I used to think so too, after the last video I have my doubts.I'm fully intending to buy pre-access to the T-8 and use it for BGS manipulation, hopefully forcing more players to support the game!
So . . . . Type 8 eh?
- Thread starter graeme.firth
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Same here. I don't like the imperial aesthetic either. Very Tron Kardashian. Loved the Type-8. Looks like a cargo ship pretending to be superman. Love it.
O7
V
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For in-game currency, more accurately.
Which may be earned by playing, or purchased for actual money.
I haven't seen the Python Mk II offered on the Frontier store for £XX.xx, only Arx, of course, it may have changed in the last day or so...
...so, unless the store has changed, it isn't a simple fact, not even any kind of fact.
You're right in that one can't directly buy the Python Mk2 for real-world cash, but those who opt not to pay for Arx using real money and instead earn it solely through gameplay are at a distinct disadvantage. To earn enough Arx from 0 to buy the basic package Python Mk2 for 16520 Arx would take over twenty weeks, including Legacy play which is a loophole that FDev could close at any time. If the Type-8 is to be released at a similar cost in Arx, then that's at least twenty more weeks. Twenty weeks is a significantly longer period of time than the three months it will take from the PMk2 being released to it being available to buy with credits.
Sure, many long-term players are likely to have significant reserves of Arx on hand. But between those Arx reserves being effectively devalued by the price rises in the Arx store, and the release of four new ships on the early access for Arx model, then many of those reserves are liable to be depleted before the new ships are all available to buy with credits.
On the other hand, one can just buy the required Arx and get the Python Mk2 right away, and the same for the Type-8 when it comes out in early access, which I'm betting it almost certainly will, along with the two other new ships.
A point that is conveniently missed on occasion
It is an option, and one which FD would certainly prefer us doing, rather than using 'saved up' Arx.
As I know one of my group will be getting the T-8 if Early Arx access happens (if?
) I can get opinions of it before emptying my Arx stash!Since I picked up ED in 2017 the game has only asked for additional funds for cosmetics purchase, rather than a subscription or other continuing expenses. I don't mind bunging a few pounds FD's way for new toys if I consider it worthwhile.
After all, there is nothing to 'win' in this game, no matter how the pedants try to phrase the purchase of assets (I can see no point in 'winning' BGS manipulation, temporarily, but some obviously consider it gameplay of importance)
I will boycott the T8 early access as I did with the P2, even though the T8 is more useful. Cosmetics yes, ships no.
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Theoretically yes
- live at 400 ARX/week = 5200 ARX in three months
- legacy at 400 ARX/week = 5200 ARX in three months
- Titan heart high contribution bonus = 400 ARX per heart which is not included in the cap ... so you need to get 16 of these. Each Titan has eight hearts and it's more likely than not that there'll be at least two further kill opportunities in the next three months
- Powerplay ARX bonus = ??? (screenshots from the preview stream suggest an extra 75 ARX per week might be practical this way for a sufficiently dedicated player, but this is all very subject to change, as is the exact date this starts to become available)
- Christmas ARX bonus = 0 (the Type 8 exclusivity period ends too soon for this to be relevant, but it'll knock a couple of thousand off the one after the Type 8)
If you mean "starting with 0 ARX now" rather than "happening to have exactly 0 ARX on the day the Type 8 goes on sale" then there's obviously some opportunity to get a few thousand ARX banked up front, which either shortens the time requirement or lets this hypothetical player sleep sometimes during Titan weeks.
Practically, of course, they're going to be hitting the 16800 [1] very close to the end of the three month period anyway, which does raise the question of "why bother?".
In practical terms, a more reasonable approach to getting the free ARX:
- 400/week from live only (and maybe miss or fall short some weeks, everyone needs a holiday)
- about 2000/year from the Christmas bonus (allows missing a day or two)
- let's say none from Thargoids/Powerplay (bonus if you do)
gives at least 20,000 ARX/year, which if they continue to release ships on a 4/year, 3 month early access process at 16800 ARX each would let you get one of them each year without giving Frontier £s for the ARX (and wait or pay up for the other three)
[1] Has it been confirmed that it'll have the same pricing? It's an obvious assumption but there's no reason for Frontier not to experiment with different price points to see which works best either.
