The Thargoid war must be going well with all the current commander contributions dispiste continuing to lose systems. I say that because I am not seeing any calls for AX pilots in game; the war posters or adverts have not shown up in stations across the bubble. Nobody is hiring Kumo crew to help defend systems. The usual in game churn seems to be in place and no chatter has picked up. The super powers still seem out to lunch; and nobody has risen to the top for calls to fight.
It would be really nice if you could make sure the on foot missions weren't broken. I like running missions, I find it relaxing, but when 4 out of 4 missions are bugged it really brakes your motivation.
O7 Cmdrs!
Are you enjoying the Thargoid War?
Yes, I do, or more accurately I was. I do appreciate that finally fighting around space stations and planetary stations became a thing, although it would have been much nicer if it was also working as intended. It's been ages since the SLFs are broken now, why?? Those things can be great fun, why are they still not patched after all this time? Not to mention that a lot of people invested a lot of time unlocking them.
Why do settlement reboot missions lead me to already rebooted settlements? Why are mission relevant items not spawning, why are scavenger kills not counted or the last one needed to fulfill the mission doesn't spawn or is underground (...again...)?
Anyways... the novelty quickly wore off though and I became bored again because, as has been mentioned here loads of times before, it's just more of the same old stuff and we've been doing that for plenty of years now. I DO like that the AX war systems are more dangerous with hyper- and interdictions and all the new modules that have been added to help out or lower the entry bar for AX combat. I also tried rescue missions but I find them too boring and tedious because of the now longer distances to the attacked stations, not to mention the single large landing pad on the Rescue Ships...
I seriously have to ask though, as we are now almost two years into Ody:
Why have there STILL not been any on-foot additions in terms of Guardian content? Thargoid content? (although if there is indeed on-foot Goid combat around the corner I would seriously hope the animations won't be as wooden as the human NPCs, that might really put me off...) Why can't we go and research the Proteus site or really anything new and cool on-foot? You know, exciting content for the 'new era'?
Any other cool, mysterious on-foot activities in terms of the current narrative?
Why are the on-foot settlements we are supposed to reboot squeaky clean instead of utterly drowned in Thargoid goo like the bigger planetary ports? A bit extra danger in terms of caustic puddles for the on-foot Cmdr would have been nice, to name an example.
Opening at least parts of the permit locked galactic regions to go there and research the Goid's origins etc would have been a nice addition for the explorers in the game as well (or any content for explorers, really.)
I also appreciate the introduction of cut scenes into the game very much but for the love of Fargod, please up the quality of these a notch or three. We know you can do better.
Are you motivated to engage in the gameplay associated with the war?
As mentioned before, I was but it's all a bit slow and samey. I'll keep dabbling in it now and then with a few squad mates though but there needs to be more gameplay that is not 'hauling stuff' and 'pew pew'.
As for the available ship missions, very much appreciated that you can earn materials now! Some mission targets seem a bit over the top though, say the Kill 8 Basilisks missions. Me and friends have been at it pretty rigourously and we know what we're doing. Finding more than ~4 Basis in an entire, evening long game session seemed to be bordering on the impossible. the increase in material reward for the reboot missions is also much appreciated.
I also tried finding the Orthrus variants. I tried for two evenings in what amounted to about 5 hours in total and managed to find exactly one. I gave up on that afterwards.
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about humanity's chances to win?
As the war narrative is currently presented there would be no reason to not be pessimistic. But as many others here I assume that we'll find some magic McGuffin to keep the Goids at bay. I'd love to see the bubble be completely overrun though. Exodus by FC sounds very cool in my mind.
What do you think of this direction for the narrative?
I like the direction, I enjoyed the whole Azimuth saga and so forth. But I think without actual new gameplay people will become bored of the war after a while. Not to speak of the casual players who just don't have the time to spend a few full days to get an engineered and combat ready ship plus spending 90 minutes to finish just one AX CZ (if it actually works and doesn't bug out).
And by gameplay I do NOT mean new grind! Seriously, if on-foot combat should ever arrive and I first need to spend another 30h+ time to grind out a new AX suit and corresponding weapons I'll probably just call it quits.
