Update 14 and Beyond: Live and Legacy Modes

[SpookyRobbie]

Hello so no CG updates for console players then ? Amazing ! I guess ostracising a quarter of the player base makes perfect commercial sense.

So now that we are indeed seemingly coming to the business end

When will there be formal communication and announcement of the removal of CG from horizons?
How will this be communicated and to whom?

Will there be updating of Ts & Cs ? If so again will this be communicated ?

Also console versions now having a disclaimer to warn any new players that this game is EoL ?

Also will there be refunds open to console players for such a change ? While I understand the offer to transfer to PC is available is there an acceptance that tt is not necessarily viable and therefore unfairly penalises.

With the game seemily EoL on console will the in store have communication to all players that any future digital purchases may only be for a set period of time.

Again on the EoL what activities have FDev got planned to ensure the transition is executed correctly ? For example has a date been given for EoL . Also as expected with most other software what duration of extension is expected ?

Will the console on the forums be removed ? Also have the disclaimer that it’s EoL ? Moving swiftly on in terms of players personal data I’m assuming that your are complaint in GDPR therefore will all console players have there data completely removed and will this be communicated ?

Lastly noted that Johnny Watts is now CEO will there be any communication from himself ? Also is this now a stance that frontier are taking going forward that console players no longer form part of the thought process ?

 

[Old Duck]

The accounts are duplicated, hence the carrier exists in both Legacy and Live!

Yeah but IIRC, there won't be "the" carrier, but two carriers, one in each universe, and if a player stays in one universe, the clone of their carrier will just end up being abandoned clutter in the opposite universe.

 

[Darth Ender]

You got a lot more out of the update than I did. Extrapolation is strong with this one. Thanks again.

"As of Update 14, version 4.0 will become the “Live” mode in which all new content and events will be introduced. Focusing development on a single version branch has already been essential to delivering content of the same calibre as the Azimuth Saga finale. "

it's in the first paragraph. You can't realize that if you're busy backporting to 3.8 still. In fact, none of this would make any sense to do if you were still backporting changes to 3.8. It's less extrapolation and just basic implication. This is being done so they dont have to backport anything to 3.8. 3.8 is in maintenance mode.

 

[LordLocksley]

Greetings Commanders,

We have an important announcement to share with regards to future game modes as of Update 14 which is due 29 November! Read all about it on our website and let us know what you think in the comments below:

Elite Dangerous Update 14 and Beyond: Live and Legacy Modes - Elite Dangerous

Greetings Commanders. In our Access to 4.0 post from August, we mentioned that future content would only be available to players on the 4.0 framewo...

www.elitedangerous.com

O7

While I do understand the logic behind this movement, I think it's a bit too soon for this and saddens me greatly.

The "Live" version (aka 4.0) still has glaring shortcomings that need to be addressed before making the 3.8 client obsolete. Those issues are well known, (worse performance than 3.8, noticeably worse in many cases, for a negligible visual quality improvement, and in some cases even an actual downgrade, with some serious lightning issues, including too dark global lightining in space, worse readability on the UI HUD, less usable menus and interfaces in most cases, with the star map being the worst UI change by far...)

I'm hoping those issues get tackled in U14 and following, but given that most if not all of them were already present and reported in the Beta, and have been largely ignored during the first 13 Odyssey game updates, I'm not holding my breath for a prompt fix even now that the 3.8 client is being moved to "legacy" status (aka "end of life")...

 

[MacHurto]

Ok, so “the Bubble burns” theory has just become very likely. It makes sense to split the two in that case. Let’s see how that affects Tritium availability

It has been asked already but how will
Frontier solve the below?

1) Horizon 3.8 Carriers from Consoles will never be used in “Live” Galaxy. They will just clutter the 4.0 version for years as with the recent “let’s block Rackham”. Will they be removed manually by Frontier?

2) PC 4.0 Carriers from CMDRs that will almost never look back (most of them, maybe), will clutter the “Legacy” Galaxy. Will Frontier remove them and reimburse the “Legacy” CMDR? Leave it up to the individual CMDR to decide what to do?

