As some may know I have been highly critical of the game over the last 12-15 months.
My main criticism has been pointed at the lack of emergent gameplay and storytelling in the latest iteration of the franchise.
However, there is one particular area of the game which needs a special mention and that is the timesink relating to long distance travel. The game runs on computer code - it is definitely not a one to one simulation of the actual Milky Way Galaxy and thus physical rules which apply in the real life Milky Way and general universe need not apply.
Given this undeniable fact the attention of the development team should be on avoiding what are traditionally described as gaming timesinks - activities which add nothing to the quality of the time spent playing the game. These could be simple button pressing patterns, activities involving low level repetitions of hand/eye coordination with repeated almost identical animated outputs from the code etc. The human mind finds these timesinks laborious and unfulfilling.
Thus it is normal within game design to remove timesinks and reward gamers for time spent within a game by presenting new ideas via voiced dialogue, quality of writing and a variety of graphical environments accessed by skill based progression.
In ED time this principle of game design based on human nature has been largely ignored. Travel, for example requires simple inputs and large amounts of time which do not reward the player at all. In the same way even Flight Simulators offer fast travel to minimise boredom ED needs to abandon the adherence to poor design choices and offer a truly engaging experience for the player.
Arguing that repeating the same simple task again and again is an exciting way to pass hours of time reminds me of Einstein's definition: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
My main criticism has been pointed at the lack of emergent gameplay and storytelling in the latest iteration of the franchise.
However, there is one particular area of the game which needs a special mention and that is the timesink relating to long distance travel. The game runs on computer code - it is definitely not a one to one simulation of the actual Milky Way Galaxy and thus physical rules which apply in the real life Milky Way and general universe need not apply.
Given this undeniable fact the attention of the development team should be on avoiding what are traditionally described as gaming timesinks - activities which add nothing to the quality of the time spent playing the game. These could be simple button pressing patterns, activities involving low level repetitions of hand/eye coordination with repeated almost identical animated outputs from the code etc. The human mind finds these timesinks laborious and unfulfilling.
Thus it is normal within game design to remove timesinks and reward gamers for time spent within a game by presenting new ideas via voiced dialogue, quality of writing and a variety of graphical environments accessed by skill based progression.
In ED time this principle of game design based on human nature has been largely ignored. Travel, for example requires simple inputs and large amounts of time which do not reward the player at all. In the same way even Flight Simulators offer fast travel to minimise boredom ED needs to abandon the adherence to poor design choices and offer a truly engaging experience for the player.
Arguing that repeating the same simple task again and again is an exciting way to pass hours of time reminds me of Einstein's definition: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
. I doubt it though