I'm interested in where this is all going and I'll shut up again now and will retreat back to my 'lurker' den
See you in the black!
(if we haven't put each other on the block lists for using the in-game assets called SLFs. . . . . )
Are you enjoying the Thargoid War?
Yes, I do, or more accurately I was. I do appreciate that finally fighting around space stations and planetary stations became a thing, although it would have been much nicer if it was also working as intended. It's been ages since the SLFs are broken now, why?? Those things can be great fun, why are they still not patched after all this time? Not to mention that a lot of people invested a lot of time unlocking them.
Why do settlement reboot missions lead me to already rebooted settlements? Why are mission relevant items not spawning, why are scavenger kills not counted or the last one needed to fulfill the mission doesn't spawn or is underground (...again...)?
Anyways... the novelty quickly wore off though and I became bored again because, as has been mentioned here loads of times before, it's just more of the same old stuff and we've been doing that for plenty of years now. I DO like that the AX war systems are more dangerous with hyper- and interdictions and all the new modules that have been added to help out or lower the entry bar for AX combat. I also tried rescue missions but I find them too boring and tedious because of the now longer distances to the attacked stations, not to mention the single large landing pad on the Rescue Ships...
I seriously have to ask though, as we are now almost two years into Ody:
Why have there STILL not been any on-foot additions in terms of Guardian content? Thargoid content? (although if there is indeed on-foot Goid combat around the corner I would seriously hope the animations won't be as wooden as the human NPCs, that might really put me off...) Why can't we go and research the Proteus site or really anything new and cool on-foot? You know, exciting content for the 'new era'?
Any other cool, mysterious on-foot activities in terms of the current narrative?
Why are the on-foot settlements we are supposed to reboot squeaky clean instead of utterly drowned in Thargoid goo like the bigger planetary ports? A bit extra danger in terms of caustic puddles for the on-foot Cmdr would have been nice, to name an example.
Opening at least parts of the permit locked galactic regions to go there and research the Goid's origins etc would have been a nice addition for the explorers in the game as well (or any content for explorers, really.)
I also appreciate the introduction of cut scenes into the game very much but for the love of Fargod, please up the quality of these a notch or three. We know you can do better.
Are you motivated to engage in the gameplay associated with the war?
As mentioned before, I was but it's all a bit slow and samey. I'll keep dabbling in it now and then with a few squad mates though but there needs to be more gameplay that is not 'hauling stuff' and 'pew pew'.
As for the available ship missions, very much appreciated that you can earn materials now! Some mission targets seem a bit over the top though, say the Kill 8 Basilisks missions. Me and friends have been at it pretty rigourously and we know what we're doing. Finding more than ~4 Basis in an entire, evening long game session seemed to be bordering on the impossible. the increase in material reward for the reboot missions is also much appreciated.
I also tried finding the Orthrus variants. I tried for two evenings in what amounted to about 5 hours in total and managed to find exactly one. I gave up on that afterwards.
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about humanity's chances to win?
As the war narrative is currently presented there would be no reason to not be pessimistic. But as many others here I assume that we'll find some magic McGuffin to keep the Goids at bay. I'd love to see the bubble be completely overrun though. Exodus by FC sounds very cool in my mind.
What do you think of this direction for the narrative?
I like the direction, I enjoyed the whole Azimuth saga and so forth. But I think without actual new gameplay people will become bored of the war after a while. Not to speak of the casual players who just don't have the time to spend a few full days to get an engineered and combat ready ship plus spending 90 minutes to finish just one AX CZ (if it actually works and doesn't bug out).
And by gameplay I do NOT mean new grind! Seriously, if on-foot combat should ever arrive and I first need to spend another 30h+ time to grind out a new AX suit and corresponding weapons I'll probably just call it quits.
I'm interested in where this is all going and I'll shut up again now and will retreat back to my 'lurker' den
See you in the black!
(if we haven't put each other on the block lists for using the in-game assets called SLFs. . . . . )
While It is simply a game and only destroying pixels, however at this time in from my personal circumstances where there are too many RL casualties and slaughter, I find it is unsuitable for me, Though I will probably participate at some time in the future, so for now I will carry on the normal exploration and delivery things to keep in touch with the game.
