Suggestions: Immersion, Tutorials, Storyline

[Danial]

Greetings all.


Im a newcomer to the elite universe. I thought I would post this here instead of the newbie forums because it is a list of suggestions that would (in my own mind) help the game. Before I list them, I have noticed a lot of hostility when a newcomer posts suggestions. I am going to try and make this as constructive as possible and I ask that anyone responding does the same.


A little bit about my experience in my first week playing the game. After running through the tutorial missions I fired up the game proper and launched for the first time...and promptly died while trying to exit the station. Humored, I again, and was this time successful. Since then I have completed a few dozen courier missions, mined an asteroid (err...I tried), and died several times to npc pirates and police. Im now sitting in a station with 4k in my wallet and my noob ship. HAHA!


Now on to the suggestions.


1 – Immersion
This suggestion really permeates everything in the game universe. It is not so much a suggestion as it is something which is necessary in order to make the universe feel real. It gives you a vested interest in what happens in the game world and allows you to suspend your disbelief for a time. Keeping in mind that the game world is not real we may look at what would make it feel as if it were;


2- Tutorials
For some reason whenever someone brings up in game tutorials people seem to suggest that it would be “holding your hand” or similar if there were in depth tutorials within the game itself. Yet I cannot see this thought as being true. As with anything which is complicated to operate, a spacecraft would only logically require training. That is, an environment and instruction which is conducive to learning how to properly operate the ship. It breaks the immersion of the game when it is assumed that the player knows how to operate the ship, and various interfaces correctly. This leads to frustration, anger, nerd-rage and a generally unwelcoming feeling.


A way to solve this would be, in my mind, to design a sort of pilot training course which one may opt in or out of if they wish. This training course would cover the basics of landing, taking off, using the maps and nav screens and explaining what the plethora of symbols used in the game mean.


I am aware that there are many (very good) tutorials on Youtube and similar sites which help players. But there is nothing that destroys the immersion experience more than having to tab out of the game frequently to learn the basic game mechanics.


3 – Mission depth/storyline
I think this may be a tricky one, but it only makes sense in such a highly political game. When I accept a mission, be it courier or combat, the context of the mission has virtually no meaning. I have noticed myself just taking whatever I can to make money and the mission itself means nothing more than the money/hour that I can get out of it. One of the great things games can offer us is the choice to make a decision would not normally make. Through the ingame missions, random and large scale events we can dive into the lore and story of the game world. I have not felt this is any of the missions or random encounters I have had.


Creating context, back story, the ability to choose a path and define our own sense of in game morality would all greatly enhance the player experience. Creating an interactivity between player and npc makes the game world seem a little less barren. There could be many many ways to enhance the missions in this game, it could be a whole thread on its own.


Summary

• create a greater sense of immersion for the players
  
• Build tutorials into the game as opt in pilot training courses
  
• add depth and feeling to the missions and random encounters.

Thank you to anyone from frontier who reads this post. You have made a great game, and I hope that it continues to grow in the future.

 

[Tiamat]

Before I list them, I have noticed a lot of hostility when a newcomer posts suggestions. I am going to try and make this as constructive as possible and I ask that anyone responding does the same.

I wouldn't say it is hostility as much as burnout. Those that have been here through alpha, beta and gamma have heard most of the suggestions so many times they fall right into "oh, not this again" mode which spurs memories of the arguments that have cropped up in the earlier threads. Some are fircely protective of the game and do tend to savage anybody suggesting ways of making it easier though I will give you that.

1 – Immersion
This suggestion really permeates everything in the game universe. It is not so much a suggestion as it is something which is necessary in order to make the universe feel real. It gives you a vested interest in what happens in the game world and allows you to suspend your disbelief for a time. Keeping in mind that the game world is not real we may look at what would make it feel as if it were;

This is one of the key aspects of the game that many don't "get" right away as it isn't immediately obvious. When you start grinding rep and becoming friendly with certain factions for example you are going to start taking sides and if you have one faction take over a system for example you aren't going to be happy if their opponents start fighting back after all that work you have done. That is just one example and if I am honest immersion is one of the things they have truly nailed in the game. I am interested to see what else they can come up with to improve this side of it though.

2- Tutorials
For some reason whenever someone brings up in game tutorials people seem to suggest that it would be “holding your hand” or similar if there were in depth tutorials within the game itself. Yet I cannot see this thought as being true. As with anything which is complicated to operate, a spacecraft would only logically require training. That is, an environment and instruction which is conducive to learning how to properly operate the ship. It breaks the immersion of the game when it is assumed that the player knows how to operate the ship, and various interfaces correctly. This leads to frustration, anger, nerd-rage and a generally unwelcoming feeling.

A way to solve this would be, in my mind, to design a sort of pilot training course which one may opt in or out of if they wish. This training course would cover the basics of landing, taking off, using the maps and nav screens and explaining what the plethora of symbols used in the game mean.

The tutorials are still a little rough but there does have to be a line somewhere that the tutorial stops. Many want the tutorials to literally show them every aspect of the game right down to "go here, but palladium, go here and sell" and at that point you aren't really playing the game you are just pushing buttons when told to. The resistance is something fairly unique to older gamers who remember the days where no games really held your hand and the wonder of discovery was a big part of it. These days many games have devolved into "push button when told" and many find it mildly insulting to be honest. AC4:Black Flag was a great example of this right at the beginning as once the intro was over there was a little green dot and a message telling me to swim there. "Really?" I thought, "that is literally the only place I can go and you actually feel the need to tell me?"

Between the tutorials and the manual I can't think of a single aspect of the game that is covered really. I sat and did the tutorials (back then there wasn't even a docking one) and then read through Forger's manual. I had very few questions left after that.

3 – Mission depth/storyline
I think this may be a tricky one, but it only makes sense in such a highly political game. When I accept a mission, be it courier or combat, the context of the mission has virtually no meaning. I have noticed myself just taking whatever I can to make money and the mission itself means nothing more than the money/hour that I can get out of it. One of the great things games can offer us is the choice to make a decision would not normally make. Through the ingame missions, random and large scale events we can dive into the lore and story of the game world. I have not felt this is any of the missions or random encounters I have had.

Creating context, back story, the ability to choose a path and define our own sense of in game morality would all greatly enhance the player experience. Creating an interactivity between player and npc makes the game world seem a little less barren. There could be many many ways to enhance the missions in this game, it could be a whole thread on its own.

This goes back to point 1 in that until you start getting friendly with factions and choosing who to back you haven't really got to this stage yet. The main storyline has only just begun and is, so far, isolated to a few select spots. Michael has already said that they intend to seed more storylines around the universe rather than just having 2-3 hotspots at once that all feed back into the main struggle for power between the 3 main factions as well as the many smaller power struggles. That said in ED you are one small cog in a very big machine rather than the hero and savior at the centre of the story like other games. Once wings are added I think it will help speed some of this along as a wing will be able to grind rep up faster. The Lugh experiment was a good example of this in action.

I'm glad you are enjoying the game so far but remember we have barely left the launch pad yet so a lot of what you are asking for is either on the way or you haven't got to that part yet. Those of us in beta knew the game mechanics fairly well so we are already seeing some of the stuff you will after you put a few more days in