Re: Elite: Dangerous - and the return

[Zireael]

Wow, those rings!

And there's a Beta already?

If you expected a MMO game without griefing, well, it doesn't happen.

[Cody]

The new ranks and badges are in the latest newsletter... hmm.

Over the centuries the Pilots Federation has remained secretive in nature and neutral in conflicts, and has grown into one of the dominant financial superpowers of the galaxy through its GalNet data network. Originally a star chart, ship data and bounty management system, GalNet has evolved into an effective galactic infrastructure and content monopoly on news, market pricing and communication systems. This has not been without controversy, with periodic claims of data hoarding and abuse of its position. It’s not surprising that an organization founded on status, and with such influence and power, has several cliques (The Dark Wheel being the most infamous). Or that those of Elite rank have further exploited their status and the incredible demand for their services, by forming an organization within an organization; the Elite Pilots Federation.

Relentless, increasingly well organized piracy and the need to maintain their reputation and influence as the best of the best caused the Elite Pilots Federation to start opening its membership to candidates from the Deadly rank who were able to pass a rigorous test and then, as demand continued to soar, to those from the Dangerous rank.

The Pilots Federation has eschewed being tied to any particular system in favour of roaming the stars. With one exception – the Founders World.

The elusive Founders World system is governed by the Elite Pilots Federation, and run exclusively for the benefit of their members. Its location is closely guarded, heavily protected, and the subject of extensive misinformation on GalNet.

[Disembodied]

Um ... is it just me, or does the progression Dangerous - Deadly - Elite look a bit like the badge is – how can put this? - laying an egg, maybe?

[Keeper]

Laying an egg? Naw... looks like it's a representation of people who will come across you. The closer you are to Elite, the browner their trousers.

[Cody]

There does seem to be something lacking in FD's design department - the forum header is amateurish (and don't get me started on the ships).

[Zireael]

I think the badge is stretching its legs

[Cody]

The hot topic of the day - should PCs be instantly distinguishable from NPCs (as it is currently), or should it require some interaction/scanning? <laughs mirthlessly>

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth will no doubt ensue. Crikey, it should be bloody obvious which is preferable! <sighs>

[Disembodied]

The hot topic of the day - should PCs be instantly distinguishable from NPCs (as it is currently)

Really? The game currently sticks a big [ACTUAL PERSON] blinker over any PC ship you happen to cross paths with? Does it also flash up on the screen [YOU'RE NOT REALLY FLYING A SPACESHIP] every so often, just to break the immersion still further? Tsk.

[Cody]

Yep - a big CMDR (yes, all upper case) in front of the name, and a different pip on the scanner (as I understand it - I don't have the Alpha) for PCs.

[Disembodied]

Yep - a big CMDR (yes, all upper case) in front of the name, and a different pip on the scanner (as I understand it - I don't have the Alpha) for PCs.

Yuk ... that's pretty much killed off any thought I had about playing multiplayer E:D.

[Cody]

Apparently, there was a flash poll in the hallowed DDF a while back - with these results:

I want to know if the ship is human the moment it resolves 14.88%
I want to know if the ship is human after a BASIC scan 16.67%
I want to know if the ship is human after an ADVANCED scan 5.36%
I want to know if the ship is human if we have both opted in to an IDENT TRANSPONDER service 43.45%
I never want to truly know whether a ship is human or AI 19.64%

I could go with the third (minority) option, or the last - I don't much like the opt in idea, but it'd be preferable to the forced CMDR nonsense.

[Disembodied]

I could go with the third (minority) option, or the last - I don't much like the opt in idea, but it'd be preferable to the forced CMDR nonsense.

Yeah ... option 3 sounds like a sensible compromise, given that both scanner and scanee would have to have opted in for it to work. And it's a hefty winner in the popularity stakes.

[Cody]

After fifty-six rapid-fire - and surprisingly civilised - pages, the Lead Designer gave us his tuppence worth. This passage caught my eye:

And just to be absolutely clear: my personal preference would be to never truly know who was human with the following exceptions: player friends formed through an out of game world friend system could always be visible as such, and players in game could mechanically reveal their human nature to specific targets: both of these features would help towards social gaming in a safe and controlled manner where both parties consensually agreed to break immersion for the benefit of multiplayer interactions (and both would be reversible). This stance is similar but not identical to the transponder option. The reason I don't advocate it as the right way is simply because it is less fair, favouring one camp over the other. That's not necessarily an issue, but in this particular case I feel the improvement I perceive it would offer to the game is less than the penalty of putting off more folk even more vehemently. That's just my perception mind.

Nothing is decided yet, it seems, and FD will make their own choice (if they haven't already, that is), but it's looking like the opt in/out plan is favourite. It's strange, but this planned feature/facet bothers me more than a lot of other seemingly more important stuff. It even stirred me to vote in a poll, which is a rarity.

[pagroove]

Now watching some live streams of Alpha 4. Nice stuff. Some rough edges. Like the weird safe release effect if you come out of Superscruise. But overall very nice to see in which direction Elite Dangerous goes. Strange thing is that Oolite still has its place. Even after seeing all this. So that is good. They are totally different games I dare to say now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcUMU3miXLs

[Cody]

I'm not watching any vids - when I climb into that Cobra Mk III for the first time, it will all be new and shiny!