Elite: Dangerous

[Makabb]

So has this mmo bombed yet ?

 

[J_C]

Also, is it just me or did sound take a severe turn for the worse in Gamma? It used to be really good in Beta, but lost a lot of depth and oomph in gamma.

Well, I'm playing with a nice earplug, and I didn't notice anything particular. Maybe with a better headphone or speaker it would be more noticable. :shrugs:

We're already getting lifetime insurance discounts.

'k. Not getting this one either then.

Wait, you are not getting the game because of this?

So has this mmo bombed yet ?

Yes. Now go and crawl back under your rock.

 

[Haba]

We're already getting lifetime insurance discounts.

'k. Not getting this one either then.

Wait, you are not getting the game because of this?

I've played Elite and Frontier to "Elite", so I'm pretty much done with this genre already. I could do honest PVP, but schemes like this make it impossible. I'd always have more to lose than the guy with the insurance discount. That is a fundamental gap that can never be crossed. I don't mind others getting an early start on things ("free" ships, early access to Sol system etc.), as long as everyone plays by the same rules.

 

[Ulminati]

Many of these will probably break on the 16th, but still useful: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52248

 

[Ulminati]

Proper multiplayer wings delayed but apparently being worked on: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=69795

Lead dev comments

Hello Commanders!

I'd like to make a comment here.

We're currently working on completing the Gamma phase in preparation for the 16th; we want the game to be as rock solid as possible so everyone who jumps in can start having fun from the get go.

But development for Elite: Dangerous will continue unabated. We've many features planned post-launch, some already discussed in the forums, others that haven't been announced.

For example, player wings should hit early next year and our ship roster will continue to grow.

Whenever possible I'll try to keep folks updated in these forums, but I hope you can appreciate that us devs don't always have the time to answer every query, and we don't always have the answer on hand straight away (but don’t let that stop you from asking or discussion – we read a heck of a lot more than we could possibly answer!), so I recommend keeping a weather eye on the newsletters for information as well.

Hello Commanders!

A tiny bit more information on player wings:

It's the ability to mechanically group up with a small number of other players to share rewards and risk. So we are looking at:

* enhanced matchmaking for wingmen
* enhanced/clear feedback for who and where wingmen are
* shared information within the wing
* shared bounties and mission rewards
* on-going mission support for wing gameplay

To be absolutely clear, this is not anything to do with NPC wingmen (though they do sound similar).

And as an added caveat! This is what we are looking at, the final result *may* have more or less bits! To be absolutely, lutely-abso clear.

We definitely want to investigate information sharing.

Apart from the usual technical side (which fortunately, far cleverer folk are looking at) it has some interesting interface challenges - If at all possible I would like to avoid a "standard group panel stuck to the side of the screen" affair. But we'll see. Ensuring a flow of useful information is an important aspect to grouping.

I'm not sure I follow with the concern (I think I'm missing something).

The concept we are looking at is that a wing is treated as a single entity with regards to bounties and non wing ships, and as an equal share group (assuming that all players at least damage the bounty target) for ships in the wing.

So for example, a wing of three ships and a number of police ships are attacking a wanted criminal. If a police ship gets the kill-shot, no bounty is awarded. If any ship in the wing gets the kill shot, all members of the wing who damage the criminal get a bounty claim for an equal share of the bounty.

I don't really see this as inconsistent - it's just one of the benefits of being in a wing (of course, there is an internal trade off in the wing - you accept lower bounty rewards because you share the bounty, but you increase the chance that you will get at least something, as there is an increased chance that the kill shot will be by someone in your wing).

Wings won't be without risk however. As an example, we're looking to do something like, "when you get a bounty issued against you for attacking or destroying a ship, it is multiplied by the difference between the number of ships in your wing and the number of ships in the target 's wing (if any).

So this means that if a four ship wing (likely to initially be the maximum wing size) goes around attacking lone ships, the bounties on them would be four times as big. This should make them more appetizing to would be bounty hunters, and pose a bigger credit penalty for paying them off.

Of course, apologies if I have misunderstood you!


Of course, Sammo Hung - legend!

With regards to voice coms: we already have a group chat capability, which we want to try and finesse for wings, so that a wing has a chat channel that operates over any distance and has an easy to use opt in/out interface.


