So.... LEP content... When?

[Archvillain]

Two expectations I had when I bought the LEP:
1. I would get the future expansions at no further cost. So far FDev has always delivered on this and will presumably continue to do so.
2. There was a reasonably strong likelyhood that a LEP (2nd round) would not be cheaper than buying all future expansions full price (and almost no chance it would be cheaper than buying all future expansions on sale.)

Other people clearly had other expectations for the LEP. If you are one, perhaps there is solace in two more expectations I have:
1. The fact that so many updates have been at no further cost to all players suggests that to some extent at least the Frontier Store works, which in turn suggests that Elite development might be somewhat more stable for the long run than many games, which in turn suggest there will be many years of expansions yet to come, plenty of time for that LEP to pay off.
2. Elite is important to Braben. It's not exactly his baby, but it's something, and part of his life's work and legacy. I think that if Elite eventually falls on hard times, at the point where other publishers would pull the plug, he would likely push to accept some (limited) losses as the price to keep it alive longer. That's a second longevity advantage that most games do not have.

All of that adds up to a likelyhood of many more years of development, years and years for the LEP to deliver ever more and more value. I got the LEP for a LIFETIME and this is barely year 4
(Personally I think it's fine if others enjoy free content if it makes business sense for FDev. I paid for a guarantee of All The Things, and that's what I'm getting. If fellow players without LEP are getting a great deal on content, good for them! If fellow players are getting that great deal in part because people like us helped build the foundation, then you're welcome! I understand the frustration that the LEP hasn't purchased very much so far in terms of dollar-equivalence, but I feel that I'm getting everything that I signed up for, plus some bonuses I didn't expect, and that there is still a long road ahead!

 

[Drelthar]

Base game and betas included in LEP, in addition to Horizons, is not an opinion but rather a matter of record though.

Kind of is as many already paid full price for the base game, then £120 for the Lifetime expansion pass.

Betas aren't expansions.

So far, over three years, LEP holders gained no more expansions over the games lifetime than horizons, which was considerably cheaper than £120.

 

[Drelthar]

This is how I (mistakenly in hindsight) calculated things:

1. I bought the base game in December 2014 for £40.
2. Horizons was announced in August (?) 2015. I think it was £30 to existing players, or £40 with beta access.
3. Horizons was, or so it seemed, planned as a year of content. I made this assumption on the basis of FDev announcing the 4 Horizon releases in Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. I know some people contend this, but this is what I read at the time. I wasn't the only one to assume Horizons would be about a year of content (2016).
4. So I figured that if I paid £120 for the LEP, that would be £40 for Horizons (with beta access) and I'd be £80 down. For a shortish while.
5. So on the basis of assumption (3) I calculated that the next release, sometime in 2017, would be another £40, and I'd only be £40 down.
6. Given this assumed pace I figured I'd probably break even by 2018 or 2019. And it might help FDev out by paying in advance.

Now then, don't shoot me. These were my assumptions. I'm not complaining, merely stating what I thought. I was wrong. I'm OK with that.

Now here's the thing. What I hadn't considered was that I might not actually want to play Elite: Dangerous for a "lifetime". As we approach 2019, I'm not sure whether I do or not. So, in hindsight, I would have been better not to have chosen the LEP.

As I said, this is not a complaint. Just trying to explain how these things happen. One makes decisions on the basis of the information one has at the time. I think the biggest mistake I made was assumption (3) above. Maybe others made the same assumption. Yes, I know it's a gamble with these things.

But hey ho.

These seem like reasonable assumptions which would be unreasonable to call baseless.

 

[Eymerich]

Was sarcastic in case you missed

 

[xondk]

Well OA, is 'next to nothing' close enough?

I don't get this attitude, you've gotten stuff already in regards to it, and everything in the future that will be paid, you will get, that is exactly what you paid for, there is no time horizon on when they should or shouldn't release such things, but when they do, you will get it, so calm down, and simply enjoy the fact that when paid content emerges, you'll get it.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I thought that the LEP was only about the big updates like "Horizons" or now the new "Era".

I did not imagine that LEP could also contain other things.

This is good news if there is (one day) small additional contents next to the big updates.

 

[1984]

LEP was misold.

 

[bitstorm]

I don't get this attitude, you've gotten stuff already in regards to it, and everything in the future that will be paid, you will get, that is exactly what you paid for, there is no time horizon on when they should or shouldn't release such things, but when they do, you will get it, so calm down, and simply enjoy the fact that when paid content emerges, you'll get it.

