The big problem with so many of those story arcs and riddles, is that players kept bypassing them altogether, and “solving” them through meta means, such as figuring out locations from the pattern in the skybox in promotional pictures, and then brute-force scouring the area, which is one heck of a feat in its own right, but not something an in-universe commander would have had access to, and taking away the carefully authored narrative. Some would use superlatives such as “emergent”, and “subverting”, but I’m somewhat less enthusiastic. :7
…and then, of course, once the first player has “solved” it - it is spoiled for everybody else.
I cannot disagree regarding the experience of ED being limited. In fact, when playing outside VR, the game has not been at all compelling for me. The game-play has been lacking for some time and fleet carriers proved how out of touch FDev is with its player base.
However, the visceral experience in VR that makes one feel “I am sitting in a real spaceship!” kept me coming back since I started since in beta and got be to buy into the LTP despite the lack of more meaningful game play and narrative. I have never cared about multiplayer and have rarely played in open. However, the experience of being able to travel the galaxy, seeing the amazing sites the stellar forge provided was, and still is, unmatched. (Yes, I occasionally enjoy NMS in VR but it is not at all the same experience.) I always hoped the game play would improve but the thought that the experience I enjoyed is going to be neglected and will never fulfill the promises David Braben sold me on 7 years ago is very disappointing.
Maybe I will spend some more time in Space Engine.
Well that is absolutely true, but not sure if there is any easy solution short of enforcing single player only and turning off the internet
I also have to say that I was definitely not always smart enough to figure out the solutions and quite glad at times to have someone else to rely on hehe
Actually this is also one thing I owe to ED. I would probably never have got into VR or at least had a chance to try it and make my own mind up at the FDev Expo in London without it. And then I may never have heard of Pimax and be on this forum right now!
Just to pilot the space ship through a basic take off, supercruise, landing, is indeed somewhat simpler in ED. But to become ‘competent’ - earning billions of credits, unlocking all engineers (seriously, the ‘engineers’ grind!), gathering all materials, fully engineering ships, knowing the latest PvP meta builds, and having the precision to take snapshots for half an hour straight in a PvP 1v1…
Comparatively, in DCS World, you could take all the training modules (Eagle Dynamics has really filled these in for some capable aircraft like the FA18C), at least when you are done with that and your keybinds - you have a top-end PvP capable aircraft right there.
Elite - the very title Elite - reflects that FDev wants the game to be about becoming Elite, not about actually being Elite.
No real world has the degree of wealth inequality Elite Dangerous does.
By TVTropes standards, Open in Elite Dangerous is a wretched hive, and not in any good way for the players.
it’s FDev’s lack of vision for what the gameplay could be
It wouldn’t take them much to figure it out, or hire someone who actually knows how things work. In fact, they have actively rejected suggestions from the community, except perhaps from the few who they perceive to align with their own vision.
I have a similar story. I had a DK1 and was waiting for the DK2 when I saw Cymatic Bruce playing ED in VR. He was so blown away, I bought ED right away back in beta even though it cost like $80, or something like that, back then. Received my DK2 about the time I first loaded up ED. He was not wrong. Back then, I remember starting in space. I remember approaching my first space station, a Coriolis. I was flying around in my Sidey trying to find out what to do. I was just so overwhelmed with the size of the thing! The first time I managed to figure out how to charge the frameshift drive and enter witchspace, I was almost in tears. Even back then, with the DK2’s terrible resolution, I was realizing a dream I never thought possible; flying in space with my own spaceship!
ED was in its early days back then and there were only a few systems you could visit and even fewer things you could do. I didn’t care. I was hooked! I listened to Braben talk about all the plans he had and was so excited, I bought a LTP. I have followed it since that time, watching it develop, for better or worse, excited to try out each new feature as it released. When Horizons released, I was blown away again. The possibilities were endless…or so I thought. It just seems like FDev has lost their way. Fleet carriers was an example of that. I never even played the beta. I have enough credits. I’m triple elite. I just didn’t see the point.
I guess, like you, my desire to make it MORE real was what brought be here, waiting on my 8kx. When it finally comes, it will be bittersweet to fire up the 8kx to see what ED looks like. To imagine what could have been but will never be.
I still have 1 major goal in ED: I need to rank-up my combat level, so that I will reach triple elite. I’m not sure what I’ll do after that. I’ve circumnavigated the galaxy and been to Beagle Point 3 times, so even though I really have enjoyed exploration, I need to move on.
I think I’ll enjoy the new Microsoft Flight Simulator, once they add VR support and I’ll eventually play Half-Life: Alyx, once I have some VR controllers.
I’m looking for an easy, fun experience, not a hard-core sim. I’ve played earlier versions of MS Flight Sim, which is why it appeals to me. I actually have DCS installed (still), but I felt intimidated by it. Of course, I found ED to be intimidating at first too.
Then consider Aerofly FS2. But really, what makes DCS World more complicated is the buttons that do things other than just flying. And what makes X-Plane more complicated (so far at least) has been the need for third party software.
By the time the Pimax Vision 8kX reaches customers in quantity, I hope to have my JoystickGremlin keybindings ported back to the T16000 stick (this is very easy to do), as well as a clear X-Plane Pimax setup tutorial.
I got into Elite playing on a cheap t-flight Hotas X, built a DIY webcam based IR headtracking rig and that was great.