Bruce G
B
Hi everyone,
Thank you all for this feedback, it's been incredibly helpful. I'm going to draw a line here in terms of gathering this latest round of feedback to pass along to the dev team (the line must be drawn somewhere) and unstick the thread.
Please feel free to continue any discussions you have here that are ongoing. I will still be visiting from time to time to see how things are progressing.
Thank you all for this feedback, it's been incredibly helpful. I'm going to draw a line here in terms of gathering this latest round of feedback to pass along to the dev team (the line must be drawn somewhere) and unstick the thread.
Please feel free to continue any discussions you have here that are ongoing. I will still be visiting from time to time to see how things are progressing.
~3 million Thargoid living War Ships. Probably crewed by several Thargoids themselves (per FDEV concept).
Enjoying the war?
Well, I'm enjoying reading about it and hearing about it. Sounds like everyone's having fun.
Are you motivated to engage in the gameplay associated with the war?
Nah, not really. I'm a quiet studious type. I'd do some scientific stuff to help, maybe once I've got some money I may do a rescue mission or two, but I really don't like combat at all.
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about humanity's chances to win?
This is an interesting question, because if this was happening IRL I'd be happily soiling myself left right and centre, but as it's a game I can't see FDev trouncing the human race. If they start nibbling away at The Bubble and heading towards Sol, well... I'd feel a bit different if I felt that there were actual game rules in play and AI adapting to human/player behaviour. If FDev had announced "Right, we've got some AI governing Thargoid behaviour on a macro/srategic level, it could trounce you at this Galactic Chess game, we don't know...Good luck folks..." then that would get me wondering. As it is, without knowing thr rules/strategy the Thargoids are following, it just feels a little arbitrary atm.
What do you think of this direction for the narrative?
Fab, keep it going. Like I say, it's not something I'm really involved in, but while I'm out exploring it gives me something to listen to on GalNet, so it really feels as if something important is happening "over there".
Well, I'm enjoying reading about it and hearing about it. Sounds like everyone's having fun.
Are you motivated to engage in the gameplay associated with the war?
Nah, not really. I'm a quiet studious type. I'd do some scientific stuff to help, maybe once I've got some money I may do a rescue mission or two, but I really don't like combat at all.
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about humanity's chances to win?
This is an interesting question, because if this was happening IRL I'd be happily soiling myself left right and centre, but as it's a game I can't see FDev trouncing the human race. If they start nibbling away at The Bubble and heading towards Sol, well... I'd feel a bit different if I felt that there were actual game rules in play and AI adapting to human/player behaviour. If FDev had announced "Right, we've got some AI governing Thargoid behaviour on a macro/srategic level, it could trounce you at this Galactic Chess game, we don't know...Good luck folks..." then that would get me wondering. As it is, without knowing thr rules/strategy the Thargoids are following, it just feels a little arbitrary atm.
What do you think of this direction for the narrative?
Fab, keep it going. Like I say, it's not something I'm really involved in, but while I'm out exploring it gives me something to listen to on GalNet, so it really feels as if something important is happening "over there".
Any chance you can answer a quick question? Do tissue samples count for invasion systems? It says they do for alerts, but I am curious whether it's worth doing in invasions, and it's really hard to isolate.
Much appreciated!
I've been loving the Thargoid War so far. Excellent job on the game loops, in game feedback, narrative, and community involvement.
I have one suggestion though ...
The Caustic Sink, Enhanced Xeno Scanner, and Sirius Heatsinks are a great addition for the large ships or the FDL/Mamba, but on a Chieftain or Krait, hard choices have to be made. A wonderful addition to help CMDRs would be to add the passive Basic Scan from the original Xeno Scanner to all built-in ship sensors.
To perform the advanced Research Scan, you would still need a Xeno Scanner or Enhanced Xeno Scanner, but built in ship scanners could at least identify scouts, and show number of hearts remaining.
