Update 8: Emotes

[zikolach]

The post is an attempt to collect more information about upcoming feature and start a discussion to get early feedback from the community.

This week first information was provided during Update 8 Upcoming Features stream (link to the video).

Here are some examples of emotes from developer preview.

Following emotes were shown or mentioned in the video: salute, pointer, waving, agree, disagree, clapping, stop and high five (correct me if the list is incorrect).

It was mentioned that emotes will be context sensitive.
Whether it means that certain set of emotes is available at certain places or situation is unclear.

It is shown that emotes are accessible via on-screen wheel control on-foot.

It is not clear though if 8 is a maximum number of emotes available at a time or not.
Not very clear either if selecting a specific icon can be done by moving mouse (as it is done e.g. to activate energy cell) or keyboard buttons (like another wheel control to activate e.g. transaction panel or call Apex).

Another feature is that certain emotes could be directed to specific targets (e.g. salute to another commander) and as the result shown in local chat panel.

Would it mean that e.g "pointer" could be directed only to certain commander. It is unclear though if one commander could point another to move to the specific place/building/etc.

It would be great if community managers could provide more specific details as soon as those available.

It would be interesting to know what do you think about upcoming feature:

• Which situations would you imagine to use emotes?
• Which other emotes do you think could be added?
• Would it make sense to allow setting key bindings for certain emotes?
• Would you like to see NPC using emotes and/or react to the player emotes?
• Would you use emotes not on-foot (e.g. while driving SRV)?
• Can you think of any gameplay mechanics involving emotes?
• Would you pay for custom emotes?

Please share your opinion in the comments.

Suggestions on the forum more or less related to the topic:

• Immersive interactions on-foot
• Lave Radio Community Question - Arx for Emotes?
• QoL: Emote wheel + sitting + NPC's reacting to said emotes
• Dance emotes
• https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/odyssey-update-7-urgent-request-o7.588183/
• Suit RP features
• Add social features for player interaction on foot.
• What I'd love to see in Elite Dangerous Odyssey in time
• NPC comms

 

[Sylow]

The wheel is a problem in my eyes. As it kind of feel like "here you are, 8 emotes, the wheel is full, we are done".

While i just like many others rather think that these 8 are merely the tiniest baseline. The station interiors were, among other things, also sold as social spaces. I remember in other MMOs, that i have spend whole evenings in bars there, listening to the "show" performed there. (Which was a MP3 radio stream. ) A solid collection of emotes and dances is absolutely required for that to work.

I very much hope that FD understands this and continues to give us more emotes. But based on how the wheel looks like and how they seem to treat the topic, i fear that they see it as done and are calling it a day, like they did with so many other features, which got baseline-implemented and then forgotten.

 

[Bottom Hat]

Unless I can show the bird when necessary, I don't really mind.


Edit - as an afterthought, will we be getting teabagging?

 

[PRORABBIT67]

 

[LeoBartlet]

• Which situations would you imagine to use emotes?

Never

• Which other emotes do you think could be added?

Forum rules prevent me from answering

• Would it make sense to allow setting key bindings for certain emotes?

Yes

• Would you like to see NPC using emotes and/or react to the player emotes?

Honestly don't care

• Would you use emotes not on-foot (e.g. while driving SRV)?

No

• Can you think of any gameplay mechanics involving emotes?

Forum rules prevent me from answering

• Would you pay for custom emotes?

Yes

 

[Achtung-Goomba]

Forum rules prevent me from answering

Sounds... naughty... DM me

 

[Bottom Hat]

Sure thing, for 2560 ARX you can teabag your friends from the comfort of your own cockpit!

See what I did there?

That made me properly laugh out loud!

 

[Frop]

• Which other emotes do you think could be added?

 

[nemolomen]

@Bottom Hat

Tea bagging is already included. See below...only 5 minutes but one can skip ahead to 4:20 to the pertinent bits...

Source: https://youtu.be/-07JUJZ4_Ro


In all honesty, I had never seen this before watching this video a few months ago, but many, many people have assured me that this is a thing.

EDIT: My teen-aged grandsons schooled me. When I showed my BIL, whom I multiplayer with frequently, he said, at the very beginning of the video, is he going to teabag someone?

 

[Factabulous]

I can't believe we haven't had a suggestion of the Pat Butcher emote yet ..

... and maybe the Peggy

 

[Frop]

In all honesty, I had never seen this before watching this video a few onths ago, but many, many people have assured me this is a thing.

From a 2008 article, although I suspect it goes back further than claimed.

As of late, tea bagging has been subjected to a wider audience through online game play, primarily with first-person-shooter games such as Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Halo. According to Giantbomb.com, a video-gaming website, tea bagging was first introduced in Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, which was released on the major video game platforms by early 2003. Now in 2008, the ability to tea bag appears in 54 games ranging from games like Call of Duty 4, Gears of War, Halo 3, and even Super Smash Brothers. With the advancement of technology, video gamers can now experience virtual tea bagging with services such as Xbox Live, a network where gamers can play against each other through the Internet.

 

[CMDR Bausell]

I’m hoping to be able to map keys to certain emotes instead of having to fumble about with a wheel menu (I play with a keyboard and mouse). I’m also hoping that certain NPCs will respond to them — I already nod at guards approaching to do security scans, placating gestures like that having an impact on dialog would be a neat touch.

 

[Sylow]

To also answer some of these:

• Which situations would you imagine to use emotes?

A social environment. Like at a social event in a station.

• Which other emotes do you think could be added?

