No matter what, I think new content is always something to look forward to. So yes I'm looking forward to the new update. Having said that I have concerns. From what I have seen so far the focus has been on new mechanics and not new things to do or discover. Exploration for example, so far the new mechanics look cool and I have no doubt they'll make exploring more interesting... at first. What I wonder though is how interesting an engaging players will find those new mechanics the hundredth time they've done them. The Guardian sites were interesting until, for me, about the 5th or 6th time I had to repeat them after that it became a chore. What exploration needs is things to find outside of the bubble, hopefully that's what we get.
Of the group that were invited to F. Dev. I know DJ, Bognogus and Malic. For me looking at this group says more about the current state of the game than anything about the future. DJ and Bognogus will rave about Elite Dangerous but what is more telling to me about them is the fact that a year ago if you randomly checked out their stream you'd see them playing Elite Dangerous. Now, if you randomly check in to their streams you are unlikely to see any Elite Dangerous game play. You'll see things like stellaris, No Man's Sky or War Frame. This isn't a shot at these guys you can still think any product is good and still use an alternative. However, it should be concerning to F. Dev. when some of your most enthusiastic boosters drastically reduce the amount of ED game play they feature.
In the end I hope FD knocks it out of the park with the Q4 udate and replicates what the 'Next' update did for NMS. It'd be nice to see my in game friends lists go from being mostly a memorial site of ex-players to a list of active player I can wing up with.
