So, how many social media accounts do I need to have in order to experience the "story"?

[Deleted member 147460]

So, as I've stated in other threads before (perhaps I'm starting to beat a dead horse) I am a relatively new player and am having a good time with the game overall. While this game definitely has some flaws here and there, I really only have one major issue that I'm finding hard to overcome. The fact that so much of this games story takes place outside of the game really really irritates me. I just can't help it. Is it so odd to want to experience story in-game? I found myself thinking today "what if a major discovery is made sometime again in the game (like the alien base), guess I'll have to keep checking on youtube". I hate that. Maybe I am missing something but I have looked up how some of the older major stories in the game have unfolded and they seemed to have mostly taken place outside the game.

I heard about the Formadine Rift through one of ObsidinAnant videos and figured that there must be something in game about something so significant. Nope, can't find anything. I ask this only partially sarcastically, but just how many social media accounts will I need to experience the story in the game. Will I need a frakking snapchat? Does Frontier send story clues in snapchat too? I just can't...even. How is it that they can create a realistic recreation of the Milky Way Galaxy but no one ever thought it might be a good idea to have some in game tools and info. I know practically nothing about game design but for gods sake, it can't be that frakking difficult. Again, I'm new, maybe there's more in game that I will uncover and whatnot and I am misunderstanding. Maybe eventually, I'll just accept this as part of the game. As it stands right now, this is literally the ONLY thing that really bothers me about the game.

 

[DNA-Decay]

Four


But you have to be careful - Facebook only likes "real names", so I've ended up being "Dan Decay" out there. And they won't accept "Interstellar diplomat" as a job.
And to be honest, apart from the few people I was Investigating when I created Dan, Facebook is totally noobville.

Twitter has got some good content.
Edmund Mahon and Antal and Prof. Palin have accounts. Olivia Vespera is worth following and Pan Piper and the rest of the Canonn writers. Drew and Salomé where Tweeps as well.

Reddit and YouTube are kinda essential.
Make sure you get the "other" Elite Dangus sub that the PvP crazies hang out at.

Beyond that you need INARA and discord, but Discord you need to tweak your notifications. Once you've got a dozen Elite discords the constant bleeping is a bit much.

Actually for a couple of months in early 3303 I put all my phone social media to DNA-Decay accounts. Didn't have my IRL friends in my feed, no family and kids. Just my Elite Dangus identity.
I felt more immersed than when I got the Rift.

Joining other group's forums was a pretty interesting step.
Not many people stay in character across a lot of platforms and they're all kinda silo'd up. So I could show up and be a news bringer. I knew just enough about what was going on to be welcomed and stir the pot.

The stuff that Frontier are putting in is a nice backdrop, but I love the meat that is the plotting among the groups.

 

[Pumabear8]

Wait, there's people who actually play Elite for the story?


In all seriousness, yeah, it seems the only way for at least a partially interesting story, is through youtube and/or the forums.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Can't tell, none of mine help.

 

[varonica]

Four

42. Sigh, the perfect answer but it needs more characters

 

[[VR] Frank_G]

I only use Facebook and YouTube to follow the narrative, but i really hope for a general GalNet overhaul and even more importantly a regular news feed via GalNet on a daily basis, BESIDES the regular Powerplay and system news.

 

[Snowygerry]

(like the alien base).

The one at Hermits (Landing) ?

If so that one was clearly announced in-game.

Can't quite remember where, presumably GalNewsNetWork or whatever it's called, but I read about it somewhere and bookmarked it in my nav map, without ever reading about it here..haven't gotten around to going there though..

 

[Crank Larson]

Apparently you also need to follow on Twitter and Facebook if there are any server issues, too. Presumably because very few of the community team at FD are over 20...

 

[Tadeus72]

Yeah, well. That's a problem of many sandbox games, the direct competitor to this game has the same issues.

