The obscurity of our beloved hobby...

[Deleted member 182079]

Same in my friendship-hemisphere. They all grew out of video-gaming. Why not me? I wonder myself sometimes either. Maybe the fact that I play video-games since I left my diapers, started with PacMan, Pitfall and Space-Invaders on an Atari 2600. Then I was an apprentice salesperson for videogames and after my service in the German AirForce I went into shiftworking jobs and had almost no social contacts due to working-times. So I still stick into video games. And my spleen for simulations of any kind was there since I layed my hands on Elite '84.
Yeah, maybe a bit of nostalgia, but not the only reason I hold the Elite-Banner high.

I started around the same time (or perhaps, more the same types of games) - first ever game experience was Frogger on a VCS 2600 at a friend's place. Then C64 (including the OG Elite) and onwards to Mega Drive, Playstation 1-3, various Playstation portables, and ultimately back to PC gaming now (can't see myself buying a console again).

I recently chatted to a guy in my age (early 40s) and he only plays Plants vs Zombies. His son is almost exclusively playing FIFA and Fortnite. So quite different to my gaming 'career' and it's difficult to converse about gaming in any deeper sort of way because I have little interest in bland MP franchises and mobile games, and presumably the same the other way around (I did mention Elite but judging from their facial expression, or lack thereof, didn't bother going into more detail).

I'm also quite deep into retro gaming still (Raspberry Pi has all my needs covered), again nobody IRL to play together as my wife has zero interest in gaming beyond Solitaire on her laptop and my only nerd friend is more interested in hardware and programming. So yeah, I do feel like I'm the one who's not normal and still catch myself not discussing my hobby for fear of being seen as a manchild. Which is silly because gaming is rivalling other media in terms of popularity now but I still feel there's a certain stigma involved.

 

[M00ka]

* LAN parties were invented before we had the Internet, to spend time together playing games.
One had to physically carry his PC to another location, and link them via an obscure system
called local area net, which is WLAN but with cables. Pure madness

God LAN parties, that brings back memories:

1. Would spent the first hour trying to get everyone's computer working
2. Lots of swearing, telling of tall tales and normally very unrealistic tales of conquests with members of the opposite sex (hey we were teenagers lol)
3. Someone would always forget a cable and expect everyone else to have spares
4. Even though the agreed games would be confirmed before hand, there was always that one person who suddenly wanted to play game 'x' and no other game (normally only because he knew others didn't play it).
5. Way too much beer and pizza consumed
6. Someone always over indulged on said beer and pizza
7. Someone always had to leave early, normally just when things were getting interesting
8. There was always that one guy who called everyone cheaters if he got beaten
9. There was always that small core of people who took things so damn seriously, organised and timed toilet breaks, no eating or drinking at the tables - they normally got beer poured over them and pizza crusts thrown at them

Kind of sad to realise kids of today will never experience the fun of a good LAN party, especially those that started on a Friday night and finished on a Sunday afternoon !

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

I only have a friend that still plays videogames and he's only playing Doom 2 (with modern remakes and add-ons).
Even my nerd friends don't play videogames, they spend time studying and attending intellectual courses (story of cinema, photography, chess). Some is addicted with sport and mountain trekking.
Other guys, I don't know what they do in their free time but they don't play videogames because for them PC=Work (cad, office and mails).
So yes, we're the niche of a niche.

But I feel pride of myself because when Earth will be doomed and an empty Asp will misteriously land next to my house I will be able to save my family and bring them far away from here

 

[Old Duck]

God LAN parties, that brings back memories:
....
* Way too much beer and pizza consumed

Speaking of memories, a friend hosted a LAN party years ago for 2v2 all-day Command & Conqueror war. He cooks* us pizza, and as soon as our hands are full of pizza and Cola, he launches his attack against us! Rotten scoundrel...

* or ordered out, I can't recall the specifics...

 

[Friedenreich Xante]

I can't even remember how I stubled upon this game, as I haven't played any previous verions. I mean, I love space games, but only own a few. And indeed, I don't know anyone else who seems to even know about ED. Maybe my computer is the wardrobe to Narnia, only place this game exists. There are still thousands playing this game but only there. You all don't exist IRL, right?

This reminds me, I'll have to try to reach this forum from another computer someday, just to be sure...

Seriously, I think this games requires a very special kind of gamer. Not better than any other gamer, but with a special kind of dedication. Some masochist looking for grind, and individualist, looking for solitude, and of course a space enthusiast, subdued by the call of the black, baffled by the vastness of the universe. And a sandbox player, of course.

