Re: Elite: Dangerous - and the return

[Cody]

We’re also very pleased to announce our first competitive Close Quarter Combat Tournament. This will be open to all PC, Mac, and Xbox Elite: Dangerous players so get practicing! We’ll be running qualifying periods each month where players will be competing for a chance win a free trip to the live final in the UK, covering all flights (where necessary) and accommodation. The total prize budget, including cash prizes, flights and accommodation for qualifying winners will be over a staggering $100,000. The live final will have a cash prize pot of $15,000!

<sobs>

[Commander_X]

<sobs>

I can hear you, Maestro!

[chrisjj]

a staggering $100,000

What's staggering is Frontier has the gall to use that money on promotion rather than on developing the game they promised, for which backers paid, and is now nearly a year past due.

And what worth the promise to finish the PC version before porting to consoles...

[ClymAngus]

Hmmm someone's seen the amount of money being generated by things like dota2 and is hoping to hammer the Dangerous franchise into that mould.

Problem is all it's going to attract is pro-one shot gamers. Turn up, take the money, piss off.

[cim]

I think CQC to an extent makes a lot of sense for Elite Dangerous - it's generally agreed that the bits the game gets most right are flight model / combat, graphics and sound, and it's also the case that combat is generally more fun between the smaller ships where it's not just a matter of who can pile more weapons and shields onto a hull. So a way of focusing on that is a good idea - but it needs to be semi-separate so that people can't just bring a larger ship.

The game also - lacking a single-player mode with save-and-reload - could do with some sort of consequence-free combat to provide a bit of a break at times.

What's staggering is Frontier has the gall to use that money on promotion

They're presumably expecting to get >=2500 new purchases as a result of advertising that prize pot, which is not very many at all.

And what worth the promise to finish the PC version before porting to consoles...

I don't recall them ever making that promise. Given that they were talking up the cross-platform abilities of their engine before even starting Elite Dangerous, that the original Elite was ported to just about everything that existed at the time, and that the "finished" doesn't appear to be part of their short-term plans, I'd be very surprised if they had.

[ClymAngus]

We shall see where this goes, yet still I do hope we will endure.

[Cody]

The Mac guys have got their pitchforks out - no Horizons expansion for them!

[chrisjj]

And what worth the promise to finish the PC version before porting to consoles...

I don't recall them ever making that promise. ... I'd be very surprised if they had

It was and is still right there on the Kickstarter project page.

"Another avenue we intend to explore is other platforms, but for now the focus is very much on the Windows PC release. Only once the initial game is done will we start to look at other platforms." https://archive.is/7B5Kk#selection-1683.0-1683.194

the original Elite was ported to just about everything that existed at the time

Not until after the first version was finished, I can assure you.

And anyway, Frontier Developments had nothing to do with the Elite ports.

[Diziet Sma]

And what worth the promise to finish the PC version before porting to consoles...

I don't recall them ever making that promise. ... I'd be very surprised if they had

It was and is still right there on the Kickstarter project page.

"Another avenue we intend to explore is other platforms, but for now the focus is very much on the Windows PC release. Only once the initial game is done will we start to look at other platforms." https://archive.is/7B5Kk#selection-1683.0-1683.194

the original Elite was ported to just about everything that existed at the time

Not until after the first version was finished, I can assure you.

And anyway, Frontier Developments had nothing to do with the Elite ports.

Seems to me this very much hinges on how one chooses to define the term "finished". If finished means full 1.0 release, as in "out of beta", then Frontier have indeed kept their word. The PC version was released before ports for any other platforms were released. You, on the other hand, would appear to define it as "feature complete, with all post-initial-release expansions (such as planetary landings) added". Essentially, you're quibbling over whether Frontier should use their definition of the word, or yours.

[kanthoney]

So, who's up for Planet Coaster? Not particularly interested myself, but I wonder if some of the techniques they talk about for generating crowds of people will make it into ED in the future (maybe in towns and cities?)

[Cody]

I cancelled the Planet Coaster newsletter as soon as it arrived - not interested!

[ClymAngus]

Planet Coaster newsletter? What exactly is this thing? (I don't really want to google it lest it infuriates me).

[kanthoney]

It's Frontier's new self-published game that they're developing. If you were on the ED mailing list you got an email about it. It's one of their roller coaster games.

[chrisjj]

Seems to me this very much hinges on how one chooses to define the term "finished". If finished means full 1.0 release, as in "out of beta", then Frontier have indeed kept their word.

Seems to me you could do Frontier a favour by staying off their side.

Frontier has never claimed the shipped version of Elite Dangerous to be finished.

And whether they have kept their word is apparent to anyone who looks for e.g. the 10 ships for which backers paid an extra £100,000.

[Diziet Sma]

Don't worry.. I have my own beef with Frontier.. mostly over the promised single-player-offline version that never eventuated. But I'm not getting all snarly about it. But it still seems rather petty to me, to be moaning about them releasing for other platforms before they've "finished" the job for your platform. (And to the best of my knowledge, they haven't even begun work on the release for my platform yet.. Linux. Be thankful for what you do have. Because some of us still have bugger-all.)