Of course people will buy Arx to get their mitts on new ships, it is their choice, after all. Each of us decide what we wish to do with disposable income (if we have any!) and a tenner (£UK) is less than the price of a takeaway pizza...
I guess we wait & see if the T-8 is sold for Arx early access, if so, it would be a reasonable indicator that the P2 sales were good, demonstrating that players will part with their pennies to play with new toys now, rather than later.
Unlike your good self, I don't have an issue with players buying an asset early, if it keeps them playing, it can only benefit the game. Nothing amiss with your stance, it'd be dreadfully boring if we were all clones of eachother!
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I will quite possibly get the T8 for Arx especially as the new price structure and reduced content for paintjobs means I am unlikely to use the Arx I have left, the last time I bought Arx being over a year ago.
I'd be very surprised if it was.
Annual gross revenue for Elite Dangerous, based on investor presentations, is very roughly £6million in recent years, so monthly is about £500k (with ups and downs)
That's very roughly equivalent to 50,000 Python2s (assuming for simplicity that "part-paid with accumulated ARX" and "bought the deluxe" roughly cancel out)
That already feels very much on the high side - it's still "less popular than the Asp Scout" on Inara's stats (though catching up) and there wasn't a particularly large or long-lived boost to player activity measures when it released, but 50,000 would represent a substantial minority of all monthly active (PC) players. (~20 times recent CG participation, or ~5 Distant Worlds 2 expeditions, or ~100 full-sized squadrons, etc: a lot of sales)
50,000 wouldn't really be a big boost on an annual basis, less than that wouldn't even be a particularly big boost on a monthly basis. (And that's ignoring the possibility that people bought the Python2 instead of a cosmetic and so Frontier didn't actually get additional money from them)
I wouldn't expect it to make a noticeable difference to ED annual (or even monthly) revenue as a whole. On the other hand, "enough to cover the costs of developing it" is all it really needs to be a success and to continue the new-ships-for-cash model, and it probably did get enough sales to do that!
I didn't buy Python2 in any version either as I don't need it and don't know what to do with it.
I have an FDL for bombing Titan. But there is no analog of T8 in the game. So far it looks the best in its role, so I will definitely take it for ARXs. I'm not really interested in long-distance expeditions and it's not clear what I can spend ARXS on later.
I have an FDL for bombing Titan. But there is no analog of T8 in the game. So far it looks the best in its role, so I will definitely take it for ARXs. I'm not really interested in long-distance expeditions and it's not clear what I can spend ARXS on later.
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No way I'll let you see my beer & pizza outgoings...
Now that's something Frontier could have done (and could still do), give improved SCO capability to the Asp Scout. Give it a niche, which it currently doesn't have.
406t of cargo with a class 5 FSD, hmmm.
I just don’t understand how people expect FDev to make money, the game has been running for 10 years and you paid for it one time….
If you want the servers to stay up, you also want them to make money.
Anyway, in regards to the new ship, I have mixed feelings. I LOVE that it isn’t an airframe. Between this and the extraction packs, I really hope FDev is starting to at least give the option for more functional aesthetic.
That being said, when I looked at it, I knew what it was supposed to be, I immediately knew the semi truck/shipyard/industrial vibe they were going for. But all I could think was ‘what are those arms for? Why would you waste all that space in the structure?” Etc. So still feels like typical vibe-over-substance design, but… mostly just happy to have another ship that isn’t a space-plane.
If you want the servers to stay up, you also want them to make money.
Anyway, in regards to the new ship, I have mixed feelings. I LOVE that it isn’t an airframe. Between this and the extraction packs, I really hope FDev is starting to at least give the option for more functional aesthetic.
That being said, when I looked at it, I knew what it was supposed to be, I immediately knew the semi truck/shipyard/industrial vibe they were going for. But all I could think was ‘what are those arms for? Why would you waste all that space in the structure?” Etc. So still feels like typical vibe-over-substance design, but… mostly just happy to have another ship that isn’t a space-plane.