 

[M00ka]

Speaking of memories, a friend hosted a LAN party years ago for 2v2 all-day Command & Conqueror war. He cooks us pizza, and as soon as our hands and mouths are full of pizza slices, he launches his attack against us! Rotten scoundrel...

Now that takes planning and dedication - I like his style

Although I wonder if he found bits if pizza under the sofa and stuck into the air vents ….. hehe

 

[Craith]

Elite is just different to most games people nowadays play. It requires patience, you are not the hero but just one out of billions (even if you are definitely above average, being a CMDR after all).

I met another CMDR at a LARP-event, and a few of my RL friends play it on and off, but only one of them regularly.

 

[Astaran]

Yeah, I'm pretty much alone when it comes to Elite, too. My brother just sent me a Facebook message earlier today, saying that he reactivated his EVE Online account yet again (we've been playing EVE on and off since 2004, although I am done for good with the game by now). I tried to introduce him to Elite, since he's also into the old X-Games and other space games, but I can't make him stick around. I'm not really sure what's keeping him away from Elite though. Maybe it's the lack of "depth" in the economy, e.g. setting up production chains or building factories like in the X-Games. Or maybe it just doesn't "click" with him.

Another RL buddy has got Elite on his steam wishlist for ages, but never really goes as far as to buy and try it.

Elite really is a niche game, even among "Space nerds". It requires time and effort to learn properly and I think a lot of players don't have the time or patience for that investment. Either because of other commitments (job, family, other MMO games) or because they're from a different generation of gamers (often with the attention span of a drunken squirrel on LSD).

 

[M00ka]

The thing is Elite is rather an unique game. When you start you get thrown in the deepest of deep ends with an anchor tied around your ankles with no direction on which way is up or really what you are suppose to do. If you don't know to troll the 3rd party sites then you are often unsure of what to do, how to do it or why are you doing it/not doing it. Then you learn the most important lesson in that you can't really trust too many - sure not everyone will blow you up before shaking your hand but all it takes is one to shatter that trust thing.

But once you get past all that, and find your niche in the galaxy it can become the most time consuming, more immersive thing you have done on a computer, simple as that

 

[Rat Catcher]

I have been trying to persuade one of my friends to play ED for about a year, even offered to buy the game for him, but he is convinced it is too difficult for him to play - the learning curve is tough, but muscle memory take over quite quickly - but he will spend many happy hours on a couple of similarly complicated to control games.
The only upside so far is that he is now 'considering' getting the game, as both of us have 'retired' gaming time is not an issue, fingers crossed that he 'bites' and I get to join him in the starter system and can get him hooked.

I do have a couple of in-game friends in the UK so am not bleating, but to have someone I have known for 20+ years (and have enjoyed UT LAN Parties with) playing alongside me would add an entirely different perspective to everyday play... Although, with in-game chat active I'm sure that the censors would have a field day and our laughter would deafen our respective wives, dogs and family

 

[B1rdy]

Honestly though, I feel much the same - I have one friend who dipped his toes into Elite ("last seen 23 months ago"), but he's got short attention span when it comes to anything, and games even more so, thus I never saw him sticking to it for the long term. Nobody else I know plays Elite or has even heard of it - most are 'serious' people that don't 'have time' for pooter games, I feel like the only person in my circles who's still having the same hobby for the past 30 odd years.

I know those kind of pretentious people, they either "transcended" and their husband is their hobby now or, although they deny it, they are actually still playing games, but moved to silly mobile games.

 

[Alec Turner]

Interesting thread. Elite is definitely niche. I'm here because of two reasons.

1) I played (and adored) 1984 Elite on the BBC
2) My mate at work here (who played Elite on the Spectrum) told me about it (I was completely unaware of the Elite: Dangerous kickstarter until late 2014)
That makes me and my mate (like a lot of ED players) pretty old as enthuasiastic present day gamers go.

I'd be really curious to know what got players who aren't from the generation of gamers for whom original Elite was a landmark moment (as culturally important to us as seeing Star Wars IV in the cinema) into the game? I'm guessing there's a bunch of VR enthuasiasts (where Elite is, or was, spoken of very highly in the last few formative years). And I'm guessing there's quite a few astronomy nerds who've heard about it through their own grapevines. But what about the others?

If you're one of these people (a youngish gamer who hadn't ever heard of Elite, and who didn't pick up the game via whispers in the VR or astronomy communities) - where did you hear about the game and what made you decide to give it a try?

