Elite: Odyssey
31 May 2021, 12:08pm
31 May 2021, 12:09pm
Diamondfast
Take a look at what happened to Toys R Us. But in the end all shareholders care about is the quick buck, very few have ever seen let a lone played the game.
There is significant difference. Frontier have not lost their market share they just disappointed their customers because someone wanted good financial report. One month the community was telling them that what they will push is far from final product, except few that would accept everything, but all this was disregarded. I am sure that we would not had such a backlash if they called the things with their true names instead of "no worries guys, what you see is an old outdated version, the things are far better". It is now obvious for them that if they continue on that road they can lose a market share.
In few days we will see their roadmap. I am certain that all this will result in better future but it would be easier for FDev if they have listened before it was too late.
31 May 2021, 12:18pm
EpisparhHonestly, I am not sure if you are trolling or being naive. If Frontier kill Elite right now after they betreyed their customers, how you think this will reflect on them as company? Do you think they will continue to exist after such imaginary scenario?
As usual, one who disagrees with your perception has to be labelled a troll or naieve? Really? I know you are used to enjoying the echo chamber that Artie has provided, and is smart enough to keep pretty clean, should I find a 'clever' way to insult you too?
Have you any idea how much it has cost to produce Odyssey? The DLC is currently failing badly, the millions spent on it may not be recouped, businesses aren't charities and will not throw money at the game because there are players who will be upset because it is gone.
Failed products fail... The ED players would be miffed, but the remainder of the games buying public who don't play ED (and of course, business savvy individuals) wouldn't let the culling of a dead product be bothersome.
31 May 2021, 12:24pm
Rat Catcher
Have you any idea how much it has cost to produce Odyssey? The DLC is currently failing badly, the millions spent on it may not be recouped, businesses aren't charities and will not throw money at the game because there are players who will be upset because it is gone.
I just would like to react to this - there is absolutely no official information about the DLC sales or it failing badly, financially. So any claim about it being a financial disaster has no solid ground. Actually, it seems that Elite had a record number of players in the game since Odyssey release (which of course doesn't translate to Odyssey sales directly, but doesn't tell it's a fail either).
31 May 2021, 12:24pm
ArtieI think there is nothing to worry about. Some of the changes in Odyssey were apparently also made with a prospect of the future. For example the planetary tech - from the streams with devs it was very obvious they made it a way that can be extended in the future easily, for the other types of planets. Even from the financial aspect it makes more sense to solve the current Odyssey problems and then "exploit" all the major and expensive work that was done already. Also, as far as I recall, Elite is still a profitable project and it's usually cheaper to extended what was done and sell it to existing player base than make a new project from a scratch and find an audience for it. I am 99% certain Elite is not going away and there will be more expansions/DLCs in the future.
As I haven't yet purchased EDO, there is truly nothing for me to worry about. I very much hope that FDev will work hard to make EDO a success and hope they learned a lesson about pushing out a product prematurely. Time will tell.
31 May 2021, 12:25pm
Rat CatcherI'd expect no less from you... Thanks for delivering! Do you have any more little gems for me?
Aww, what's with the thin skin lately?
I'm aware that Mr. Braben is some sort of hero among boomers, having created the original Elite on some 8-bit computer and all that, but you have to consider that the man is approaching retirement and may be slightly out of touch with what his developers are doing. There are really just two possible ways to explain the Odyssey disaster: he either did not know, or he did not care. Both is kind of troubling, not just for ED's future, but also for the shareholders of his company. Which is why the stock is tanking. Investors may be getting the impression that Braben has lost his edge, and if so, who's gonna replace him? He's sort of like the Steve Jobs of Frontier.
To be honest, I was appalled when he filled his "apology" message with the same old sales pitch: a 1:1 recreation of the galaxy, blah blah, as if the game was more than a PRNG recombining the same assets over and over again to create the illusion of scale. Other games do that, too; e.g. the aforementioned No Man's Sky, and more recently Empyrion Galactic Survival. It's nothing special any more.
31 May 2021, 12:26pm
Rat Catcher
As usual, one who disagrees with your perception has to be labelled a troll or naieve? Really? I know you are used to enjoying the echo chamber that Artie has provided, and is smart enough to keep pretty clean, should I find a 'clever' way to insult you too?
Have you any idea how much it has cost to produce Odyssey? The DLC is currently failing badly, the millions spent on it may not be recouped, businesses aren't charities and will not throw money at the game because there are players who will be upset because it is gone.
Failed products fail... The ED players would be miffed, but the remainder of the games buying public who don't play ED (and of course, business savvy individuals) wouldn't let the culling of a dead product be bothersome.
The DLC is failing badly because someone made a dumb decision to rush all this for whatever reasons. The investors get return of their investments only if customers are happy and throw them money. If they disrespect customers they lose market share and money, this is how the world works.