I see point 1 as a much bigger issue, given PC can log on 3.8 but not viceversa. Personally, I will decommission my “legacy” FCs after the update. I can always buy a new one if I need it when/if I log back to 3.8.

Of course, maybe Frontier has already thought of that and “the Bubble burns” also means FCs get destroyed (and in those cases, nobody logs in for a rebuy). That would not solve the problem at Rackham Peak, though.

 

[DR Grandreefer]

I really felt after the console cancelation of odyssey the only thing that kept the community going was keeping bgs and power play one in the same. Shared for the lack of a better word. Now we really are going to burn that “for story” and act like it’s worth it? I wholeheartedly am agaisnt this. Most of the power play people and bgs people don’t even need story. Not that they wouldn’t like to have it. But at the risk of splitting their whole community down the middle and making everyone work different things at different times. NOPE!!!

 

[BeyondAeon]

Sorry to hear. If that's purely because you want to maintain a way to get unstuck, we're already aware and looking at options for this.

So New Login options

• Odyssey
• Horizons
• 4 Feet to the Left
• Old Universe Back Up

???

 

[zikolach]

and 2 independent commander profiles.
so your 4.0 Live commander will get a free 3.8 Legacy Alt. - you have to look at it the positive way

I stay positive as much as I can. So FDEv does the following:

• allowing to remove 3.8 client from PC - save disk space, thanks!
• forcing more players to migrate to Horizons 4.0 now, as there will be no livery migration after U14
• allowing Odyssey owners to run Horizons 4.0 - better later than never, thanks!
• supporting 2 separate galaxies state, running 2 BGS - wouldn't it double server/maintenance cost?
• removing Odyssey settlements from Legacy galaxy?

If I was FDev and not cared about money - I would allow community to manage community goals in Legacy mode from U14 onwards.

 

[BV_Noodle]

How to kill a game in a few words. I've already seen console players react and leave groups and I guess those who are heavily involved with PP and BGS are getting the same reaction. How can we have two instances? (LIVE vs LEGACY). Whilst PC and console couldn't instance together, there has has always been an in-game relationship in terms of protecting systems, BGS and power play etc. We all lost players due to the failed Odyssey update and now we are now losing console players, really!... I'm sorry but this a complete up. If you're expecting players to buy mid to high end PC's to play this game then you're truly mistaken. If the next update isn't up to scratch then you might as well turn the servers off..

 

[Old Duck]

I propose a third mode - Legacy Rebooted. Reset the 3.8 servers back to day one, no discoveries, no PMFs, no fleet carriers, everyone in a starter Sidewinder. It could be fun!

 

[Flimley]

Now that there is a non live legacy mode. Could you make it so it will cure all diseases and bring about world peace. Oh yes, and ten thousand dollar for everyone.

Flimley

 

[MacHurto]

I don't think that will be the case this time... I could be misunderstanding, but it sounds like 3.8 and 4.0 HAD persistent galaxies, but in 6 days when the Galaxies separate, All 3.8 Carriers will vanish from the 4.0 Galaxy and vice versa.

Ok, that would solve the problem for the 3.8 only FCs (console)

However, there are no “4.0 carriers” all PC carriers are 4.0 and 3.8

And I am not sure Console FCs will not be transferred to “Live”. They are assets in the Galaxy and they have money for upkeep for years. Just no CMDR to be able to access it.

 

[Ruurka]

@SpookyRobbie They really want to kill us (PC and Consoles). But what happens, if PC users will leave from this game more sharply due to this update? They'll be have no backups and only at least releasing 4.0 Horizons for consoles can save drop frequency.

And I know, that PC users still reacts about, what happens on Consoles.

 

[Darth Ender]

While I do understand the logic behind this movement, I think it's a bit too soon for this and saddens me greatly.

The "Live" version (aka 4.0) still has glaring shortcomings that need to be addressed before making the 3.8 client obsolete. Those issues are well known, (worse performance than 3.8, noticeably worse in many cases, for a negligible visual quality improvement, and in some cases even an actual downgrade, with some serious lightning issues, including too dark global lightining in space, worse readability on the UI HUD, less usable menus and interfaces in most cases, with the star map being the worst UI change by far...)