 

[Red Anders]

Back when I started gaming in 1981, online gaming as we experience it today was science fiction itself before we even consider the content of the games. It's been an interesting ride getting from there to here.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Back when I started gaming in 1981, online gaming as we experience it today was science fiction itself before we even consider the content of the games. It's been an interesting ride getting from there to here.

90% of modern gaming experiences would've blown my young mind back then. And going back to older games it's quite interesting to remember how many times our imagination had to fill in the blanks when playing certain games - I remember one C64 game programmed in BASIC that was basically the equivalent of Euro/American Truck Sim. Graphics were in ASCII/font entirely, and 'driving' the truck from A to B required following simple decision making trees with a bit of RNG involved via text input. Still loved it though back then.

It's a little bit of a shame that younger players take the existing technical standard for granted (same goes for game mechanics and depth). What a time to be alive eh.

 

[Eliza]

90% of modern gaming experiences would've blown my young mind back then. And going back to older games it's quite interesting to remember how many times our imagination had to fill in the blanks when playing certain games - I remember one C64 game programmed in BASIC that was basically the equivalent of Euro/American Truck Sim. Graphics were in ASCII/font entirely, and 'driving' the truck from A to B required following simple decision making trees with a bit of RNG involved via text input. Still loved it though back then.

It's a little bit of a shame that younger players take the existing technical standard for granted (same goes for game mechanics and depth). What a time to be alive eh.

Maybe that's exactly the reason why the "younger ones" experience ED so "dull". They didn't experience the beginning of it all. Still I'm astouned of the wonders the gaming industry produces nowadays.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I first played 'Dungeon Adventure' on a mainframe that lived in a huge air-conditioned room back in the mid-70's...
Then Elite on both BBC-B and Atari ST in the 80's (and a multitude of Adventure / Role-play games since) and happily remember VoodooFX graphics cards & Wolfenstein3D / Doom / Quake and being astonished at the graphics...

Now we have games with photo-realistic graphics that are a bit like playing in a movie, VR getting better every year... If only I was 30 years younger... (but then I'd be working for a living and playing a lot less... hmmm )

 

[Nasc]

Always enjoy obscurity while it lasts. You never know how wonderful it is until it's gone.
Used to live in a lovely place with a lot of abandoned old structures nearby. It was great for a peaceful walk and unique scenery.
Then came the urban explorers. Them and their oh so quirky tendencies showing up like rats that scream out in the middle of the night and leave bundles of trash when they're done.

Many things are nicer when quieter.

 

[Simplystyc]

Sure the game is niche. Although the community is very tight knit and It's awesome when you find someone who lives close to you that plays.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

We're not outliers or anything of that ilk.

Elite is just very much a Rube Goldberg Multi-role game that has a very focused appeal.

I can name on one hand the number of people I have introduced to Elite that stayed beyond the first few hours.
I cannot begin to list the number of people who, after the first hour or less said "No way."

Elite is incredibly over-complicated, with little to nothing to offer in return. There is no "end game", there's no story to follow, there's no light at the end of the tunnel - hell, there's not even a tunnel. In many ways Elite reminds of the time when I dated an exotic dancer - delightful to look at, but below that amazing surface it was a nightmare.

We've got some very sharp divisions within the community as well, some of which won't even agree to disagree, a learning curve that rises at 90 degrees, and all for what?

At the end of the day, for nothing, because nothing we, as players do, actually matters. We can move some imaginary lines on the map around, but that's it, and there's nothing different on one side of those imaginary lines than on the other.

Yet, for some reason only each of us can know, we keep at it, and we enjoy it.

And someone is either going to "get it" or they won't. If you "get it", great, welcome to Elite, enjoy. If you don't, we get it - you'll be happier doing something else, and that's fine too.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Oh the talk of LAN parties....had quite a few with workmates, mainly Diablo (flipping awesome) WHEN we could get everything to work. 10 base T and all that doohickery. Lot's of:
PC A "can you see me?"
PC B "I can see the others not you"
PC C "I can see you, but not the others"
PC D "I can't bleeping see anyone"

Set aside 4 hours to play games and spend 3 hours getting the network working properly!! Fun times.

Personally I'm actually sad at the state of modern gaming, it's all so generic now with very few innovations in any area except graphics quality, story teling is crap or nonexistant, over emphasis on mindless killing other players.

My biggest dream was a Star Wars game like XWing+TIE Fighter series with modern graphics, I play Battlefront 2 the graphics astound me (I'm IN Star Wars!) the gameplay is soulless and awful.