1. Fdev likes community effort. And most communities (like the researchers, powerplay groups etc.) use external media to communicate, share and publish data. There is no game with internal tools good enough for this task and probably will never be.
2. Fdev is still a young game and the development effort would have to be divided between creating and refining content and maintaining expansive in-game information tools. And they would be never as good as the external ones - because it's much much easier to do this in whichever external form is easier, than programm it into the game code and update it each time there are severe changes to the code. Sure, they could publish a GalNer article on a new location, but a player that would join the game one month later would have no good way to search this information. He wouldn't even know what to search for. And no Galnet update would help you do the Guardians mission like external sources can.
3. Also, external tools/information sources will always be better because they can spoil EVERYTHING. But spoiling everything isn't something developers do. No developer will name the final locations of something that is hidden, but you will always be able to find this information on forums 10 minutes after someone finds it.
4. The competition started introducing internal external-like tools and information systems after 10+ years, when the base content was relatively finished, because they started to lose they core player group which was ok with external sources and needed to attract new people.
5. And still. A lot of the new players prefered to use the external tools/info as soon as they've learned the game more, because it was simply better and more spoilery.
6. Fdev learned the lesson and already promised a personal, more guided player experience in Beyond.

So I guess, we are on the right path. But it's not all black and white.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Elite doesn't have a story. Elite has Events and Lore.

Lore is the stuff you go read about.

Events, like finding the dead alien ship, discovery of the Guardian Ruins, discovery of the once-lost Generation Ships just happen. Someone stumbles upon these things, makes a video, rides their 15 minutes of fame, and the rest of us keep hauling dried fruits and nuts to starving children in famine-ridden systems.

The Story of Elite is your story. The one you tell. How the events around you affect your day-to-day, the adventures you get involved in, your trials and tribulations, song-worthy victories and epic defeats.

 

[Macros Black]

I think none. We're all invited as bystanders and observers to the aftermath as the life changing exciting, thrill- and action filled story unfolds in GalNet. Personally, I can't wait for the next article.

 

[Deleted member 147460]

I don't have time right now to reply to every comment but I am reading them and do appreciate it. I am hoping 2.4 Beyond adds some of what I'm looking for.

 

[Justinian Octavius]

How is it that they can create a realistic recreation of the Milky Way Galaxy but no one ever thought it might be a good idea to have some in game tools and info. I know practically nothing about game design but for gods sake, it can't be that frakking difficult. Again, I'm new, maybe there's more in game that I will uncover and whatnot and I am misunderstanding. Maybe eventually, I'll just accept this as part of the game. As it stands right now, this is literally the ONLY thing that really bothers me about the game.

This is what Galnet should be for, why it should be on the Comms Panel & why its articles should be categorise and/or searchable; for a media organisation its main priorities seem to be to cover as little as possible and make itself as hard to access as possible.

 

[Jmanis]

Does the forum count as "social media"? If so, one, if not, none. I've never followed going-ons on twitter, reddit, facebook, youtube, whatever.

I just read galnet and the forums, and that does it for me. For example, you mention ObsidianAnt for the Formidine Rift... the FR thread is here, if you want history the front-page (if curated right) should have everything you need to know, or links to it, otherwise just go to the last page and check in now and then.

 

[Svinoi Banana]

Reddit.

Or as I've taken to calling the game, Elite Redditerous.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

I read Galnet and the forums. Sure, the forums aren't in game, but to provide all of this in game, they would need to recreate the forums in game, which likely would not get used very often or at least would likely make information more fragmented. I never use the forums while I'm actually playing and I suspect this is true for most, especially those on consoles.

If I were on a ship tooling about, would I not just whip out my handheld galaxy-wide web device to communicate with other CMDRs and view content/knowledge shared by others? Isn't that what I'm doing with my phone? Do we really want them to recreate facebook, forums, and youtube in game?

It would be funny if they just created a new menu for "in game" tools that just launched browsers to access forums/youtube.

Actually, that would be only sane solution.

 

[Quester91]

Reddit.

Or as I've taken to calling the game, Elite Redditerous.

