I've been wanting to post this for a while in as much detail as possible, so pardon me if I write a small paper here, but I really think moving away from a 2 game in 1 set up to a more seamless single game with multiple modes will be best for the game. At the moment I've been playing odyssey and letting all my normal elite dangerous stuff slack, like my power play, fleet carrier, etc. I think this is largely because odyssey and "elite dangerous" are 2 different games in the same fictional world, and the mechanics implemented lend support to this.
Examples -
1 - Entirely different material categories
1a - There is zero interaction between "odyssey" materials, and "elite dangerous" materials.
2 - Entirely different engineers
2a - A ship engineer that can make the top of the line huge (size 4) beam laser can't engineer a laser rifle? hmmm okey, this clearly is just to divide the 2 games further.
3 - Entirely different missions
3a - Why can't I take an assassination mission and choose how to find the target? Do I wait for him on the shipping lane he tends to ply his trade near, or do I try and find him drunk at the pirate base for a quick on foot kill? Once again it's a mechanic that keeps the game separate both engineering/materials and even storyline wise with the missions.
3b - Players cannot access both types of missions from the normal space station menu, and must disembark on foot to find odyssey missions, while the opposite is true as well.
4 - Multi-Crew/NPC crew use exclusion
4a - Cannot use npc's in ground missions as ground support or even ship support which further shows how mechanics in the games are seperated.
5 - No way to gain Power Play merits, or fight thargoids
5a - Power play and thargoid incursions are a big part of Elite Dangerous storyline. I have very high hopes these get resolved soon though, base factions seem like a logical starting point for a roll out, then moving on from there. But with everything else I do believe this adds in even more to further separate the two games.
I believe if these points are addressed the game will start to become more seamless in terms of gameplay and storyline. I'll be so bold as to put my suggestion for each point in.
1 - To fix engineering I would gradually roll out new blueprints that upgrade ship modules using odyssey materials, and ground gear that uses the traditional materials. Or perhaps a way to refine traditional materials like carbon into carbon fibre plating? There are a lot of ways it could be done, but I believe merging is essential for making the games seamless.
2 - In conjunction with #1 I would merge "inventory/storage". The planetary stuff still tends to follow the raw/manufactured/encoded trend so this should be easy. Also with the bartender extend the function to all materials, and people will want to buy odyssey just to help with the material grind in the traditional game. While at the same time allowing space players to outfit for land gameplay and people that mainly do land gameplay outfit for space if they so choose. I cannot over exaggerate that last bit, being able to switch without having to commit to months of grinding something newish as a newb with 30 billion credits really kills the will, and at the moment I would more than likely suggest to a friend to get elite dangerous but wait on odyssey because at the moment it's a different game.
3 - This one would be easy for stuff like assassination missions, but gradual work to make it accomplishable in part with ships I think is something Fdev are already working on. But over all merging the mission systems into one seamless system I think would be very beneficial for the game in terms of overall inclusion. At the moment the whole system really drives home the segregation of the two games, where I think the best path for the future is a more seamless transition between the two.
4 - This is collecting almost 20% of my profits make him useful damnit! That's all.
5 - I really think Fdev got plans for this already, and I can't wait to see, but would like to see other stuff fixed first since the other points tend to drive home the separation of the games much harder for newer players.
Now I have such radical suggestions and prioritized them as follows because I firmly believe new players are the life blood of the Elite Dangerous game in terms of economics and refreshing the social community. That said the two games as they are now are too separate to really draw newer players in, in the same way. I've heard a lot of people say they would recommend elite dangerous but not odyssey at the moment because of how things stand in terms of it being like a whole different game in the same fictional world. I can't help but feel the same way in a lot of respect minus one, I know Fdev will work on it and make it a fun game, hopefully a more seamless one to. In the same way engineers were a carrot on stick for horizons I believe the bartender can be for odyssey with some revisions to the material system, which I believe in turn would help with play retention because now they can grind how they enjoy grinding to get what they need to try something new and fancy! Or you can stick with old ED and have to do each grind separately with a bit more tediousness because odds are you don't enjoy all the methods. Once a player reaches a certain point they stick around for storyline, faction gameplay, power play, thargoid incursion storyline, squadron stuff or something like that, so ensuring those are seamless in terms of gameplay between odyssey and ED. Overall I believe starting with the initial suggestions will promote newer purchases of the game, make it more enjoyable for everyone, then when rolling out to further suggestions down the priority list I think it'll help retain those players, and secure future purchases of ARX and expansions.