I'm hoping those issues get tackled in U14 and following, but given that most if not all of them were already present and reported in the Beta, and have been largely ignored during the first 13 Odyssey game updates, I'm not holding my breath for a prompt fix even now that the 3.8 client is being moved to "legacy" status (aka "end of life")...

4.x has been released for like 1.5 years (that's not counting the half year or so we had with alpha/beta). How do you define 'too soon" ? If things haven't been resolved to your satisfaction after one and a half years, buckle up and suck it up cuz that's just going to be the way things are now.

 

[Niamh Kaminari]

"enough time to react" is only six days (during a holiday week when many aren't even at home?)

Heck, even outside of transfers it's really short. The devs for EDSM, Inara, EDDB, Jegin, etc, etc, now have 6 days to figure out how to either filter out the "Legacy" data, or somehow sensibly store both copies, and get their sites updated for it.

 

[zipline]

So console players are basically getting 6 days notice for what is pretty much the end of the console profile copy process in its current form?
What happened to the promise that this process would be around "for the foreseeable future" and that "plenty of notice would be given" before it would be withdrawn?

 

[scgleeson]

So a couple questions/comments regarding this update and the pending changes:

1. As of early this morning, I had an "indefinite" amount of time to do my console cloning/copy, which I was intending to do in early December. Today I now have six days.
This was not nearly enough notice, given the gravity of this change, especially with removing the console cloning process and bringing it back less than it was. These
changes should've been communicated weeks in advance, not days. Sally even mentioned when it launched it was indefinite and we would be notified ahead of time of
any change in that, but clearly that didn't happen.

2. To build upon point #1, I can and will copy my profile from XBox, but due to the short notice, it will take 7.5 days to decommission my FC. That is well beyond the
scheduled Update 14 drop date. I will be opening a support ticket to request having the missing credits added (I already emptied the bank account and sold all modules I
could), but this really is a huge oversight on y'alls part.

3. Also with regards to FCs, when these two modes are separated, will FCs exist in Live that were present from Console CMDRs? Or will FCs only re-populate
within the galaxy the account is supported by? Would seem dumb to have FCs in a galaxy that no one can actually access.

 

[BeyondAeon]

will the legacy mode still have solo ,open ect. ? What about a offline mode for legacy ?

Downloading the Galaxy for Offline mode might take a bit of Disk space .......

 

[scgleeson]

Heck, even outside of transfers it's really short. The devs for EDSM, Inara, EDDB, Jegin, etc, etc, now have 6 days to figure out how to either filter out the "Legacy" data, or somehow sensibly store both copies, and get their sites updated for it.

The suspicion is it'll go one of two ways:

1. Initial data will be Live only and Legacy will be brought online at a later date.
2. Legacy data will be dropped completely.

 

[RooksBailey]

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2_rgEeAGx8

Wow! I wish I knew about this sooner!

cough*My Sig*cough



But seriously, I am glad to see Burr covering this. Even though I have a rig that can run EDO just fine, I often used GFN (mid-tier) to play EDO on my Chromebook when I am on the go. I highly recommend the service, not just for EDO but for other space games like NMS, Everspace 2, and Eve Online (CCP also offers their own streaming option for omega accounts).

This announcement makes me a bit nervous. Clearly, FDev weren't kidding when they said the galaxy would never be the same again. Just what sort of apocalyptic scenario do they have planned?! I just hope they don't take the game too far into a combat-all-the-time situation. I don't want EDO to become a Battle Royale against the Thargoids.

I do hope that this update includes a lot of QoL improvements. EDO needs the equivalent of another "Beyond" series of updates to get it properly polished. EDO has become a teeth-grinding experience because of all the bugs and rough edges in the game that have gone unaddressed for 18-months now.

Lastly, word of Updates 15 and 16 in 2023 confuse me. I have repeatedly been informed by forumites that the game was going to go dark soon after Update 14.