Meh, it's very hard to catch up with the story just by reading reddit. All the important threads are watered down and hidden behind a shower of planet rings screenshots, "Fdevs, we need.." threads, people letting us know their siblings enjoy the game as much as they do, and pics of their dogs/cats/iguanas with the title "Meet my first officer/copilot".

Obsidian ant is where the lore is. That's it, really.
Everything else is just sugar on top.

 

[Oaktree]

I use Youtube and this Forum. Occasionally Reddit, but im not a big fan! I also read the Galnet news when i start the game or with the GalnetNews app on my phone.

People with Elite need to use their imagination a bit. For example, sometimes i pretend that my commander is using the equivalent of this forum and youtube in 3303 to keep in touch with other commanders and galactic events. Like if in 3303 there's a tool that resembles old XXI century internet that my cmdr uses to share knowledge with other cmdrs. Pretty cool if you think about it!

 

[Ian Skippy]

So, as I've stated in other threads before (perhaps I'm starting to beat a dead horse) I am a relatively new player and am having a good time with the game overall. While this game definitely has some flaws here and there, I really only have one major issue that I'm finding hard to overcome. The fact that so much of this games story takes place outside of the game really really irritates me. I just can't help it. Is it so odd to want to experience story in-game? I found myself thinking today "what if a major discovery is made sometime again in the game (like the alien base), guess I'll have to keep checking on youtube". I hate that. Maybe I am missing something but I have looked up how some of the older major stories in the game have unfolded and they seemed to have mostly taken place outside the game.

I heard about the Formadine Rift through one of ObsidinAnant videos and figured that there must be something in game about something so significant. Nope, can't find anything. I ask this only partially sarcastically, but just how many social media accounts will I need to experience the story in the game. Will I need a frakking snapchat? Does Frontier send story clues in snapchat too? I just can't...even. How is it that they can create a realistic recreation of the Milky Way Galaxy but no one ever thought it might be a good idea to have some in game tools and info. I know practically nothing about game design but for gods sake, it can't be that frakking difficult. Again, I'm new, maybe there's more in game that I will uncover and whatnot and I am misunderstanding. Maybe eventually, I'll just accept this as part of the game. As it stands right now, this is literally the ONLY thing that really bothers me about the game.

None, reposting:

It tells you even in which system it is. You can read where the thargoids are, where the wrecked ships are, where attacked megaships are, who the main characters are. Its only a few mini-articles per week, you can even read them in supercruise when you have nothing to do, and it tells you most you need to now. Soon you dont even have to read if you dont want to as you can listen to it in-game. If you dont know: its on the left panel->galactic powers->galnet. Mini stories can be found in the 'heralds' in station. Make sure to check them for the rare one-off mission

 

[conceit]

Does the forum count as "social media"? If so, one, if not, none. I've never followed going-ons on twitter, reddit, facebook, youtube, whatever.

I just read galnet and the forums, and that does it for me. For example, you mention ObsidianAnt for the Formidine Rift... the FR thread is here, if you want history the front-page (if curated right) should have everything you need to know, or links to it, otherwise just go to the last page and check in now and then.

I really think you should follow your forum link given and try to read it with the eyes of a beginner. The guys there did some great work, but if you have just an idea of what Formidline Rift is about, you are lost and thrown out even with the summary post. After some greeting words it stars with

"These are, to the best of my knowledge, the activities currently underway:

Search of EAFOTS for ELWs with beacons or some other indication that they're special - my apologies to the CMDR who has been keeping a log of scanned systems: I can't remember your name so I can't link you here
Search of systems in the vicinity of the Zurara for 'special' ELWs
Search of systems around 46 Eridani for reasons for Salome to have started her 'run' there
Search of systems around Col 70 Sector for 'something weird'
Search of the Bubble for local Galnet/Listening Post clues
"

Where exactly do you see a starting point here? I don't even get what you mean by "go to the last page and check in now and then", as nothing of this was found on this epic long thread. I wish I could try forum search by now, but it's offline because of DB maintenance atm.