FYI : contacted, Fdev support doesn't confirm or deny that Witch's Reach is narratively locked, even when mentioned that they did for Polaris and that it is only fair to the players to let them know what's arbitrarily obstructed and what's a mystery waiting to be solved.
So we are left with guessing what's in-game or not, what's mentioned only to give some depth to the lore and what's actually implemented.
They can't confirm if Raxxla is still in game and accessible, or if it has been dropped (if ever implemented) by the new teams.
For the records, many advertised game mechanics have not been released in the end or in different format so a quote by David Braben from 10 years ago is only worth so much.
Yes how true. And for context it is healthy to constantly remind ourselves of such an enigma as a control mechanism, it does enable us to widen our perspective.
Our acceptance on the existence of Raxxla being in game, is primarily based upon just this - acceptance that any series of arbitrary statements are in fact accurate.
First we must ask ourselves why would they refrain from confirmation of accessibility, but also think about this temporally, because things change over time, there is also context we may not be privy to.
DB stated at one point in time, it was in game. He could have meant it was narrative, so in game but not yet.
MB stated it was in game and had a location. He could have meant it was narrative, so in game but not yet.
The DW Missions may have tied to DB and MB statements, it may not have resolved into anything, they could have been a red herring, or they were environmental storytelling, linked to a narrative not yet written or a narrative long since dropped or paused.
AT statements about it being out there and the pay off being large are neither here nor there but as likely narrative.
BG hypothetical statements are neither here nor there.
AT confirmed FD has a modus operandi of narratively gating content.
All other statement’s are ultimately third hand and likewise the codex might only just be retroactive narrative foreshadowing.
FD may refuse to comment not out of fear of us finding it, because we are already looking, but maybe because it will undermine their planned narrative objectives; it might affirm their history of poor PR communication.
This is an unsatisfactory conclusion primarily because it paints FD in a bad light, showing they care little of players, allowing them to waste time tipping at windmills. Or it identifies they have a naive appreciation of the player base and are exploitative and capitalistic.
*edited: equally FD statements could have just been myth building, which ultimately was taken out of context.
The only positive statements are in my opinion are as follows and these are focused on being relative in time:
The existence of the codex is simply by its existence affirmation it is in game, simply because it provides new information never before seen. To insert such a thing is counterintuitive if false, and technically false advertising.
This content itself correlates (I accept hypothetically) to in game locations and when critically analysed against many of the third hand information, still accepting it may be unreliable, overall paints an interesting picture of something being in game.
This paints a more positive picture, and allows the possibility that FD sees Raxxla as a really cool and potentially big Easter egg which when found may or may not change something’s. This is additionally attractive because it gives the impression FD has resolve in sticking to their guns and has honour in holding such content back because they want the players to have this…
We have to admit there is a lot of evidence that points to it being potentially narratively gated, but equally it may not. Ultimately it’s a 50/50 maybe it is maybe it isn’t.
That’s why I quest to test these theories to ascertain where our resources are best placed, lest we end up wasting our time tipping at windmills. But I accept to some people that’s their idea of fun. It also has allowed me to shape my own play style and give certain actions additional meaning, especially within a game with limitations, maybe that’s FD objective too?