Of course, Aegis could lead a CG to develop this, and require samples of data gathered by the Xeno Scanner (which hasn't had a use so far):
Thargoid Ship Signature, Ship Flight Data, Ship Systems Data, and Thargoid Interdiction Telemetry
It's definitely been long enough 'in lore' for built in scanners to understand what a Thargoid is. They just need a firmware update! Having Aegis run this as a CG gives non-combat/peace advocates as well as AX CMDRs a goal to get behind. Thanks!
I have one suggestion though ...
The Caustic Sink, Enhanced Xeno Scanner, and Sirius Heatsinks are a great addition for the large ships or the FDL/Mamba, but on a Chieftain or Krait, hard choices have to be made. A wonderful addition to help CMDRs would be to add the passive Basic Scan from the original Xeno Scanner to all built-in ship sensors.
To perform the advanced Research Scan, you would still need a Xeno Scanner or Enhanced Xeno Scanner, but built in ship scanners could at least identify scouts, and show number of hearts remaining.
Of course, Aegis could lead a CG to develop this, and require samples of data gathered by the Xeno Scanner (which hasn't had a use so far):
Thargoid Ship Signature, Ship Flight Data, Ship Systems Data, and Thargoid Interdiction Telemetry
It's definitely been long enough 'in lore' for built in scanners to understand what a Thargoid is. They just need a firmware update! Having Aegis run this as a CG gives non-combat/peace advocates as well as AX CMDRs a goal to get behind. Thanks!
rootsrat
Volunteer Moderator
That is a great idea and I like how you made it both lore and current gameplay loops friendly!
I will happily reply to this
First question: I did enjoy it during its first iteration before the new additions of the new tools. Specifically the module that increases how many guardian weapons you are allowed to have on a ship and the 2km xeno scanner upgrade.
2) No I am not motivated. This has gone from largely skill based to largely “how much are you willing to farm for” how you had it before encouraged players to stick together and get better or die, now its ungabubga anaconda time.
3) I am unsure how I feel about wether or not humanity is going to win or lose. I want humanity to lose and get forced to colonia. I want the new player spawn area to be in colonia and for you guys to use that as a springboard to do a new elite dangerous that will right all the wrongs of this game without you guys needing to work within the spagettie code mess of the cobra engine.
4) I like this direction, I would much MUCH prefer utter absolute chaos. I want a maelstrom to drop right onto the capitals of the different factions and cause absolute utter mayhem and evac efforts to be required. Send as many people to colonia as possible on dedicated rescue ships.
Do you mean "CMDRs chances to win"? Because "humanity" represented mostly by NPCs cannot even kill a clop.
News and Bulletins:
Far too transparent that the story is on rails. At least give the illusion that players have some part in the story, and their efforts have meaning. Simply handing the audience meta info regarding the enemy isn't cool.
Far too transparent that the story is on rails. At least give the illusion that players have some part in the story, and their efforts have meaning. Simply handing the audience meta info regarding the enemy isn't cool.
March 16, 3309 - Orthrus in Alert System Update
This dialogue, regardless of it being made by Aegis OR Frontier Developments, is insulting to the hundreds of player CMDRs that put in multiple hours to fightback the Thargoids. Notably it was mentioned both in Stream and in Galnet, that "there is something we're missing about alert systems," and along the lines of "finding something where the Thargoids are going to be." The simple notion to suggest the community, who've spent hours of doing gameplay mechanics research, from a game developer that tells us barely nothing until it launches, that what we are doing is inefficient and that we should look elsewhere to do it better, is just abysmally ignorant.
Why should the community, who's main focus is to attempt to bring stalemate war efforts between humanity and the Thargoids in systems under invasion, be persuaded by Galnet or a Frontier Developer to search in a very lackluster system in Alert?
Allow me to point out the strategy in the Thargoid War battlefront as preferred by many player CMDRs in the battefront.
The Thargoid War flow chart provided by Ian Doncaster in this Thread.
In the same article, the following was mentioned.
We understand that there was a buff that was added to the Orthrus, both in payout and in effectiveness to the completion of the alert progress bar. However, endless hours of gameplay with minimal spawn chances makes the incentive gameplay of hunting Orthrus vessels incredibly difficult. It becomes tedious for most player CMDRs, wanting actual involvement with the Thargoid War, but instead be met with no meaniful gameplay.
