Dev'ing looks like difficult work to me, so I recommend they steal a nuclear weapon and hold the world to ransom.
What can the devs do to help grow the population?
- Thread starter Cmdr Rouz
- Start date
Well there's your problem.
I have tried 100s of games but always come back to these 3.
Well, for a legit great game that's still in the space genre, I'd recommend Outer Wilds. Don't confuse it with The Outer Worlds though, or if you do be sure to post complaining about it being awful so I can have a giggle. If genre is flexible, try great games in a few other genres: Baba is You, Factorio, Terraria.
Outer Wilds looks to much like NMS which I like but not love.
Most people I've gotten to buy and try this game have quit when they find out that things that were added years ago in a buggy state still haven't been worked on(like multicrew, so many people I know got horizons ONLY because they wanted to play together in 1 ship, its still 50/50 if you even can connect to your buddy and if the game boots you out for launching a fighter), so they won't put effort into learning this game, and launch some other title instead that's easy to set up and actually works instead of just being full of hype and hundreds of skeleton features.
Just binding keys in elite is a chore that might take hours for some people, and it seems that every second patch wipes them all, so I'm not at all surprised that people stop playing this game. My friend list used to have a lot of people 247, now I haven't seen anyone at all for a week.
These were people who had elite on while they slept, now they're all gone.
Word also goes around, and most of the gaming communities I'm part of tell people not to buy elite when someone asks if they should.
Just binding keys in elite is a chore that might take hours for some people, and it seems that every second patch wipes them all, so I'm not at all surprised that people stop playing this game. My friend list used to have a lot of people 247, now I haven't seen anyone at all for a week.
These were people who had elite on while they slept, now they're all gone.
Word also goes around, and most of the gaming communities I'm part of tell people not to buy elite when someone asks if they should.
Last edited:
I've played Outer Wilds for a couple of hours (finished TOW), but it didn't really grab me, either. Right now I'm alternating between Grounded and M&B: Bannerlord. Both Early Access but I like them both already very much,warts and all.
on Topic: the game is seven years old, everyone with even the slightest interest in the genre already has a copy. Big growth spurts are out of the question, I'm afraid.
on Topic: the game is seven years old, everyone with even the slightest interest in the genre already has a copy. Big growth spurts are out of the question, I'm afraid.
Last edited:
When they add new things I get really excited and then I go to play with them and the game is borked in about 12 other hilarious ways and just kills what should have been a fun time exploring the new stuff.
If they had nailed the release I would've been delighted with Elite but instead we are 7 months down the road and they have just dumped us into the holidays with critical bugs and said "Yeah, we're off.. fix it next year, maybe"
Guess they don't want to keep players or something I dunno.
If they had nailed the release I would've been delighted with Elite but instead we are 7 months down the road and they have just dumped us into the holidays with critical bugs and said "Yeah, we're off.. fix it next year, maybe"
Guess they don't want to keep players or something I dunno.
Yes essentially all this.
*edited:
I can only hypothesise but as a baker, and looking back IMO people were sold one thing at kickstarter, which likely had existed in a different form for some years, and then FD released something else, something at least with the bare bones; with an intent at kickstarter to improve upon it. Personally I was happy back then, and it was great seeing it evolve.
Once we got to 2015 / 2017 however hypothetically there was an evident lack of incentive on FD part to stick so to speak with the program, and I suspect the game went on permanent hold, with non of the planned developments actioned, I honestly believe FD saw the game at that point as ‘complete’ and just forgot to mention it, or actively avoided confirming it.
True there was ‘content’ floated over a protracted period, but that’s FD MO - to string content out over a protracted period to maximise profits and IMO said ‘content’ were a compromise; evidence that their initial concepts had been shelved.
But it’s hypothetically evident that a significant amount of lore was also purged, certain key development staff moved on, and from that point on the company began focusing on ED simply making cash from skins.
If FD want to increase their player base well that really depends on their intentions.
If there is a market for ‘immersion’ based gameplay, which IMO is how the game was first promoted as, and is what attracts players still, then FD should have been looking towards their original goals, fixing / stability of the game, and establish a diverse NPC driven ecosystem of ‘life’.
For examples of this please just trawl through the FD archives (if you can find them), there are some pretty amazing concepts in there.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...w-members-in-our-cockpits.588102/post-9702207
But again it’s hypothetically evident FD decided at launch that was not economically viable which is why we are here now… at some point IMO FD simply decided the game was completed.
The other alternative is that if there is a market for twitch based FPS and ‘Fortnight’ skin cash grabs, and mindless grinding for loot boxes; then the CEOs and shareholders are going to follow your wallets if that is what your after; and not long for now, ED will look like….we’ll this: Thread 'Oh, no! No, no, no, NOT AGAIN!'
