Now strap in this is going to be a bit of a long post but I'd like to begin with this:
"You never, ever listen to your fan base.
The last thing you should do is follow your fan base. That's all they are - a fan base. There's no ownership. I don't have to deal with them...
They get angry about the very things that they seem to value, that make them fans in the first place."
~~ Neil Young
I think the fans playing the beta and on these forms in particular suffer from case of perceived ownership by the fans. Many if not all fans of games/movies/books tend to identify heavily with their chosen fascination and will often feel slighted when the developers or creators change the product so it is no longer fit their mental image of the product. Even if that mental image never truly reflected what the product ever was. I think this problem is tenfold with this game because of it's kickstarter origins. Many people have a false idea of kickstater, it is not investing or venture capitalism. It is not entering a joint venture with the creator is donating to the creator with the promise to deliver some kind of product that was pitched. Most kickstarter games end up cancelled so they fact that we have a beta at all is a miracle in itself given the odds of kickstarter games actually getting put out.
So now that we identified the root of people's ownership of this game we can talk about the detrimental effects it is having on the game feedback. There are many people on this forum who are taking any difficulty in game as being poor design in need of a change. I've seen topic after topic whine about who it was unfair that they got blown, that they hate PvPers are ruining there day and they shouldn't face setbacks in the game. This idea is taking the game aspect out of Elite. I come from Eve so maybe I'm just used to setbacks that take days to weeks to recover from. However, this attitude that the game should be hand holding, that super cruise should last seconds and take no thought, that PVP is unfair and more are harmful to the overall game. For god's sake the game is called Elite
ANGEROUS not elite:comfy trading or elite:safety, the game is SUPPOSED to be hard, to be dangerous and risky. I've seen people claim that a computer game shouldn't have such harsh penalties, especially for things out of your control (pvp) but this is GAME it is mean to have consequences and failures. What these people seem to want is more akin to a roller coaster than an interactive experience
I would like to introduce two opposite concepts, the theme park game and the sandbox game. The theme park game is what the average game is, it is an mostly linear experience where every player who puts in the time and effort can become overpowered and win the game or become top specced in the game. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a sandbox game is a game that is almost directionless or provides minimal direction. It is not linear and it does not guarantee you will even come close to the top player even if you sinks thousands of hours into it. A think a lot of people here need to understand that Elite is not a theme park game and given the beta it is obviously setting up a sandbox experience you should not try to force it to be something its not.
The main word I think most people need to learn is "patience". People are claiming the two minutes it takes to do super cruise is boring so it should be instantaneous, people are claiming that jumping system to system is tedious so there should be an autopilot. People are saying that trading takes too much thought so the most profitable item within the nearest jump should be calculated in game. ED is my first Elite game so I may be wrong but I think that these game are meant to be mindless space shooters. You are supposed to plan, develop strategy and consider possibilities. If this is a game you can be good at by just allowing everything be done for you then why would you want to play it? Why not just watch a stream of someone playing?
Elite can become just another game you play for weeks or a few months or it could become a game that lasts years to come. The developer obviously has expansions planned and wants this game to become a foundation for a unique experience but they are restricted by people calling for the game to be more "palatable". Do not misunderstand me, I do not mean the developers should shut their ears from all feedback and criticism but they should not fall over themselves to please everyone. I am not claiming they are doing this but there is an expectation that they should be and it's hurtful.
I've said a lot and these are not my full thought but I feel like what I said gets across what I feel about the current state of feedback at the moment.
The game is still in beta and many things will change in the coming months but if we do not be cautious and consider what we are asking for when we make a request we risk making the game common and unremarkable.
"You never, ever listen to your fan base.
The last thing you should do is follow your fan base. That's all they are - a fan base. There's no ownership. I don't have to deal with them...
They get angry about the very things that they seem to value, that make them fans in the first place."
~~ Neil Young
I think the fans playing the beta and on these forms in particular suffer from case of perceived ownership by the fans. Many if not all fans of games/movies/books tend to identify heavily with their chosen fascination and will often feel slighted when the developers or creators change the product so it is no longer fit their mental image of the product. Even if that mental image never truly reflected what the product ever was. I think this problem is tenfold with this game because of it's kickstarter origins. Many people have a false idea of kickstater, it is not investing or venture capitalism. It is not entering a joint venture with the creator is donating to the creator with the promise to deliver some kind of product that was pitched. Most kickstarter games end up cancelled so they fact that we have a beta at all is a miracle in itself given the odds of kickstarter games actually getting put out.
So now that we identified the root of people's ownership of this game we can talk about the detrimental effects it is having on the game feedback. There are many people on this forum who are taking any difficulty in game as being poor design in need of a change. I've seen topic after topic whine about who it was unfair that they got blown, that they hate PvPers are ruining there day and they shouldn't face setbacks in the game. This idea is taking the game aspect out of Elite. I come from Eve so maybe I'm just used to setbacks that take days to weeks to recover from. However, this attitude that the game should be hand holding, that super cruise should last seconds and take no thought, that PVP is unfair and more are harmful to the overall game. For god's sake the game is called Elite
ANGEROUS not elite:comfy trading or elite:safety, the game is SUPPOSED to be hard, to be dangerous and risky. I've seen people claim that a computer game shouldn't have such harsh penalties, especially for things out of your control (pvp) but this is GAME it is mean to have consequences and failures. What these people seem to want is more akin to a roller coaster than an interactive experience I would like to introduce two opposite concepts, the theme park game and the sandbox game. The theme park game is what the average game is, it is an mostly linear experience where every player who puts in the time and effort can become overpowered and win the game or become top specced in the game. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a sandbox game is a game that is almost directionless or provides minimal direction. It is not linear and it does not guarantee you will even come close to the top player even if you sinks thousands of hours into it. A think a lot of people here need to understand that Elite is not a theme park game and given the beta it is obviously setting up a sandbox experience you should not try to force it to be something its not.
The main word I think most people need to learn is "patience". People are claiming the two minutes it takes to do super cruise is boring so it should be instantaneous, people are claiming that jumping system to system is tedious so there should be an autopilot. People are saying that trading takes too much thought so the most profitable item within the nearest jump should be calculated in game. ED is my first Elite game so I may be wrong but I think that these game are meant to be mindless space shooters. You are supposed to plan, develop strategy and consider possibilities. If this is a game you can be good at by just allowing everything be done for you then why would you want to play it? Why not just watch a stream of someone playing?
Elite can become just another game you play for weeks or a few months or it could become a game that lasts years to come. The developer obviously has expansions planned and wants this game to become a foundation for a unique experience but they are restricted by people calling for the game to be more "palatable". Do not misunderstand me, I do not mean the developers should shut their ears from all feedback and criticism but they should not fall over themselves to please everyone. I am not claiming they are doing this but there is an expectation that they should be and it's hurtful.
I've said a lot and these are not my full thought but I feel like what I said gets across what I feel about the current state of feedback at the moment.
The game is still in beta and many things will change in the coming months but if we do not be cautious and consider what we are asking for when we make a request we risk making the game common and unremarkable.
or maybe it was another variation of the name!
