TrainSimDev.com

I heard about this game so went on the website and saw a sign up for beta link but then see that it was £50 to sign up for the beta, are they serious? I have never paid to play a beta of any game, so it looks as I won't be joining the beta for this game.

It's the new way of things for games it seems, Dave

Kickstarter to get money on a promise before you even have a single line of code. Insanely inflated prices for people with money to burn to buy into an early access at various levels.
The inevitable shouting and crying when it doesn't turn out as promised on release.

I paid into early access on 1 game (admittedly at a lower rather than higher price) and I will NEVER do it again. I want a fully released and well reviewed game before I part with a single penny from now on.

Sadly even though Elite:D looked to be amazing in development as the proper release draws closer the cracks are beginning to show..

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/11/20/elite-dangerous-refunds/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/11/19/the-elitist-part-five-hunting-dogs/

The 2nd article concerns me the most - I'm not getting involved in another tedious grind fest so I'm going to wait it out and let the game develop before I possibly buy it.

I signed up for the beta some months ago and have to say I have enjoyed the experience. I have had access to the game and also my input has had a chance to influence the direction of the games development. I have also backed a game called Prison Architect. Before backing both games I did a fair amount of research to see how the developers interact with the community. Both games developers I feel have been excellent and getting the community involved and providing feedback and updates on a regular basis.

Even though the game is not finished I have not found it a grind fest at all. I am hoping once the TSD Clan gets up and running proper that it will be great fun flying through space working with others as a team providing safety in numbers or completing missions as a team. I think with Elite you can get what you want from the game. Having another player try to pull you out of hyperspace when you have a valuable cargo and have just sold your pulse lasers and shield generator to allow you to make larger jumps is certainly exciting. If they succeed I am probably going to die! I will be playing in IronMan mode I think come the full release. Dead is dead means that every decision has to be taken carefully. Do I attack a player or should I scan other ships in the area to see if they are from the same clan. I had this with AI. I attacked what looked like a week AI ship and it turned out the other ship on my scanner was in the same clan so I suddenly had to flee for my life!

The removal of the "offline mode" from the game (something originally promised) is certainly a blow to the games development but they have provided information about why the decision was made. The game can still be played as a single player (you will never encounter another player in game) but it has to be on-line. To me this is no bad thing as it means I could (if I wanted) play by myself and yet still enjoy all the effects thousands of players have on the galaxy around me.

I backed Elite Dangerous (for more than the final game will cost) for a variety of reasons. The biggest by far is that I fell in love with the original game back on a BBC B when my dad had to dock for me until I could afford a docking computer. I have owned all PC versions since the original and have often thought in the past that a new version would be great. When I heard one was being made I wanted to be involved.

Backing a game in alpha (and paying for the privileged) is not something I have done often (only twice so far) but on both occasions I have enjoyed the experience.

Just wanted to give some info on my positive experience. I would back another game but it would have to be something I really wanted to be involved with and where the developers showed they wanted to be involved with the community rather than just fleece it.

Jim

I didn't buy into the KS on this (or the new Trainz closer to home, which is also shaping to be not quite what was promised).

Suspect there's a fair bit of mis-information and hyperbole flying around about the SP game, best course of action at this stage I think is to wait and see how it pans out for a month or two. Given I can't even find the game listed on Amazon yet, might not be too difficult!

davejc64 wrote:I heard about this game so went on the website and saw a sign up for beta link but then see that it was £50 to sign up for the beta, are they serious? I have never paid to play a beta of any game, so it looks as I won't be joining the beta for this game.

The reason for this is that the original Kickstarter beta access perk was set at the same amount. Taken out of context, it's not surprising people find it, well... surprising. Basically, it wouldn't have been fair to original backers to have offered it more cheaply.

I was one of those lucky enough to have been part of the alpha phase. It's been good watch the game develop.

I do think in many respects it's a game from a bygone era: there's no spoon feeding and some will feel that since there's nothing in the way of set goals to achieve (reaching elite status excepted) that the game lacks direction and will quickly become boring. I can see how would happen although I've only put about 25 hours actual play time in.

As for the offline-debacle, I must say I am surprised at many people's reactions. Part of me thinks it's just trendy these days to complain about always-on requirements. Incidentally, for those concerned about bandwidth usage, the requirement for E:D is absolutely minuscule.

BigVern wrote:I didn't buy into the KS on this (or the new Trainz closer to home, which is also shaping to be not quite what was promised).

Suspect there's a fair bit of mis-information and hyperbole flying around about the SP game, best course of action at this stage I think is to wait and see how it pans out for a month or two. Given I can't even find the game listed on Amazon yet, might not be too difficult!

I know we touched on this a few weeks ago Vern, but I did visit the Auran forums again and there was word that there had been screenshots of TANE. I still couldn't find them though.


Are they hidden from view, or was I looking in the wrong place?

I've no issue making my own fun in games, I'd not be fussed if I never achieved Elite status - hey I never managed it in the old one either I can happily potter about in sandbox games for months on end doing my own thing.

To the offline debate, my personal opinion is actual based on something I've not seen mentioned anywhere yet, which is about what happens if I don't play religiously.
e.g. I play the game for a few months, build up some nice kit and I then decide to do something else with my evenings for a month or 2. During this time when the game world should be frozen, waiting for me to come back like any other offline game, in Elite-D it's busy changing every second with factions fighting, moving around, areas of space being depleted, and other players who I have no relationship with are messing everything about.
When I come back to my ship there is a very good chance it's now parked in a criminal hideout in the middle of a war zone! Any nice trading routes I had arranged could very likely be gone. I can't just pick up where I left off, I need to relearn the world around me all over again, just like an MMO when you have a few months off.
I've got no issues with online DRM (heck, I own some Ubi$oft games!), my Steam install is always connected. But to have a game world totally change underneath me when I stop playing for a few weeks is not acceptable to me in a single player game.

Fair point Pete. I think you would be unlucky for things to change quite that drastically but it certainly is possible that you could come back and find your space ship not as you left it.... maybe something like this....

Classic reference!

I think I'm just disappointed at what I've heard of late about it. I'll still be watching and hoping that it shows enough to convince me otherwise. First thing will be for them to fix the friend meet-up stuff, then I can at least decide if I want to play it like an MMO.

Darren - rather than take this thread OT, I've sent you a PM with my current thoughts regarding TANE.