engineering plans, etc figured out by people who pre-buy, so we can prepare for it.

 

[Luriant]

I need info about the change in livery price.

Buy before? or Buy after?

 

[TalonKarrde72]

Why?

Because they get all new content as part of the agreement when they signed on as such. I mean they gave them Horizons and Odyssey, Early Access to a ship isn't on the same level as those, so why not?

 

[DjVortex]

In another thread in the past I wrote this:

One of the signs of an MMO game (especially an MMORPG) being on its deathbed is when the developers start giving more and more endgame stuff for free or extremely cheap in a vain attempt to try to entice more new players (and old ones to rejoin). This can be seen again and again with myriads of MMO's that were once relatively popular but are now almost or fully deserted.

I hope this new development isn't that.

 

[Jukelo]

Presumably Frontier think our loyalty should be rewarded with the opportunity to pay for non-cosmetic upgrades.

I wonder if the privilege to regularly remind everybody you gave Frontier some money a long time ago was accounted for in the price of the LEP.

 

[amigacooke {macOS}]

I wonder if the privilege to regularly remind everybody you gave Frontier some money a long time ago was accounted for in the price of the LEP.

Straight for the player and not the ball.

 

[Bahamut_TMG]

I promise, none of the veteran players care if Fdev makes stuff available for purchase with ARX. Those of us with thousands of hours in the game will most likely welcome the ability to shortcut some of the grind. There's no such thing as P2W in this game. The only way is to play it and get good.

 

[amigacooke {macOS}]

I need info about the change in livery price.

Buy before? or Buy after?

If Frontier were going to cut prices, like a sale, do you think Frontier might make a bit of a song and dance about it?

 

[FixMeNow]

Hi Frontier. I play ED weekly since 2015 or whenever it came out on GPP on Xbox so you can put me under hardcore player.

I wont be paying extra to unlock a ship 3 months early.

Cheers and good luck with the cash grab.