Ma skiilte hefoverse terfa a valayn layn

My detailed feedback after a week out

marx · 2018-12-19T16:06:50+00:00

I've given plenty of feedback about the FSS from the moment it was revealed, and all throughout the various phases, the usual chorus was "wait until you can try it in beta", then once the beta came, "wait until you can try it in live". Now, I gave it a week in live, to decide if I'll stick with exploration or not, and give feedback to the developers on what kind of experience that was. First off, a disclaimer. I realise this is a controversial subject, and my feedback will be for the most part negative, which some will probably not like. I mostly wrote this to share my feedback on the changes to something that I used to enjoy for a long while, in an unlikely hope that it'll at least reach somebody at FD. I'd welcome having discussions and/or advice here, but not starting arguments on personal opinions. So, off-topic posts like "my opinion is different and I'm having fun" and nothing more - no advice, for instance - would be of no use. Frankly, I'm happy for you if that's the case - it's great if people keep exploring! - but that's hardly useful for me, and isn't really conducive to a discussion. I'd really rather the moderators didn't end up closing this thread, so if all you have to post is that you personally like the new system, please do so in other threads. (This is also why I'm posting it here, and not in DD nor elsewhere: doing so would most likely be hopeless.) By clicking the spoiler button, you acknowledge you've read this and agree to do so. (Nah, just kidding with the legalese :D) After all this, which was mostly negative, there is another question: having seen what we got, what instead would I have liked? Honestly, my best-case but still realistic scenario would have been to just stick with the ADS and system map, and highlight on it the bodies that have POIs. Then it'd take the new DSS to identify said POIs, and a search zone to locate them. (By the last one, I mean the mechanic seen in some missions.) Instead, what we have is a clunky and out-of-place FSS turret mini-game, that takes me out of my ship and into some oddly-blue parallel universe. It even made me glad that I didn't buy a VR headset yet, because from what I've seen from trying out one, it probably would be a decidedly bad experience, and that would have put me off of exploration even more. But even in this hypothetical scenario, a lack of new content would have soon made me go back to the bubble and have fun with the new stuff there. However, I wouldn't say things are hopeless. I realise that a lot of work has gone into the backend (mostly the exploration part of the Codex), so there are some good new foundations here, and perhaps even more importantly, I believe that most of the issues above could be fixed without breaking things for people, unlike what has been done to exploration in Chapter Four. The FSS would need not a replacement, but an alternative - or alternatives. If using a faster method would involve more danger associated with it, I'd happily do so. Those who didn't want added danger from the "big honk" could still use the FSS. But honestly, it would be great if I felt I wanted to get the scans done sooner not because then I could finally move on, but because the Thargoids might come for me if I took too long. Well, in any case, the specifics however would most likely depend on what gameplay will come with atmospheric planets - whenever those will be. So, who knows. I'd rather they came sooner, but hey, I can wait. After all, I have gotten a huge amount of enjoyment from the game already, and outside of exploration, I still continue to do so. That's that then. Thanks for reading, and I hope this wall of text was of some use to someone!