The LEP has delivered nothing beyond what you'd have got had you bought Horizons + beta.

In that respect it has delivered zero, there has been no value in buying the LEP.

It's as I said earlier Frontier do not give a monkeys about making good on the LEP, because they could have easily offered some value if they felt that was important.

From their point of view, taking the LEP money was all that was required from them, delivering is irrelevant, they will only deliver if it suits them to do so and we have seen talk of paid content now ONLY because it suits them.

I think Frontier can be thankful they have such a passionate fanbase and so are able to get away with this, if it were any other games company where the fans hadn't been invested for 30 odd years, I think the backlash would be much greater.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

The LEP has delivered nothing beyond what you'd have got had you bought Horizons + beta.

In that respect it has delivered zero, there has been no value in buying the LEP.

It's as I said earlier Frontier do not give a monkeys about making good on the LEP, because they could have easily offered some value if they felt that was important.

From their point of view, taking the LEP money was all that was required from them, delivering is irrelevant, they will only deliver if it suits them to do so and we have seen talk of paid content now ONLY because it suits them.

I think Frontier can be thankful they have such a passionate fanbase and so are able to get away with this, if it were any other games company where the fans hadn't been invested for 30 odd years, I think the backlash would be much greater.

The LEP is not about getting extras that nobody else can get. So when the new paid for DLC comes out it will have delivered nothing beyond what you would have got if you bought the main game, horizons and the new paid for expansion.

Well, yes, that is the purpose of the LEP, the difference is that you do not have to pay for them seperately and hopefully at the end of the lifetime of the game you will have had all the paid for DLCs cheaper then if you paid for them seperately. The LEP was never about getting exclusive goodies just for LEP owners.

 

[Dommarraa]

LEP was misold.

No, it wasnt miss-sold, its just that their plans have changed since they sold it.
What they have done, is not properly consider LEP when changing the plans.
After all these years they really should (and could) have produced some minimal chargable DLC (e.g Alliance Membership - Allows ranking and access to the Alliance Ships), or at the VERY LEAST, sent out an email explaining their new position regarding LEP. Leaving it to LEP owners to repeatedly ask for information on the Forums is not good enough.

 

[xondk]

The LEP has delivered nothing beyond what you'd have got had you bought Horizons + beta.

In that respect it has delivered zero, there has been no value in buying the LEP.

It's as I said earlier Frontier do not give a monkeys about making good on the LEP, because they could have easily offered some value if they felt that was important.

From their point of view, taking the LEP money was all that was required from them, delivering is irrelevant, they will only deliver if it suits them to do so and we have seen talk of paid content now ONLY because it suits them.

I think Frontier can be thankful they have such a passionate fanbase and so are able to get away with this, if it were any other games company where the fans hadn't been invested for 30 odd years, I think the backlash would be much greater.

Wait wait.
"Lep has delivered nothing beyond what paid content others paid for"...

That is EXACTLY what it is supposed to do, that is what you paid for, you didn't pay to get a special treatment because you are LEP, you got a super cheap get all paid content, that's it, and that is what it is, frontier doesn't need to 'make good' on LEP, because they already have, they do not need to 'offer' LEP anything special because that is not what LEP is.

They aren't "taking" LEP money, they are giving you EXACTLY what you bought, geezes seriously, it seems you want special treatment because you got a good offer? but that is not what it is about, you are not above normal players in any way shape or form, you preordered ALL paid content at a fixed price, that is your choice and exactly how it was described.

 

[xondk]

No, it wasnt miss-sold, its just that their plans have changed since they sold it.
What they have done, is not properly consider LEP when changing the plans.
After all these years they really should (and could) have produced some minimal chargable DLC (e.g Alliance Membership - Allows ranking and access to the Alliance Ships), or at the VERY LEAST, sent out an email explaining their new position regarding LEP. Leaving it to LEP owners to repeatedly ask for information on the Forums is not good enough.

They changed their plans, sure, but this does in no way shape or form change anything in relation to LEP, nor should they 'do' anything special for LEP.

LEP means.
NONE LP user: buys main game -> buys expansion -> buys expansion -> buys expansion
LP USER: buys LP with main game -> get expansion -> get expansion -> get expansion

The fact that they added a season (effectively extending horizon) for free does not in any shape way or form affect LEP negatively, they are normal players, that simply have pre paid for what is to come.



