The Community

Lots of talk about The Community in online games these days. In fact, The Community is so important game developers employ Community Managers.

There are many large, medium and small player groups that have formed organically around Elite: Dangerous. Sharing experiences together. Transcending barriers such as geographic location, age, language, physicality, and pandemic related lock downs. Working towards common goals. Forming friendships that truly transcend the game world.

Odyssey is Elite Dangerous's biggest ever content update, and we are now unfortunately about to fracture The Community by breaking them into groups of those that can play Odyssey, and those that cannot, not out of choice, but due to a decision that has been intentionally made (whatever the reasons - a different discussion). Those that cannot will sit on the side-lines, watching, while all of the "Firsts" and "New Experiences" get played out directly in front of them, but from behind a perspex screen that they are unable to interact with in any meaningful way. In view, but just out of reach.

Perhaps The Community is not as important as we think it is? But I personally don't think that's true.

My ask is this: Please don't split The Community up. Release Odyssey on PC first by all means. Have testing periods on PC, but don't release it in Production until all of The Community can be involved, at least, those that want to. Not doing so I fear will irrecoverably damage some of the wonderful Communities that have grown around this amazing game.

Right on CMDRs!

o7
 
Lots of talk about The Community in online games these days. In fact, The Community is so important game developers employ Community Managers.

There are many large, medium and small player groups that have formed organically around Elite: Dangerous. Sharing experiences together. Transcending barriers such as geographic location, age, language, physicality, and pandemic related lock downs. Working towards common goals. Forming friendships that truly transcend the game world.

Odyssey is Elite Dangerous's biggest ever content update, and we are now unfortunately about to fracture The Community by breaking them into groups of those that can play Odyssey, and those that cannot, not out of choice, but due to a decision that has been intentionally made (whatever the reasons - a different discussion). Those that cannot will sit on the side-lines, watching, while all of the "Firsts" and "New Experiences" get played out directly in front of them, but from behind a perspex screen that they are unable to interact with in any meaningful way. In view, but just out of reach.

Perhaps The Community is not as important as we think it is? But I personally don't think that's true.

My ask is this: Please don't split The Community up. Release Odyssey on PC first by all means. Have testing periods on PC, but don't release it in Production until all of The Community can be involved, at least, those that want to. Not doing so I fear will irrecoverably damage some of the wonderful Communities that have grown around this amazing game.

Right on CMDRs!

o7

I agree with this 100%, do not fracture the community, Many pilots fly on the console versions of this game for many reasons and many player groups have formed via this. My Faction has players from both Console and PC and we have a nice community forming. Release the update on all systems at the same time, feel free to put things in beta on PC but do not shaft loyal customers because they don't have the game on PC.
 
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There are many legitimate reasons to delay a game (and this game has had a lot of delays over the years) but delaying on pc because console versions are not ready is definitely not one of them imo.

Games or Game DLCs regularly have a launch advantage on 1 platform over another - indeed Sony and MS often pay for the privalege. ED started life as a pc only game it isn't that surprising it is lead platform imo.
 
But couldn't the same argument be used, that release be delayed for an indefinite period, because some players couldn't afford the DLC on release day? With the ravages of the Pandemic bringing about massive job loss in the UK (I assume other countries are similarly suffering too) the money for a game expansion could be very low priority!

As we don't even know how many existing players will buy Odyssey when it does release 'The Community' is likely to still be fractured 🤷‍♂️
(Remember that the takeup for Horizons was only around 50% until it was given away free recently!)

Disclaimer: I have already pre-ordered alpha on 1 account and normal Odyssey on another, I also have a PS4 with ED installed.
 
There are many legitimate reasons to delay a game (and this game has had a lot of delays over the years) but delaying on pc because console versions are not ready is definitely not one of them imo.

Games or Game DLCs regularly have a launch advantage on 1 platform over another - indeed Sony and MS often pay for the privalege. ED started life as a pc only game it isn't that surprising it is lead platform imo.

I suppose what you're saying is you don't think the community is that important. While that may be true for you, it's not for me. Solidarity. We are One!
 
I suppose what you're saying is you don't think the community is that important. While that may be true for you, it's not for me. Solidarity. We are One!
Regardless of whether we are important or not is irrelevant. It is just that if the game is ready on 1 platform but not another it makes zero sense to delay on the one it is ready for.... Esp is they are not getting any sweet Sony or MS money to do it.
 
I don't see different release dates as particularly harmful, but I'd really like to see crossplay. In a game that wants to exphasise multiplayer in a 1:1 simulation of the milky way, this feels vital.
 

Deleted member 182079

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Console users should be well used to split user bases. How many versions exist now of PS4's/Xboxes? I've lost count.

Normally no cross play between those two either afaik.
 
coming from xbox I don't see it myself, one of the big draws for me back in the release was that is could be played individually at a time when games were pushing multiplayer and co-op

the community side of it for me is here in these forums not in-game

the more the day's gone on the more it makes sense to me to delay and do it they way they have, the annoyance now is in the fact that this was not an overnight decision but something that has been planned for a while, at the very least someone knew when that trading statement article went out this morning
 
coming from xbox I don't see it myself, one of the big draws for me back in the release was that is could be played individually at a time when games were pushing multiplayer and co-op

the community side of it for me is here in these forums not in-game

Of course that is your choice and how you choose to play. However we can celebrate many examples of how important a Community feel is to lots of players of this game, on this very forum, and in the weekly streams that Frontier's Community Managers do every week.

I for one believe the game would be nothing without The Community behind it.
 
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