P.S. And I am not trying to insult you. If I want to insult someone it would be clear and obvious. It is part of my Slavic nature.
Last edit: 31 May 2021, 12:31pm
31 May 2021, 12:39pm
SakashiroAww, what's with the thin skin lately?
Not a thin skin, little girl, boredom at the lack of imagination.
EpisparhThe DLC is failing badly because someone made a dumb decision to rush all this for whatever reasons. The investors get return of their investments only if customers are happy and throw them money. If they disrespect customers they lose market share and money, this is how the world works.
Spot on! Well done!
And if they lose money, they are inclined to not throw any more money at it...
ArtieI just would like to react to this - there is absolutely no official information about the DLC sales or it failing badly, financially. So any claim about it being a financial disaster has no solid ground. Actually, it seems that Elite had a record number of players in the game since Odyssey release (which of course doesn't translate to Odyssey sales directly, but doesn't tell it's a fail either).
Frontier share prices taking a tumble in the last 2 weeks may be a useful indicator - although they could just as well recover in the next few weeks.
I have a feeling that we would have to wait until 30th November and the half-year interim report from Frontier to find out if Odyssey has fulfilled the 'doom' being propogated - which, incidentally, is likely to be the proposed date for last-gen console release, should this come about.
ETA: Incidentally, I preordered two copies of Odyssey and am one of those annoyingly happy folk who are playing it exclusively... That appears to be like a red-rag to a bull to some other members
Last edit: 31 May 2021, 12:47pm
31 May 2021, 12:53pm
Also what is it with the belittling attitude in here?
31 May 2021, 12:54pm
Sure we can publish your game for you.
Why did we shut down Elite Dangerous?
Oh, we rushed out an unfinished product because the board of directors told us to.
Unfortunately that caused a massive sell off of stock, and our stock prices plummeted, and the board got cranky so we just shut it down before it got out of hand.
Hello, are you still there?
Your predictions of them shutting down the servers is premature at best, and makes me think you are just trying to get a rise out of the younger people in here for the fun of it. Honestly, why are you in here if you think this is Artie's echo chamber?
31 May 2021, 12:55pm
Rebecca HailWhere is the indication coming from that Odyssey, despite its horrendous quality, is failing badly in the business sense?
I would guess its from FDev's stock prices taking a 20% dive since the release of Odyssey.
Rebecca Hail Also what is it with the belittling attitude in here?
I am wondering the same thing myself.
31 May 2021, 1:07pm
Rat Catcher
EpisparhThe DLC is failing badly because someone made a dumb decision to rush all this for whatever reasons. The investors get return of their investments only if customers are happy and throw them money. If they disrespect customers they lose market share and money, this is how the world works.
Spot on! Well done!
And if they lose money, they are inclined to not throw any more money at it...
The difference is that they rushed this and cause the negative press and community backlash. Honestly, if they cannot see their failure I am fine with this even if that means your apocalyptical expectations will come to reality.
In worst case scenario I expect David Braben to look for more reasonable investors(not if I assume those are not, but if what you expect happens it would be clear) as the game have very good market position and potential.
31 May 2021, 1:13pm
Did they do this for quarterly income? No. They had your pre-sales already. It was done for stupid management face-saving (to themselves, and shareholders that much is true), and as always it back-fired, and as always very little will be done differently next time.
So what caused the stock price drop? Not anything we said, purely what the press said, and what they said could have been thrown together by a teenager. However it does serve our purpose so whilst we don't want to see FDev damaged they do need a rude awakening.
The real fun will be when the console release is due. They can't dodge the reality that the current consoles are showing their age and Sony/Microsoft aren't going to accept a rubbish product on their platforms.
31 May 2021, 1:14pm
EpisparhRat Catcher
EpisparhThe DLC is failing badly because someone made a dumb decision to rush all this for whatever reasons. The investors get return of their investments only if customers are happy and throw them money. If they disrespect customers they lose market share and money, this is how the world works.
Spot on! Well done!
And if they lose money, they are inclined to not throw any more money at it...
The difference is that they rushed this and cause the negative press and community backlash. Honestly, if they cannot see their failure I am fine with this even if that means your apocalyptical expectations will come to reality.
In worst case scenario I expect David Braben to look for more reasonable investors(not if I assume those are not, but if what you expect happens it would be clear) as the game have very good market position and potential.
Not to mention that the player numbers, if one can use the steam charts a sample, have been growing steadily over the year and hit an all time high with the release of Odyssey.
WarCat72
I would guess its from FDev's stock prices taking a 20% dive since the release of Odyssey.
Judging that it's a business failure from a drop of the stock price alone is a bit hasty. And even with this drop, the FDev stock has long term gains. 300% if compared to beginning of 2019, 200% compared to the beginning of 2020. This is by no means a bad investment.