If you took the time to read it all, thanks
Examples -
1 - Entirely different material categories
1a - There is zero interaction between "odyssey" materials, and "elite dangerous" materials.
2 - Entirely different engineers
2a - A ship engineer that can make the top of the line huge (size 4) beam laser can't engineer a laser rifle? hmmm okey, this clearly is just to divide the 2 games further.
3 - Entirely different missions
3a - Why can't I take an assassination mission and choose how to find the target? Do I wait for him on the shipping lane he tends to ply his trade near, or do I try and find him drunk at the pirate base for a quick on foot kill? Once again it's a mechanic that keeps the game separate both engineering/materials and even storyline wise with the missions.
3b - Players cannot access both types of missions from the normal space station menu, and must disembark on foot to find odyssey missions, while the opposite is true as well.
4 - Multi-Crew/NPC crew use exclusion
4a - Cannot use npc's in ground missions as ground support or even ship support which further shows how mechanics in the games are seperated.
5 - No way to gain Power Play merits, or fight thargoids
5a - Power play and thargoid incursions are a big part of Elite Dangerous storyline. I have very high hopes these get resolved soon though, base factions seem like a logical starting point for a roll out, then moving on from there. But with everything else I do believe this adds in even more to further separate the two games.
I believe if these points are addressed the game will start to become more seamless in terms of gameplay and storyline. I'll be so bold as to put my suggestion for each point in.
1 - To fix engineering I would gradually roll out new blueprints that upgrade ship modules using odyssey materials, and ground gear that uses the traditional materials. Or perhaps a way to refine traditional materials like carbon into carbon fibre plating? There are a lot of ways it could be done, but I believe merging is essential for making the games seamless.
2 - In conjunction with #1 I would merge "inventory/storage". The planetary stuff still tends to follow the raw/manufactured/encoded trend so this should be easy. Also with the bartender extend the function to all materials, and people will want to buy odyssey just to help with the material grind in the traditional game. While at the same time allowing space players to outfit for land gameplay and people that mainly do land gameplay outfit for space if they so choose. I cannot over exaggerate that last bit, being able to switch without having to commit to months of grinding something newish as a newb with 30 billion credits really kills the will, and at the moment I would more than likely suggest to a friend to get elite dangerous but wait on odyssey because at the moment it's a different game.
3 - This one would be easy for stuff like assassination missions, but gradual work to make it accomplishable in part with ships I think is something Fdev are already working on. But over all merging the mission systems into one seamless system I think would be very beneficial for the game in terms of overall inclusion. At the moment the whole system really drives home the segregation of the two games, where I think the best path for the future is a more seamless transition between the two.
4 - This is collecting almost 20% of my profits make him useful damnit! That's all.
5 - I really think Fdev got plans for this already, and I can't wait to see, but would like to see other stuff fixed first since the other points tend to drive home the separation of the games much harder for newer players.
Now I have such radical suggestions and prioritized them as follows because I firmly believe new players are the life blood of the Elite Dangerous game in terms of economics and refreshing the social community. That said the two games as they are now are too separate to really draw newer players in, in the same way. I've heard a lot of people say they would recommend elite dangerous but not odyssey at the moment because of how things stand in terms of it being like a whole different game in the same fictional world. I can't help but feel the same way in a lot of respect minus one, I know Fdev will work on it and make it a fun game, hopefully a more seamless one to. In the same way engineers were a carrot on stick for horizons I believe the bartender can be for odyssey with some revisions to the material system, which I believe in turn would help with play retention because now they can grind how they enjoy grinding to get what they need to try something new and fancy! Or you can stick with old ED and have to do each grind separately with a bit more tediousness because odds are you don't enjoy all the methods. Once a player reaches a certain point they stick around for storyline, faction gameplay, power play, thargoid incursion storyline, squadron stuff or something like that, so ensuring those are seamless in terms of gameplay between odyssey and ED. Overall I believe starting with the initial suggestions will promote newer purchases of the game, make it more enjoyable for everyone, then when rolling out to further suggestions down the priority list I think it'll help retain those players, and secure future purchases of ARX and expansions.
If you took the time to read it all, thanks