Each to their own, but personally I think ED has-bean sold down the river.
If there is an audience out there, they need to vote with their wallets. It’s up to them, not FD, I personally believe FD no longer cares about the original game concept and it’s just an IP and they are following the money.
I stopped caring about buying extras for the game years ago because I’d given up hope on anything else coming, it had taken too long. Essentially this game evolved into Theseus ship.
Private Site
rhodestothepast.com
I genuinely got excited about Odyssey, because as a backer I held onto a sliver of faith that FD had returned to their original core intent, and honestly I was ready to give some cash for skins if the content was as amazing as I imagined based off FD own proposals… sadly it was not.
If you like FPS and silly skins then here you go…that’s what you’re getting, if you don’t - vote with your wallets, otherwise they’re going to make Cmdrs with dancing emotes next and some other stupid thing people are happy to shell out for, because that’s what they have come to accept as the norm.
On the plus side it’s still evident to a degree, FD listens (to their finances) and have now included carrier interiors etc which I don’t believe for a second were ever intended; so this is evidence that if enough Cmdrs complain FD will do it.
Really depends on you the consumer. Could go either way, personally experience tells me to bet on the lowest common denominator, if that continues to hold true, this game (at least it’s soul) is truly dead and buried.
Last edited:
Performance, performance, performance.
People have for years continued to play despite bugs, despite questionable design decisions, despite FD dropping the ball in various ways, but never before did FD release a patch that caused so many people to be unable to play the game for so long.
With a single stroke they effectively ensured that a huge part of the playerbase could not partake in the new content.
New things like the new SRV and Fleet Carrier interiors are all well and good, but useless to someone who can't enjoy them.
Unless FD can improve performance, then nothing else they do will help much. If they can't, then all they can do is weather the storm until people naturally upgrade, and then some people might come back, but some will be lost forever.
People have for years continued to play despite bugs, despite questionable design decisions, despite FD dropping the ball in various ways, but never before did FD release a patch that caused so many people to be unable to play the game for so long.
With a single stroke they effectively ensured that a huge part of the playerbase could not partake in the new content.
New things like the new SRV and Fleet Carrier interiors are all well and good, but useless to someone who can't enjoy them.
Unless FD can improve performance, then nothing else they do will help much. If they can't, then all they can do is weather the storm until people naturally upgrade, and then some people might come back, but some will be lost forever.
Which is why what they're doing now is focusing on performance.. or so they tell us.
They're taking a bally long time to do it though!!
They could try inventing a time machine and bringing back the late 90s when space games were last in vogue.
Now I know what the concourse is missing: an arcade machine with a few side and top scrolling space shooters.
Yup, they've made some progress, but still some way to go.
Beside bug fixing, the problem is gameplay related, if we look at the game mechanics there are only a few "solid" playable mechanics available.
1. Mining
2. Buy and sell stuff
3. Exploration (scanning systems and planets)
4. Passenger missions
This is where the big chunk of players make their credits. Then there is a lot of unfinished game mechanics.
1. Pirate
2. Bounty hunter
3. Smuggler
4. Mercenaries
5. On foot exploration
1. You can't board the mega freighters and fight with the crew and loot the ship
2. You Can't board anything for that matter
3. There is no EVA mechanics
4. Bounty hunting on foot is only asassine missions, there is no game mechanics where you can catch someone and bring him/her in alive.
5. You can't liberate prisoners because there are none in the prisons
6. We don't have any real criminal settlements it's just a normal place with a "here live bad dudes" name tag on
If we got a good foundation in some of these gameplay routines. like on foot bounty hunting, it would make the game more interesting for new players.
1. Game mechanics to catch a target alive and fixate him/her
2. Game mechanics to carry our bounty person
3. Game mechanics to store our bounty person in the SRV/Ship
4. Better missions, as it is now they are as plain as an empty table
I'm not going to write everything down as it's just a waste of time and I already made my point.
1. Mining
2. Buy and sell stuff
3. Exploration (scanning systems and planets)
4. Passenger missions
This is where the big chunk of players make their credits. Then there is a lot of unfinished game mechanics.
1. Pirate
2. Bounty hunter
3. Smuggler
4. Mercenaries
5. On foot exploration
1. You can't board the mega freighters and fight with the crew and loot the ship
2. You Can't board anything for that matter
3. There is no EVA mechanics
4. Bounty hunting on foot is only asassine missions, there is no game mechanics where you can catch someone and bring him/her in alive.
5. You can't liberate prisoners because there are none in the prisons
6. We don't have any real criminal settlements it's just a normal place with a "here live bad dudes" name tag on
If we got a good foundation in some of these gameplay routines. like on foot bounty hunting, it would make the game more interesting for new players.
