Will a basic Sidewinder have any teeth?

[Splendour]

In the current alpha I can take on an NPC Cobra with a basic pulse laser Sidewinder, and win more then half the time if I get the drop on him.

With improvements to AI this may not be possible however, as it rather relies on getting inside their reach as it were, pursuing them when they try and put distance between you. Let them get a couple of 3km runups to fire on you from and you're toast. If they turned when 4+ km from you life would be much harder.

 

[ubermick]

Micro-transactions are a tricky question. They are a great way for Frontier to monetize the game over long term and keep a steady stream of income. If done wrong it alienates the base and creates resentment though.

World of Tanks is a great success in part because of the really well done free-to-play model. Elite is of course a premium game, so any micropurchases should be on the cheap side and such that won't effect the game balance. I also wouldn't like to see the Star Citizen style credit buying, but I could be persuaded to buy some premium tokens for a nice custom paint-job or a decal on my favorite ship.

I get what you're saying, but it could also be viewed as being nickel and dimed (favourite American saying, haha) by the company. Let's be fair here, the vast majority of us (at the moment anyways) are not only paying the normal MSRP for a computer game, we've all paid 2x, 3x, or even 6x (or more for some) over that to get the game funded and going. I get the impression that future expansion packs will come at a cost (to those on standard beta and for people who buy the game normally) so think FD are doing quite well revenue-wise.

Very much against micro purchases. At the very least, there should be no way of accumulating credits without earning them. I can forsee serious issues if credits become (by extension) an actual currency, we'll see people looking for ways to exploit the system, theft, and the potential fallout for someone losing something actually tangible rather than time and effort.

 

[Iskariot]

How far can you go in a sidewinder? I may become so attached I might not be able to trade it in!

Well you can own multiple ships, so if you want to keep your first ship you will have to earn a lot more money, because you will have nothing to trade in.

That, by the way is an excellent idea. I will do this myself. There should be an achievement for commanders who have kept their first ship throughout the entire game, even if it is in storage.
It would be a very nostalgic experience after hundreds of hours of playing time still being able to get into your first Sidewinder, although most likely you will blow it up at a certain point .

Frankly the game gets boring when you have all the credits you want and don't know what to do with them. However should you wish to transfer them to me I will post my bank account details to you

I hope the game will force me to use all the money I can get. I hope the Elite universe will be an expensive one. For example I want to have to buy a bounty hunter license for certain sectors, or I want to pay a docking fee for every time I dock. I would not even mind having to pay for trading licenses and more stuff like that.

 

[HaB1971]

Yeah it has plenty of teeth and when used in small groups or packs it can be very effective... Like the two greifers yesterday in the asteroid belt who would shoot up any human players they saw and the only reason they survived is that they stuck together...

Bugs in the Federal Bond zone can cause all of the pirates in their sidewinders to come after you rather than the one you attacked... you don't easily survive that...

 

[Yaffle]

Yeah it has plenty of teeth and when used in small groups or packs it can be very effective... Like the two greifers yesterday in the asteroid belt who would shoot up any human players they saw and the only reason they survived is that they stuck together...

Bugs in the Federal Bond zone can cause all of the pirates in their sidewinders to come after you rather than the one you attacked... you don't easily survive that...

Yep that did for me today, like being surrounded by a swarm of very angry hornets. With lasers.

 

[Adept]

Very much against micro purchases. At the very least, there should be no way of accumulating credits without earning them. I can forsee serious issues if credits become (by extension) an actual currency, we'll see people looking for ways to exploit the system, theft, and the potential fallout for someone losing something actually tangible rather than time and effort.

The free to play model works because 1 - 10% of the playerbase of a game are willing to buy funny hats, convenient shortcuts, custom decals etc etc. Of it's done right, you never have to worry about it, and aren't required to pay anything.

It is not inherently evil when done correctly. I think Elite can do really well as a premium game, but I wouldn't be surprised if Frontier dip their toe in the DLC pool.

 

[Yaffle]

It is not inherently evil when done correctly. I think Elite can do really well as a premium game, but I wouldn't be surprised if Frontier dip their toe in the DLC pool.

I think there is a certain level of signalling there with the phrase "major" updates being used in the new update pack (whatever it's called) in the store.

 

[Stu]

Does anyone know if the basic Sidewinder will be fitted with a cargo scoop or if not how much one will cost?
I have seen the 'Alphas' scooping things up, maybe the scoop was fitted as standard for this test but will not be in the general release...?

 

[Aleksej]

Does anyone know if the basic Sidewinder will be fitted with a cargo scoop or if not how much one will cost?
I have seen the 'Alphas' scooping things up, maybe the scoop was fitted as standard for this test but will not be in the general release...?

I have not seen this information in the announcements for the next release.

 

[ubermick]

It is not inherently evil when done correctly. I think Elite can do really well as a premium game, but I wouldn't be surprised if Frontier dip their toe in the DLC pool.

Inherently evil, no. But as has been pointed out, most games that ask for cash once gameplay has started are free to download initially. Download the client, get started, realize everything is nigh on impossible, pull out the credit card for a little bit of a kickstart. (and then subsequent transactions after that).

Maybe I'm being selfish in a way, but when I look at how ED is coming along where it's been backed to the hilt and exceeded the funding goal, still having people paying over the odds to gain beta access, all before the game - which will be sold at a normal premium game price - goes on sale, FD making more money through even more methods isn't important to me. This game is already morphing into a bit of a cash cow for them, and as a customer/backer, my primary concern is having an extremely enjoyable game that everyone will like rather than padding a company's already increasing profit margin.

Anyways, DLC is already confirmed, isn't it? Beyond Premium Beta backers, people will have to pay for the various expansions that are released? (Assuming those expansions will be the ones where we can land on planets, walk around stations, etc.?)

 

[Adept]

@Ubermick (or should that be übermick?)

For a premium game like this one, it's just very important to keep the in-app purchases as cosmetics and other things that don't effect gameplay in a major way.

I'm sure you wouldn't mind if they well decals or ship paint jobs for micro-payments. The idea is that nobody forces you to buy any "funny hats", but there is a market for those, and the people for do help fund the game further for everybody, you included

 

[kenwshmt]

I specifically avoided amiga elite because of the 'scan hyper cloud' crash. That was an ender for me. such a basic function.