It would be more consequential for a player CMDR to be involved in AX Conflict Zones than searching Orthrus for the price of 40 Million Credits and getting a relief period of up to a week without being put into risk of having Thargoids expand into the same system.
In plain words, the community involved in the Thargoid War have acknowledged what the update has brought forth, regardless of intentional/unintentional changes:
We're also thinking that Frontier Developments have set too high of an expectation, that in the preparation of Update 15, the humanitarian effort would have began to push back the Thargoids out of the bubble. But because the fact that we are so far behind the expectations of our developer or community manager's standards, an update was released today hoping to help out with the pushback effort. The amount of alerts halved from an average of 80 alert systems per week down to 40 as of this update.
Having to suggest investigating an area of gameplay that lacks in engaging content, a little bit more forgiving in terms of completing and contributing to the progression bar of an alert system is a discredit to this community. We're looking forwards to a more significant balancing update should the suggestion to have players look into Alert system be more impactful.
"However, Aegis proposes that increasing defensive efforts for systems at threat of invasion would be a more efficient way of slowing the spread of Thargoid-controlled territory."
This dialogue, regardless of it being made by Aegis OR Frontier Developments, is insulting to the hundreds of player CMDRs that put in multiple hours to fightback the Thargoids. Notably it was mentioned both in Stream and in Galnet, that "there is something we're missing about alert systems," and along the lines of "finding something where the Thargoids are going to be." The simple notion to suggest the community, who've spent hours of doing gameplay mechanics research, from a game developer that tells us barely nothing until it launches, that what we are doing is inefficient and that we should look elsewhere to do it better, is just abysmally ignorant.Why should the community, who's main focus is to attempt to bring stalemate war efforts between humanity and the Thargoids in systems under invasion, be persuaded by Galnet or a Frontier Developer to search in a very lackluster system in Alert?
Allow me to point out the strategy in the Thargoid War battlefront as preferred by many player CMDRs in the battefront.
The Thargoid War flow chart provided by Ian Doncaster in this Thread.
- It is preferred by many that Alert systems should be ignored as it gives a short window of relief to have pilots focus force elsewhere.
- The spawn rates of Threat 4 Non-Human Signal Source per hour is not guaranteed to having an Orthrus show up.
- The system is filled with other AX-related or Refugee / Rescue scenarios that fill up Unidentified Signal Sources of the system.
- It is preferred by many that Systems in Invasion be fought against.
- The content of doing AX is engaging, especially doing it in groups, as it gives advantages to mid to end-game content.
- You have more of window to complete systems in Invasion than you do with systems in Alert.
- You have more of a relief period after sucessfully repelling interceptors from Invasion systems.
- Up to 8 weeks of relief to focus elsewhere.
- Missions where by to help speed up the progress of recovery are generally ignored.
- The recovery progress bar automatically completes, with and/or without the help of players actively completing recovery missions.
- By progressing faster with systems in Recovery, you lose out the extended relief period that player CMDRs require to focus elsewhere.
In the same article, the following was mentioned.
"Destroying Orthrus ships may be key to safeguarding an alerted system."
"As an incentive to draw combat pilots to systems on alert, combat bonds payouts on Orthrus vessels have been increased."
We understand that there was a buff that was added to the Orthrus, both in payout and in effectiveness to the completion of the alert progress bar. However, endless hours of gameplay with minimal spawn chances makes the incentive gameplay of hunting Orthrus vessels incredibly difficult. It becomes tedious for most player CMDRs, wanting actual involvement with the Thargoid War, but instead be met with no meaniful gameplay.
It would be more consequential for a player CMDR to be involved in AX Conflict Zones than searching Orthrus for the price of 40 Million Credits and getting a relief period of up to a week without being put into risk of having Thargoids expand into the same system.
In plain words, the community involved in the Thargoid War have acknowledged what the update has brought forth, regardless of intentional/unintentional changes:
We expect the community involved in the Thargoid War to focus efforts on defending the bubble at systems in Alert. The focus should be on those systems, whereas the efforts of doing combat in invasion systems have been proved fruitless.