To clarify: we definitely are doing wings. We're going to make it as good as we possibly can.

We're actually pulling away from the idea of drive slaving, for a couple of reasons. Technically it's pretty treacherous. Also, we are grown a little cold on it's actual usage, looking at how the game is played. So, sorry, it's not on the cards. instead, we want to try and make it as obvious and easy as possible to understand where your wing is and how to get to them.

What i mean is actually more about the way super cruise acceleration works. We deal with absolutely massive variation in speeds (players can be travelling at 30kms per second or hundreds of times the speed of light, with vast acceleration and deceleration). It's (assuming you can find and communicate with the person) not too difficult to get into the same area as other ships (relatively speaking of course, super cruise distances are huge), whilst technically challenging to do it automatically if you suffer any game communication issue.

For me, the real issues here are things like feedback (trying to find out where the hell everyone is) and simple things like finicky dropping out a the right spot (again, having to know where it is) complying with the fairly precise requirements (distance, speed, angle). These are much more likely to be much easier to tweak and get basically the same result: players that can easily find, travel and transition together. Which really is the end goal, yes?

Assuming that the initial interdiction is one on one, surely the skill in piloting from both the defenders and attackers will be the deciding feature in terms of who turns up to help in order.

I take the point about a trader trying to escape, but: most ships can survive a bit of a beating and interdiction can take time, so as long as we can signal it clearly enough, additional defenders can muster and start getting ready to help even before the interdiction completes. The result could be that (again, based on player skill - but that's a good thing, right?) the actual time "alone" with the bad guy might be very small.

ETA: "Early 2015"

 

[J_C]

Great. If they were pushing Elite as a multiplayer game so much that they scraped the offline mode, maybe they should have worked on this feature a little faster. You know, because shared gameplay with others is an important part of multiplayer games.

 

[Ulminati]

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE!

Hi guys,

This is just a quick update to confirm that there won't be a wipe at launch.

Any questions (I'm sure you've got 'em

) put them in the thread below, and we'll get back to you ASAP.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=70786

 

[J_C]

Wow, great. I can keep all my 100k credits.

 

[Ulminati]

I have ~20 million right now, so I'm pretty happy I get to keep 'em.

I say we all align with the same faction after the Emperor dies on the 16th and work together to take down Senator Blaine.

 

[bonescraper]

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE!

Hi guys,

This is just a quick update to confirm that there won't be a wipe at launch.

Any questions (I'm sure you've got 'em

) put them in the thread below, and we'll get back to you ASAP.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=70786

 

[Ulminati]

"Naw Ulmi, I don't wanna play ED. They'll wipe us for sure. What's the point?"

 

[Bradylama]

We're already getting lifetime insurance discounts.

'k. Not getting this one either then.

Wait, you are not getting the game because of this?

I've played Elite and Frontier to "Elite", so I'm pretty much done with this genre already. I could do honest PVP, but schemes like this make it impossible. I'd always have more to lose than the guy with the insurance discount. That is a fundamental gap that can never be crossed. I don't mind others getting an early start on things ("free" ships, early access to Sol system etc.), as long as everyone plays by the same rules.

It really isn't that big of a deal. The insurance costs don't get very big until you hit the Cobra stage of the game, and that's only if you load it up with high class upgrades. You could fly around an eagle for pennies on the Credit, and it's still a superior combat platform than ships that outclass it just for its maneuverability.

 

[Ulminati]

We're already getting lifetime insurance discounts.

'k. Not getting this one either then.

Wait, you are not getting the game because of this?

I've played Elite and Frontier to "Elite", so I'm pretty much done with this genre already. I could do honest PVP, but schemes like this make it impossible. I'd always have more to lose than the guy with the insurance discount. That is a fundamental gap that can never be crossed. I don't mind others getting an early start on things ("free" ships, early access to Sol system etc.), as long as everyone plays by the same rules.

It really isn't that big of a deal. The insurance costs don't get very big until you hit the Cobra stage of the game, and that's only if you load it up with high class upgrades. You could fly around a cobra for pennies on the Credit, and it's still a superior combat platform than ships that outclass it just for its maneuverability.