1. Game mechanics to catch a target alive and fixate him/her
2. Game mechanics to carry our bounty person
3. Game mechanics to store our bounty person in the SRV/Ship
4. Better missions, as it is now they are as plain as an empty table
I'm not going to write everything down as it's just a waste of time and I already made my point.
Last edited:
Hi 
Question 1.
Hmm... 'In the past years'...I assume you mean players that were in at the start of the Kickstarter period and following on from that?
In other words 'seasoned players or 'veterans'?
Okay, in short this post by amigacooke might explain one reason. (Which I somewhat agree with.)
Question 2.
Some players in the expectation of features connected broadly with the above didn't want a bolted on expansion encompassing a full FPS version of the game,....at least not yet. I suspect they wanted more of the BGS fleshing out, Power Play, planet atmospheres, and more 'life' being brought into the game etc. hence the saying which has been quoted frequently "A mile wide Galaxy but only an inch deep".
Introducing the SRV though to be fair was (imho), and is, working in this direction, getting players to go down on to the planets to interact with more content. Walking on planets and in stations was the next logical step. Though FPS combat and related features has obviously caused some problems. Perhaps the initial walking about could have been introduced gradually?....might have caused less problems if done in a simpler way to start with, this btw is probably a separate topic in itself, so I won't expand on this.
Question 3.
......All the Developers getting closely together, getting married up and having loads of children? 
... Okay, serious answer. In my own opinion the game has to be fairly well received to start with, if the present player base is generally happy playing the game, and is having constant fun, obviously 'Game Reviews' are going to be favourable, players will introduce / recommend their friends to the game, sales go up....sorted. Developers will add new 'working' content to keep the fan base happy, and expand the game to continually keep players interested, which in turn keeps the ball rolling. Counter question to this is though, is this happening at the moment?
Question 4. I'll refer you back to the answer to question 1.
Jack.
Postscript, just to add. I don't think players are leaving permanently, playing less in some cases due to many reasons is possibly true, I tend to see this as I play the game. Less player traffic through systems I play in per the '24' hr period. Also on my friends list (I've a modest amount) some players haven't played for weeks, months, and in one case over one year. So in one respect player numbers are possibly going down at the moment...there again it might be only systems I'm frequently in (I'm usually playing on the edge of the bubble btw. broadly over several systems)....and I play almost daily.
Obviously this is only my interpretation but here goes....
Question 1.
Hmm... 'In the past years'
...I assume you mean players that were in at the start of the Kickstarter period and following on from that?In other words 'seasoned players or 'veterans'?
Okay, in short this post by amigacooke might explain one reason. (Which I somewhat agree with.
)Question 2.
Some players in the expectation of features connected broadly with the above didn't want a bolted on expansion encompassing a full FPS version of the game,....at least not yet. I suspect they wanted more of the BGS fleshing out, Power Play, planet atmospheres, and more 'life' being brought into the game etc. hence the saying which has been quoted frequently "A mile wide Galaxy but only an inch deep".
Introducing the SRV though to be fair was (imho), and is, working in this direction, getting players to go down on to the planets to interact with more content. Walking on planets and in stations was the next logical step. Though FPS combat and related features has obviously caused some problems. Perhaps the initial walking about could have been introduced gradually?....might have caused less problems if done in a simpler way to start with, this btw is probably a separate topic in itself, so I won't expand on this.
Question 3.
......All the Developers getting closely together, getting married up and having loads of children? ... Okay, serious answer. In my own opinion the game has to be fairly well received to start with, if the present player base is generally happy playing the game, and is having constant fun, obviously 'Game Reviews' are going to be favourable, players will introduce / recommend their friends to the game, sales go up....sorted. Developers will add new 'working' content to keep the fan base happy, and expand the game to continually keep players interested, which in turn keeps the ball rolling. Counter question to this is though, is this happening at the moment?Question 4. I'll refer you back to the answer to question 1.
Jack.
Postscript, just to add. I don't think players are leaving permanently, playing less in some cases due to many reasons is possibly true, I tend to see this as I play the game. Less player traffic through systems I play in per the '24' hr period. Also on my friends list (I've a modest amount) some players haven't played for weeks, months, and in one case over one year. So in one respect player numbers are possibly going down at the moment...there again it might be only systems I'm frequently in (I'm usually playing on the edge of the bubble btw. broadly over several systems)....and I play almost daily.
Last edited:
If I was as closed minded, I would say We're doomed. Google Bethesda Space 2022.
Starfield is a new sci-fi RPG from the makers of Skyrim and Fallout.
Evochron Legacy SE is somewhat like ED. In any case, no.game is going to be perfect but we have loads of interesting games now. People are better of focussing on things they like rather than being disappointed all games have aspects they don't like.