Options
Elite Dangerous
Couldn't find a PC thread on this to bump, anyway the 'premium' Beta is due to start tomorrow (29th), and it's the last chance to order the lifetime expansion pass thing @ 35 quid. Still not sure if I want to pay a 15 quid premium for the beta or just wait for the release. I *loved* Frontier on my Amiga back in the day, but the video I've seen on Dangerous it looks much more flight simmy, switches here there and everywhere. Don't want to shell out ~85 notes on something I may not like, I'll probably just wait for the release version ("this year") but, hmm.
0
Comments
If you are going to buy the beta I would wait a few days as they are having a number of server issues right now and you'll just end up getting frustrated.
I have spent most of this evening trying to connect, but hopefully by the weekend things will be stable. In saying that, I'm not sure if some of the problems are server or actually game related, if the latter then it could be a bit longer than the weekend before they get fixed
In the time I played I enjoyed flying at superluminal speeds towards objects within the star system, it makes the game seem huge, even if there isn't anywhere near loads to do yet compared to the final release.
Went from being excited about this to being very impressed by how it happened to being insanely excited by it and then, finally, being a bit cynical about it in a space of about 48 hours.
Didn't even know it was happening and then stumbled across a review of the latest beta. First game since FC3 that I'm definitely buying. Excitement hits a solid 6.
Read about how it'd been financed, thus meaning the game will be exactly how the backers and the writers want it, with no interference from publishers etc. Excitement climbs to 8.
Stumbled across a video where it's being played on an Oculus Rift DK2 and I'm wondering if I could flog any of the wife's jewellery so I can buy the beta and the DK2 right now. Excitement climbs past 11.
And then I start to read about how they're implementing a "pay to win" system, where people can buy ships and upgrades with real cash rather than, erm, playing the game.
So, instead of people playing the game in the spirit of the original Elite, you're going to get a minority of rich gits and spoilt kids raping those who're playing the game as it should be.
Why, oh why, do developers get greedy these days?
Why can't they be satisfied with just creating a product, selling it, and accepting the cash generated by sales alone?
Why do they feel compelled to create ways to coerce people into buying extra "virtual" stuff to make more money?
Excitement drops back to a 7.
Don't think I'd ever do it (didn't in AC:BF nor GTAV but they're smaller/shorter games) but it's there as an unforced option. It's not as bad as outright systems where you 'have' to pay to get better/avoid grind etc... (EA, I'm looking at you...)
I'm playing the beta at the moment and trust me, you wouldn't be able to buy your way to success given the time it takes to learn to fly properly!!
But to be honest, I'm not fussed if people do pay for ships etc. Given the scale of the game, if someone buys a top ship, it's unlikely to have an effect on me. The great thing about the game is that it's not a competition or battle - just a free roamining game where you can do your own thing.
If people want to pay money through purchases to support it then all power to them.
I see what you mean and I hope that is the case, but the cynic in me is a little concerned.
As you say, even if there are people out there paying money so they can go out "griefing" , with a gazillion planets in the galaxy, it's pretty unlikely you're gonna meet up with them.
After all, there can't be that many people who've got money to burn and want to play Elite and are the sort of people who get their yucks by griefing... can there?
Must say, though, I still don't know why you'd want to shortcut your way to fame and fortune.
If you're treating Elite as a vast sandbox experience where you do whatever you want, surely it shouldn't really matter if you're flying a junker, trading in plastic dog turds (or whatever the in-game equivalent is) cos the experience will still be there.
Don't get me wrong. If people do want to buy a bad-ass ship purely so they can take on dangerous missions sooner, and they have the learning-curve that allows them to survive, good luck to them.
The only thing that really worries me is that a newbie who's late to the party, and not willing to spend the extra cash, could find themselves getting whupped by every man and his dog.
If that doesn't happen, that's great.
In other (related) news, seeing the demo's of ED using an Oculus Rift is making me consider building some kind of VR headset myself.
Seems like the hardware side of it should be fairly straightforward but I'm still trying to find out about whether there are viable (open source) software solutions to make it all work properly.
It occurs to me that if there are viable bits of software out there to drive the motion-tracking properly and output the display, building your own could, effectively, make it much easier to upgrade later on, as higher-resolution, lower latency, LCD panels become available.
Umm, not sure where you're getting your info from, but you certainly can't pay real money for ships. Cosmetic effects and non pay to win stuff will be available. I've been playing since the start of Alpha, read every newsletter, watched every video and am on the official forums daily, so I'm really not sure where you got that bogus information from.
From Tested.com's YT channel.
In one of their video's they said something about how "it's possible to pay hundreds, if not thousands, for ships and upgrades".
Must admit, I had a look on the ED website and the only stuff I could see to buy was a handful of paint jobs for the Viper.
Pretty sure that I've read about people being able to buy in-game ship insurance for real money too and, given that there's no mention of that on the ED website either, I just assumed that these purchases are only available in-game rather than from the store.
If it turns out that there aren't any buyable upgrades, that'd be great news IMO.
*EDIT*
That's odd.
When I typed "tested.com's you-tube channel", abbreviated to "YT", the forums software seems to have edited out the letters YT.
*EDIT2*
Seems to edit the word Y*utube too. Weird or what?
The in game ship insurance is purchased with credits (in game money), the way it's implemented in Beta for now is different to how it will be in release. Everything you've said does apply to Star Citizen however, you can buy ships for ALOT of real money.
Have a read through this subforum for what is planned..
http://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=36
not sure if my pc would even run it but will have to wait and see.
Funny thing is, despite my current interest, I still can't get into X3 and that got me thinking...
Seems like we need to have a decent narrative in games these days. We like to have stories we can follow and objectives that we can strive towards.
Because X3 doesn't really have that, there doesn't seem to be much incentive to progress with the game.
I just wonder how well games like ED and SS will deal with this?
Thinking back, I wonder how I would have felt about a game like Elite if I played it for the first time today?
I recall buying Elite in my lunch-break at school, reading The Dark Wheel that afternoon and, by the time I got home, I was absolutely gagging to get out there in my beaten-up old Cobra.
So, in Elite, even though the game just plonked you in the middle of things with no obvious instructions for how to proceed, at least the novella gave you some idea of what you were supposed to be doing.
I hope ED has enough of a tutorial campaign to create an incentive to actually explore the game properly.
I don't buy too many games at full price, I usually wait for a Steam sale or such like, but I can see me shelling out for this on day one.
https://store.elitedangerous.com/
ONE WEEK TO GO!
Kinda bizarre but I wouldn't be surprised if today turned out to be a bit of a non-event for the fella's at Frontier, given that the vast majority of people who want to buy this game will have probably already bought one of the pre-release bundles.
Be interesting to see how well populated the game universe ends up being.
I doubt they would have enough cash to launch a TV ad so would need to rely on gaming mags and word of mouth.
Still more features to come tho, more ships, thargoids, planetary landings hopefully.
The game will not be for everyone, it's very much a sandbox "make your own story" kind of game and does very little to no hand holding, just - "here's your newbie ship, here's a few Credits, now get on with it.
The game is already up to scratch. Future patches and expansions will only make it even better than it already is.