Mostly stuff wich really is "emotion", while what FD showed us mostly is "sign language". Dances, real expressions, etc.

• Would it make sense to allow setting key bindings for certain emotes?

I don't think so. Keybindings we need for combat related stuff and so on. I don't plan on using emotes in such an environment... not much dancing and prancing while being shot at. In any environment where i would use emotes, i would be perfectly fine with the traditional /emote from other MMOs.

• Would you like to see NPC using emotes and/or react to the player emotes?

I would not complain about it. It might somewhat mitigate the current "human shaped terminals" effect NPCs currently have. But i also would not put priority on it. Emotes in my eyes are for player interaction primarily. (Although, i also in some games see that NPCs do use emotes while talking to players. And the emotes are connected to the text lines they are saying. So, a good combination of storyline, voice acting and emotes really improves things a lot. Unfortunately i don't really see how ED could get there in just a few more decades. )

• Would you use emotes not on-foot (e.g. while driving SRV)?

Don't really see much use for that. Sure, a tiphat could at some time feel like the right thing to do. But in the end, if other players don't see it, what's the point? And you'd have to do really dramatic poses that people outside of your SRV or ship would see it. So, limited value in that in my eyes.

• Can you think of any gameplay mechanics involving emotes?

Mechanics: not really. At least not that it would matter. But there could be plenty of events where people meet and interact. And emotes would absolutely improve them. See above: in-game music shows, etc... i've been to a lot of such things over the years and several MMOs. From racing events and vehicle driving training over dance clubs and costume competitions, running an in-character lawyer business and providing entertainment around an organized arena battle (so PvP) event.

There's so much possibilities when you create social space and means of intereaction. If the community makes use of it, after all these years and with the little we are given, is another question.

• Would you pay for custom emotes?

Historically speaking: i did. Emotes, dances, outfits. If the game and the community provide an environment where i use these things, i am also ready and able to spend money on it. The tougher question really is: would i do that in ED. For up to now i have little reason to believe that things will evolve so far in this direction, that i would feel like spending money on emotes is worth it.

Of course, i guess we're again at FDs chicken and egg problem. My sarcasm and remembering the games history takes over again. More than one feature was implemented badly and half-finished. So due to it being broken, nobody used it. While FD saw that nobody was using it and concluded that if nobody uses it, it is not worth fixing. I so much hope that i am wrong, but i am quite convinced that this is exactly what will happen with the social features, too.

 

[nemolomen]

From a 2008 article, although I suspect it goes back further than claimed.

Disgusting!

 

[nemolomen]

I don't think so. Keybindings we need for combat related stuff and so on. I don't plan on using emotes in such an environment... not much dancing and prancing while being shot at. In any environment where i would use emotes, i would be perfectly fine with the traditional /emote from other MMOs.

Supposedly, pointing at a target and having it show up on your teammate's HUDs is a thing, and that could be very useful in-combat. And that is certainly not something you want to be navigating yet another radial menu to achieve at that time.

 

[ubermick]

I can't believe we haven't had a suggestion of the Pat Butcher emote yet ..

View attachment 266353

... and maybe the Peggy

 

[Sylow]

Supposedly, pointing at a target and having it show up on your teammate's HUDs is a thing, and that could be very useful in-combat. And that is certainly not something you want to be navigating yet another radial menu to achieve at that time.

True. But in this case: there are games where you have a /point emote. Have you ever used it or see anybody using it? If yes, was it clear to you what he was pointing at or simply, were you able to make your toon accurately point it it?

Then look at a game like Deep Rock Galactic. Next to it being a great game, it has some interesting features. The first one is the "v" key, which does nothing else than greet other players by shouting "Rock and Stone". Which indeed, thinking about it, is a point for having some emotes on a hotkey. For the games community really appreciates this simple feature very much. But when pointing at things, there is no emote. But on control you switch from your weapon to a laser pointer. You point at something and click. Depending on what you point it at, it places an appropriate marker and gives matching information to the whole team.

This beats a "point" emote by far. So yes, i see a lot of value in such an indication tool. But i would not implement that as mere emote, but give it more functionality.

 

[Bottom Hat]

@Bottom Hat

Tea bagging is already included. See below...only 5 minutes but one can skip ahead to 4:20 to the pertinent bits...

Source: https://youtu.be/-07JUJZ4_Ro


In all honesty, I had never seen this before watching this video a few months ago, but many, many people have assured me that this is a thing.

Outstanding! I was unaware of this excellence!

 

[nemolomen]

True. But in this case: there are games where you have a /point emote. Have you ever used it or see anybody using it? If yes, was it clear to you what he was pointing at or simply, were you able to make your toon accurately point it it?

Then look at a game like Deep Rock Galactic. Next to it being a great game, it has some interesting features. The first one is the "v" key, which does nothing else than greet other players by shouting "Rock and Stone". Which indeed, thinking about it, is a point for having some emotes on a hotkey. For the games community really appreciates this simple feature very much. But when pointing at things, there is no emote. But on control you switch from your weapon to a laser pointer. You point at something and click. Depending on what you point it at, it places an appropriate marker and gives matching information to the whole team.

This beats a "point" emote by far. So yes, i see a lot of value in such an indication tool. But i would not implement that as mere emote, but give it more functionality.

Sounds interesting but sorry, EDO in the only game I play, well, other than Toon Blast on my phone.

I was only going by what was presented in the teaser video and SCN livestream.

 

[Athlon-uk]

A hard pat slap emote would be great.