Odyssey Alpha - Initial Feedback Response
Greetings Commanders,
Thank you for taking part in the alpha and providing all the feedback you’ve given so far. As we move into Day 3, there’s already a lot of information to collect and organise, which will be invaluable to the development team.
As we began sorting your feedback, it quickly became clear which aspects are the most pertinent at this early stage of the alpha. As such, there are two areas we’d like to address:
[h2]Apex Interstellar[/h2]
The most prominent feedback concerns the travel time when using Apex Interstellar’s shuttle service. There’s no doubt that the time spent during these trips is less engaging than Odyssey’s other features, given the currently limited options for interaction during the journey.
Before we discuss solutions, we’re keen to make some points clear:
We’re already considering our options to resolve each of these points. They include moving where players start in the alpha to a more central location which would reduce the distance to almost all of the locations in the system. We also plan to update mission information to include distance from the target locations.
To avoid any confusion, we are not looking to reduce the travel time so that Apex Interstellar shuttles travel faster than player-owned ships. This would result in a fundamental change to Elite that contradicts the lore, physics, and potential longevity of the game. Instead, we hope that the above changes alongside an increased number of loadout and cosmetic customisation options to use during these trips will improve the experience.
[h2]Dying Soon After Landing: Hostile NPCs and Players[/h2]
We’re aware that many players are excited to try out PvP on-foot, even at the expense of others who are trying to complete their missions. In future updates, we’ll add the detention centre respawn loop which mirrors the existing loop for in-game criminals in the base game. If needed, penalties for killing on-foot players can also be adjusted.
That said, we expect that once on-foot gameplay expands to the whole galaxy, this scenario will be far less common. In the meantime, we’d like to remind players that they can also test the alpha in Solo and Private Groups if they prefer.
As for NPCs, we understand that they sometimes seem far too deadly, especially at the lower Threat levels. We’re are investigating how currently the Threat levels are being incorrectly assessed and reported in mission overviews and expect to make some changes in the future to remedy this.
[h2]Other Feedback[/h2]
These are just two of the many topics that have come up in your feedback and we’re grateful for all of them. The team are collecting, organising, and relaying every piece of information from the feedback thread. We chose to cover these particular aspects to assure you we’re listening carefully and acting on your feedback.
There’s lots of time to go and we hope you continue to enjoy the alpha as each phase unlocks more content. We expect there’ll be plenty more feedback and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Thanks as always,
o7
Thank you for taking part in the alpha and providing all the feedback you’ve given so far. As we move into Day 3, there’s already a lot of information to collect and organise, which will be invaluable to the development team.
As we began sorting your feedback, it quickly became clear which aspects are the most pertinent at this early stage of the alpha. As such, there are two areas we’d like to address:
[h2]Apex Interstellar[/h2]
The most prominent feedback concerns the travel time when using Apex Interstellar’s shuttle service. There’s no doubt that the time spent during these trips is less engaging than Odyssey’s other features, given the currently limited options for interaction during the journey.
Before we discuss solutions, we’re keen to make some points clear:
- The conditions of the alpha greatly exaggerate the impact of this wait time which won’t feel the same at launch. This is partly due to the large size of the Adityan system and the fact that the starting station is in the “corner” of the system map.
- Because mission information doesn’t include the distance to the target location yet, your ability to select missions with shorter travel times is reduced.
We’re already considering our options to resolve each of these points. They include moving where players start in the alpha to a more central location which would reduce the distance to almost all of the locations in the system. We also plan to update mission information to include distance from the target locations.
To avoid any confusion, we are not looking to reduce the travel time so that Apex Interstellar shuttles travel faster than player-owned ships. This would result in a fundamental change to Elite that contradicts the lore, physics, and potential longevity of the game. Instead, we hope that the above changes alongside an increased number of loadout and cosmetic customisation options to use during these trips will improve the experience.
[h2]Dying Soon After Landing: Hostile NPCs and Players[/h2]
We’re aware that many players are excited to try out PvP on-foot, even at the expense of others who are trying to complete their missions. In future updates, we’ll add the detention centre respawn loop which mirrors the existing loop for in-game criminals in the base game. If needed, penalties for killing on-foot players can also be adjusted.
That said, we expect that once on-foot gameplay expands to the whole galaxy, this scenario will be far less common. In the meantime, we’d like to remind players that they can also test the alpha in Solo and Private Groups if they prefer.
As for NPCs, we understand that they sometimes seem far too deadly, especially at the lower Threat levels. We’re are investigating how currently the Threat levels are being incorrectly assessed and reported in mission overviews and expect to make some changes in the future to remedy this.
[h2]Other Feedback[/h2]
These are just two of the many topics that have come up in your feedback and we’re grateful for all of them. The team are collecting, organising, and relaying every piece of information from the feedback thread. We chose to cover these particular aspects to assure you we’re listening carefully and acting on your feedback.
There’s lots of time to go and we hope you continue to enjoy the alpha as each phase unlocks more content. We expect there’ll be plenty more feedback and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Thanks as always,
o7