ATM I'm flying in a fully upgraded cobra valued ~4.5 million. My insurance cost after crashing into the side of a space station losing a heroic 1v20 fight against foul player pirates is ~100k. I make ~250k doing a 20min rare goods trade run. Insurance costs aren't that prohibitive.

A fully kitted sidewinder is ~25k to replace and that's actually more fun to use in a fight than a cobra. (The cobras weapon placement is arse). For pure fighting there's really no reason to upgrade between the Eagle and the python/asp. The Medium weapons damage output isn't big enough to warrant the loss in maneuvrebility.

 

[SuicideBunny]

I could do honest PVP, but schemes like this make it impossible. I'd always have more to lose than the guy with the insurance discount. That is a fundamental gap that can never be crossed. I don't mind others getting an early start on things ("free" ships, early access to Sol system etc.), as long as everyone plays by the same rules.

but you never have the same to lose either way, because your actual loss is measured by how much it impacts you, which in turn is affected by how much money you have in the bank and how quickly you can make more of it to recoup losses, which is where starting stuff gives you a huge fucking advantage. you're implying that two players, one of which is using his freegle, and has millions of creds either way, to ditch it out with another, who just barely made enough to buy an eagle and outfit it in the same way, doesn't own shit besides it, and has no fucking clue how to trade properly yet, stand the same to gain/lose in the fight when their ship insurance is equal...

 

[Haba]

...as equal as it can be in an environment like this. I knows, I've played H&H for year(s). Oh well, I'll keep an eye on what goes on, especially after Oculus Rift gets released. By then this will probably have shaped up quite a bit.

 

[SuicideBunny]

...as equal as it can be in an environment like this.

no, not really.
but so far the inequality is limited to stuff that you can make up easily with skill or just time, whether it's ship insurance discounts, starter ship choice, bonus ships for preorders, or getting to play in gamma without getting wiped.
as long as they don't fuck it up with something like ship spec bonis for backers/preorders, it can all be nullified with skill and devotion.

 

[SmartCheetah]

So, I'm the only poor fella there who thought that they're gonna wipe it anyway? Damn it. I'm in sidewinder, with like 60k creds(eagle sold already)
Sucks to be me, but I still got a few days.

 

[J_C]

So, I'm the only poor fella there who thought that they're gonna wipe it anyway? Damn it. I'm in sidewinder, with like 60k creds(eagle sold already)
Sucks to be me, but I still got a few days.

You are not the only one bro, not the only one.

 

[Bradylama]

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE!

Hi guys,

This is just a quick update to confirm that there won't be a wipe at launch.

Any questions (I'm sure you've got 'em

) put them in the thread below, and we'll get back to you ASAP.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=70786

Now there's no reason for me not to exploit rare item runs up to the release date. Daddy needs a fully pimped out Eagle for to get my war on.

 

[bonescraper]

Yeah. Fuck Frontier Developments. That was a dick move.

 

[Ulminati]

Yeah. Fuck frontier. Doing what they said they would in the newsletter.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Yeah. Fuck frontier. Doing what they said they would

for once...

 

[bonescraper]

Doing what they said they would in the newsletter.

They said a lot in their newsletters.

Which one you had in mind?

 

[Ulminati]

 

[Eirikur]

I've slowly come to realize that Elite isn't my kind of game. It especially hit me today, once I realized that I'm not motivated to log on despite the fact that there won't be a wipe (speaking as someone who's been playing Gamma for roughly a week).

The first reason is that Elite feels very soulless; it's as though I'm an AI that's moving around in a sterile environment in order to interact with other computers. The second reason is that I strongly dislike that players can grind extremely lucrative rare goods in order to get filthy rich in no-time (I had thought this would be fixed, and that there'd be a wipe). The third reason is that Elite seems more grind-based than skill-based, contrary to my initial impression (which gives no-lifers an excessive advantage). It also irks me that players can move back-and-forth between solo and open mode without any consequences. Ultimately it seems unjust to me that players can grind their way to the top risk-free in solo mode, then enter open play with all those privileges compared to players who expose themselves to considerable risk all the time. Ideally I would've loved to see an open-only server with Ironman mode, but that won't happen.

Then again, perhaps sci-fi games like Elite just aren't my cup of tea genre-wise. I'll just bide my time with The Forest and Dead State until H1Z1 becomes available in Early Access and The Witcher 3 is released.