Then i was given a google cardboard and combined the two and got my first taste of “VR” and while lowres on the phone i had i decided to pick up the first real VR hmd that came within reach.
Found a DK2 within bus range the next week and when i fired up the game in my sidewinder i was giggling and halfway crying with joy saying “ive got a space ship in my living room” aloud!
You should listen to Drew Wagar‘s Lore Tour, look it up on Youtube. He also states quite often how FDev turned down many attempts even by the authors they hired to give the game some more flesh content-wise, for reasons nobody really knows. Somehow it seems David Braben just doesn‘t want to give any bit of control about something substantial in the game to anybody else while not having the time and/or lust to work something out himself…
This! When I tried to play it in flat last year, boy, what a disappointment. It really was derived of its soul for me and exposed as a mediocre grind game with having little going in its favour. Take the huge immersion away which VR provides here and there is not that much left to drag me in.
I guess it all depends, I never felt the need to to max out in every aspect. I do the things I enjoy and that’s enough for me. I earnt millions not billions, unlocked the engineers that I wanted / could be bothered with, did the engineering upgrades that I cared for etc etc. I’ve haven’t really been into PvP since Quake so that’s not an arms race I needed to win any more
Re tutorials, yes it’s good that there’s quite a few, but I still find them difficult at times. They rely too much on assumptions of prior knowledge. The experts in these don’t know how to make them for beginners who don’t know the referenced acronyms or concepts too well. When I was last simming I had Gunship 2000 and Jane’s US Navy Fighters…! I am slowly getting there though, with the time I can give it.
Becoming Elite…well the aim of the original game was to up your rating from Harmless to Elite. Not much different to becoming ‘Top Gun’ etc. And let’s not forget, in 84, there was Pac Man and Space Invaders. And then Braben and Bell wrote an open world, 3D, space game where your character could switch between combat trade and exploration paths at will. And it went on a 5.25" floppy disk. Hours spent to free up 1k to get an extra feature. The revolution of that concept can never be overstated. And a few years in, even as a 7 year old I wondered, ‘what if all the Elite players could play together’…so 35+ years on, any complaints from me need to be kept in context.
Peer to peer architecture allowed them to create the vast scale of ED, but was a double edged sword because it wrecked any chance of persistence beyond the background sim. It’s clear that games will always need a client-server element somewhere in the mix for gameplay. FDev only used servers for matchmaking, never general play. All handled client side - so when a lone player quits, that bubble of the universe ends, deleting all the objects within it. And this will almost certainly never change, they have one system with no roadmap or plans to improve it afaik.
Couldn’t care less about playing Ed as a FPS. As the son of a respected astronomer, my main lure was exploration with the occasional bout of dog fighting.
The “grind” was never my favourite part, but managed a few million on rares trading to buy a few ships. For the money spent, I got more than enough from Ed, but very seldom play it now.
I always enjoyed the attention to detail as a galaxy sim and would spend more time in it if they were to release more planet types (atmosphere) that could be landed on and explored.
When i bought my Rift it was for DCS, Ed and Dirt Rally and would have been happy if that was all i could do in my basement. Then they put my hands in the game and broadened my horizons far beyond what I ever expected to play,
Now I can play golf, tennis, billiards, boxing, archery, kayaking, bowling, fly a wingsuit, etc. Add to that, that ALYX (and Boneworks) has made it very hard for me to accept less now in the FPS genre in terms of interaction and graphics fidelity.
With all this, if FDevs fail to draw me back in with some compelling new gameplay, I won’t lose any sleep. Got my money’s worth.
60 years ago, I would never have dreamed all this would be done in my basement (in VR), despite the “Jetsons”
Kind of my feeling as well. But I also have a vague impression FDev is intent on going ‘publisher’, as a career path toward making money while doing absolutely nothing.
Fair enough. Arguably though, until you are PvP capable in Elite, you are not on equal footing with those who are. Where as in DCS World, when you know how to fly the aircraft, it’s yours, and that’s it. And when you don’t, you’re free to learn.
Try the FA18C tutorials. They are improving very rapidly better. In fact, the FA18C is still getting so much attention, even with the F16C being added, that the FA18C Hornet will probably remain the premium DCS World experience for the forseeable future.
Having an effective OVRDrop panel setup is probably a crucial step though. Being able to bring up actual checklists, YouTube tutorials, etc, from inside the aircraft, can be really essential.
I also don’t mind the money I spent on Elite. I do feel however, it has become abundantly obvious FDev intentionally used vaporware to deliberately hold back the technology, and are now reaping a comfortable retirement from that.
Thank you so very much for pointing that out. The conclusions of the OP in that topic are basically correct. But oh look, the topic was locked, what a surprise!
By the way, here is my Elite Dangerous story. A bit long, but I think it addresses some of the wonder a new player sees in what it could be, and the disappointment at the absolute lack of things FDev is willing to make it.
You even say on your closing post, we dont know how this is going to work.
I know there are way to many posts about VR currently.
We have been told to post about our concerns so that the Forum DEV’s can see them, My post IS a concern and is factual.
Please reinstate it.
thanks.
I got this reply…
The CMs are having a hard enough trouble keeping up with the two main threads that we have.
If you have genuine concerns then it would be better to have them all in one of two places, rather than spread around the forum where it would be easy for the CM team to miss them. This isn’t a decision I’ve come to off my own back. So sorry but I won’t be reinstating your thread.
Cheers
Are the CM’s telling mods what posts are allowed to be seen ?
