While all of this is true, these factors don't make Frontier a sequel. At least in my understanding a sequel needs the same setting, and that exactly is missing. Not only does Frontier not share Elite's premise (GalCop, etc.), it doesn't seem to care about this premise, replacing it with something completely different without any explanation. That's as if in the sequels of Terminator Skynet would never have existed, but instead everything would suddenly be about a fight between a Federation and an Empire. The result could be a good movie, it could even share important aspects and plot points (liquid metal and killing machines in human form), but it wouldn't be a sequel.cim wrote:The trading model, the open universe, the heavy reliance on procedural generation, are all extremely Elite-like.
Or—another example the other way round—at the end of the Star Wars prequels neither the Empire, nor the Rebellion, nor Darth Vader, nor Palpatine would exist. It would still be a space opera in a galaxy far, far away, but not a prequel.