The Orthrus is a primary target for many. Therefore, we hope by raising the bond payout from 25 Million Credits to 40 Million Credits and increasing the effectiveness of destroying Orthrus craft to help with repelling Thargoids in systems of Alert, this will make player CMDRs react more to this opportunity to better help with the Thargoid War.
If the purpose of this update was to have player CMDRs actively search for the Orthrus and begin that pushback, then our suggestion, from the demanding community, is to commit to an more meaningful update than today's rebalancing update. The bottom line is, our community is withered, tired and burnt out. A lot of us have taken a hiatus from consistently resisting the Thargoids. The lack of material content updates and balances have triggered an epidemic of player burnouts.We're also thinking that Frontier Developments have set too high of an expectation, that in the preparation of Update 15, the humanitarian effort would have began to push back the Thargoids out of the bubble. But because the fact that we are so far behind the expectations of our developer or community manager's standards, an update was released today hoping to help out with the pushback effort. The amount of alerts halved from an average of 80 alert systems per week down to 40 as of this update.
Having to suggest investigating an area of gameplay that lacks in engaging content, a little bit more forgiving in terms of completing and contributing to the progression bar of an alert system is a discredit to this community. We're looking forwards to a more significant balancing update should the suggestion to have players look into Alert system be more impactful.
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I think that this Thargoid war is probably one of the most bad decision and direction you could have taken the game.
It's boring, unrealistic [the goal and what it implies] and, forgive my raw thoughts, if feels as if you guys are really trying to put the last nails on the coffin.
Not only I think it is a bad decision, but I think you are missing (by many light years) a really good opportunity to give back some interest and a well needed second breath to the game and its die-hard community.
I mean, not only we (because I do know I'm far from having a "marginal" oppinon) think it's nonesense to have brought up this thargo war and leaving other facets to rot (like powerplay just to name one out of many that I really enjoy/enjoyed)...but you are putting at the forefront...an activity/side of the game that is really niche among the player base and really not something that a majority have interest in or want to nurture any interest in.
Seriously, in my inner circle of players AND my extended coalition family (that's like, a couple of hundreds of players and reaching close the thousand) there's virtually no one who thinks that your choice [the devs] is gonna bring any more life to the game...and most think it's going (it actualy, allready is) to do all the opposite that you might have wished for.
Some even wonders if ya'll really just trying to kill the game and turn the page 'cause it's not anyone's "baby" anymore and considered a weight to carry (or a splinter in the foot, that could picture it well).
I'm not saying this with any joy or in agreement necessarly with all said. It's just... my humble and honest oppinion and my observations on the topic, roughly said.
o7
It's boring, unrealistic [the goal and what it implies] and, forgive my raw thoughts, if feels as if you guys are really trying to put the last nails on the coffin.
Not only I think it is a bad decision, but I think you are missing (by many light years) a really good opportunity to give back some interest and a well needed second breath to the game and its die-hard community.
I mean, not only we (because I do know I'm far from having a "marginal" oppinon) think it's nonesense to have brought up this thargo war and leaving other facets to rot (like powerplay just to name one out of many that I really enjoy/enjoyed)...but you are putting at the forefront...an activity/side of the game that is really niche among the player base and really not something that a majority have interest in or want to nurture any interest in.
Seriously, in my inner circle of players AND my extended coalition family (that's like, a couple of hundreds of players and reaching close the thousand) there's virtually no one who thinks that your choice [the devs] is gonna bring any more life to the game...and most think it's going (it actualy, allready is) to do all the opposite that you might have wished for.
Some even wonders if ya'll really just trying to kill the game and turn the page 'cause it's not anyone's "baby" anymore and considered a weight to carry (or a splinter in the foot, that could picture it well).
I'm not saying this with any joy or in agreement necessarly with all said. It's just... my humble and honest oppinion and my observations on the topic, roughly said.
o7
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I only have one question. Why did they lower the price for destroying : Orthrus ?
Frontier Development's Elite Dangerous exhibits similar characteristics to EA's Need For Speed Unbound game...
The most recent update for that racing game exists night time gameplay in multiplayer with two new reskinned vehicles that are already in the game assets...
This update... Let's simulate a galactic war, however it burn out the community even more by giving reskinned content, and new multiplayer content that exists everywhere else...