To the direct thread topic:
There is no "LP content" there was never meant to be LP specific content, you are not a higher tier player in any way shape or form, that is not what LEP is about if you believed that, then YOU made a mistake, not frontier, own up to that.

 

[Frank Craft]

For me the LEP issue is really quite simple if I put it into financial terms:

1. If I had paid £40 for Horizons I would have got all Horizons content including Beyond.
2. Paying £120 for the LEP also gets me the same content as in (1)

So, at this point I'm £80 down.

Once FDev delivers new paid content, my deficit decreases and I grow happier. It's just taking a little longer than I anticipated.

That's all there is to it.

 

[xondk]

For me the LEP issue is really quite simple if I put it into financial terms:

1. If I had paid £40 for Horizons I would have got all Horizons content including Beyond.
2. Paying £120 for the LEP also gets me the same content as in (1)

So, at this point I'm £80 down.

Once FDev delivers new paid content, my deficit decreases and I grow happier. It's just taking a little longer than I anticipated.

That's all there is to it.

Skipping original game?

So what you've gotten is original game + horizon? not just horizon.

And yeah, it might take some time, but you knew that buying the LEP, you knew you were paid for things yet to be released.

 

[Frank Craft]

Skipping original game?

So what you've gotten is original game + horizon? not just horizon.

No. The original game was £40. I paid £120 on top of that.

And yeah, it might take some time, but you knew that buying the LEP, you knew you were paid for things yet to be released.

Well, yes, which I why I said exactly that in my post and the post before that. That is exactly the point of my post. You really should do your research before posting.

 

[bitstorm]

The LEP is not about getting extras that nobody else can get.

Nobody ever said it was.

 

[bitstorm]

For me the LEP issue is really quite simple if I put it into financial terms:

1. If I had paid £40 for Horizons I would have got all Horizons content including Beyond.
2. Paying £120 for the LEP also gets me the same content as in (1)

So, at this point I'm £80 down.

It's hard to understand why people seem so confused by this.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Nobody ever said it was.

Certainly looked like that was what you were saying in your post. Maybe you need to look at how you have written it.

 

[bitstorm]

Certainly looked like that was what you were saying in your post. Maybe you need to look at how you have written it.

I don't understand where the confusion is. I can correct the post if you can tell me where.

 

[Iron Golem]

This is how I (mistakenly in hindsight) calculated things:

1. I bought the base game in December 2014 for £40.
2. Horizons was announced in August (?) 2015. I think it was £30 to existing players, or £40 with beta access.
3. Horizons was, or so it seemed, planned as a year of content. I made this assumption on the basis of FDev announcing the 4 Horizon releases in Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. I know some people contend this, but this is what I read at the time. I wasn't the only one to assume Horizons would be about a year of content (2016).
4. So I figured that if I paid £120 for the LEP, that would be £40 for Horizons (with beta access) and I'd be £80 down. For a shortish while.
5. So on the basis of assumption (3) I calculated that the next release, sometime in 2017, would be another £40, and I'd only be £40 down.
6. Given this assumed pace I figured I'd probably break even by 2018 or 2019. And it might help FDev out by paying in advance.

Now then, don't shoot me. These were my assumptions. I'm not complaining, merely stating what I thought. I was wrong. I'm OK with that.

Now here's the thing. What I hadn't considered was that I might not actually want to play Elite: Dangerous for a "lifetime". As we approach 2019, I'm not sure whether I do or not. So, in hindsight, I would have been better not to have chosen the LEP.

As I said, this is not a complaint. Just trying to explain how these things happen. One makes decisions on the basis of the information one has at the time. I think the biggest mistake I made was assumption (3) above. Maybe others made the same assumption. Yes, I know it's a gamble with these things.

But hey ho.

Most games that gave LEP give you at least a expansion a year, I think your expectations were perfectly reasonable. Half a decade per expansion should be pretty pathetic in anybody's book. Everyone telling LEP owners to be patient... lmao. I wouldn't be suprised if some people died while waiting for premium content.

If I was FD I would be embarrassed.

I think all the outrage can be linked to the simple fact that selling a LEP implies there will be heavy development and expansion on said product and there wasnt any. Just now being ramped up and maybe pursued. Of course people are peed off.