Elite: Dangerous Update #73

Hello, Commander,

Welcome to Elite: Dangerous Newsletter #73.

This week, we've butted heads with a goat. One week (and one day) after lifting the lid on Powerplay we're back with news from Frontier CEO David Braben's Powerplay Q&A, a huge sale on Paint Jobs, a sneak peek at the new Diamondback cockpit, and a response for the livestock lobby.

You can hear directly from the development team on our Forums, Twitter, Facebook and right here in the newsletter every week, and we're always eager to hear your feedback. Enjoy the newsletter and have a great weekend.

Contents This Week

• Powerplay Q&A with David Braben
• Peek Of The Week
• Mac/PC Crossplay
• Paint Job Sale
• #EDProtestGoat
• Comms Chatter
• GalNet

Powerplay Q&A with David Braben

Last Friday Elite co-creator and Frontier CEO David Braben took to our forums and answered your questions about May's upcoming Powerplay update. David answered as many questions as he could in the time available, and we've highlighted some of our favourite questions and answers below in case you weren't able to make it.

The first peek at Senator Denton Patreus' Powerplay breakdown, revealed last week

Asked by Crixomix
Q – “Are there any plans for 1.3 to have any new/improved/balanced weapon modules? Many of us are curious as to the future of weaponry in Elite: Dangerous.”
A – “For some of the Powers we are looking at Power-specific modules and weapons. More info to come.
Asked by Cmdr PeryplusErithrea
Q – “Me and my father have been wondering if you guys at FD were going to add in a system orrery for in game orbits and such?”
A – “It’s still on the list.”

Asked by SlackR
Q – “When will there be non-celestial things to discover in deep space?”
A – “There already are... ;-)”

Q – “I did say "deep" space... Those probes are still in the sol system so I'm hoping he meant other things to find!”
A - Yes. Other things...

Asked by Pippo
Q – “Will new characters come into the game (i.e. new senators and politicians) and to what scale?”
A – “Yes. Powers, and their associated characters will come and go. The 'go' will often be due to them dying...”

Asked by Philip Coutts
Q – “Do you envisage Powerplay as a tool to raise the amount of PvP currently happening? It seems that you are giving carte blanche to attack anyone from a different faction to you, regardless if they are wanted or not. Is there not a danger that the inhabited parts of the galaxy end up as one big warzone?”
A – “The carte blanche only exists within systems controlled by your Power and only apply against ships that are aligned with a Power of a different major faction to your Power. Powers interact with each other in different ways and combat is but one of those methods. How the Power is structured geographically will also guide which areas are potential hotspots. In some case Powers could provide a safety zone within their borders by their actions.”

Asked by Matlok
Q – “The Empire have a couple of great ships that adds to the empirical identity. The mighty federation also have ships to call their own. I really love the Alliance, yet I feel they have been very neglected by the defs. Currently, there is no real reason to rank up in their systems, for there is no real reward. With Powerplay, will there be some content for the Alliance faction?
A - “The Alliance is a relative newcomer on the galactic stage, but we know the Alliance is a favourite with many players. The Federation and Empire have both had hundreds of years to evolve their traditions and identity. For the Alliance this is little different from the Independent ships already available in game. That’s not to say that an Alliance ship building project might happen in the future, along with recruitment for the Alliance Navy. The trouble is Prime Minister Mahon finds it hard to get his members to agree...”

Asked by bobiroka
Q – “Will Powerplay effectively replace the current Community Goals system?”
A – “Certainly not! Community goals will still be used in game, and can connect with Powerplay – for example: a campaign of goals to elevate a minor faction to a Power.”

Asked by MrTrendall
Q – “How should we start for trying to get our independent faction in to the top 20 list of factions we can pledge with? Should be start now rapidly expanding them or will we be able to choose our faction out of the 20 you pick?”
A – “Firstly there won't be twenty to start with. It is likely to be ten when Powerplay first goes out. This gives room for more to come in later. Currently there are no minor factions anywhere near being promoted to being a Power.”

Hit our answers roundup for the full Q&A, and read on for a peek inside one of the new ships you'll find in the Powerplay content update.

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Newsletter Peek Of The Week

And early look inside the cockpit of the Diamondback, Lakon's reasonably-priced combat-explorer vessel.

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Crossplay Beta

Players with PC and Mac beta access can now download a new Elite: Dangerous beta from the launcher. PC players won't notice many differences from the release version besides adjusted beta prices to fast-track testers to the more exotic ships, because the big new feature we're testing is a game-changer that should be almost invisible: crossplay between PC and Mac.

The ship on the left is playing on a PC, the ship on the right is playing on a Mac. In the latest beta you'll be seamlessly matched with players on both platforms, and you should never know which format they're running without asking

Remember it's a beta, so if it's not entirely seamless, we want to know about it on our Mac Beta forum. The Mac release isn't far away, and we appreciate every minute our beta players on both platforms spend testing the game and sending feedback.

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Paint Job Sale

This Monday marks the May Day bank holiday in the United Kingdom, and we're celebrating by taking a day off and throwing a three-day sale on selected paint jobs at the EliteDangerous.com store, starting later today.

Hit the Game Extras page to see what's on offer, and remember prices will return to normal on Tuesday so now's a good time to pick up that paint job you've been hovering your mouse cursor over and fly the galaxy in style.

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#EDProtestGoat

In this week's Developer Update Executive Producer Michael Brookes announced plans to impose fines on pilots who engage in ramming around no-fire zones, and invited players to offer feedback.

Feedback arrived written on a goat.

Journalist, author, Elite: Dangerous player, charity fundraiser, cat owner and goat herder* Kate Russell promptly launched a social media campaign, politely reminding us that the demolition derby events she organises around starports can't happen under the new ramming laws and urging players to spam Frontier with feedback and images of headbutt enthusiast goats.

We've seen the goats, we've got the message and we hear you.

So in Powerplay, pilots who engage in ramming near stations will still be subject to fines. We need to protect innocent bystanders going about their interstellar business, but we're planning on working some coding magic so the "don't report crimes against me" option in your ship UI will allow you to be beaten like a piñata in agreed contests with other players.

If everyone in the derby sets the same option On, you can all collide with impunity; just watch out for the spectators.

Now, enough with the goats already.

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Comms Chatter

Earlier this month Mahddogg held a livestream in honour of Terry Pratchett, and managed to raise an incredible £5040 for the Alzheimer’s Society. Known for his enthusiastic streams, cutting diatribe and piloting skills, Mahddogg is a regular Elite: Dangerous streamer. You can view his channel here.

Reddit's Dakro_6577 put together a visual guide to Hardpoints in Elite: Dangerous. Click here to see the full post.

Deep Space Surveys is a brilliant series of YouTube videos from Dr. Kaii. Featuring sights from deep within unexplored space, including stars thousands of times larger than our own sun, planets hundreds of times denser than Earth, ammonia worlds, gigantic solar flares and skies awash with stars near the centre of our galaxy.

And finally, why not play Elite in a tweet? Archive.org's version of the 1987 DOS port of Elite is playable in a browser, and can even be embedded in a tweet and played right on your timeline. Just tweet the link and watch Archive.org and Twitter work their magic.

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The President’s office today announced that President Halsey will soon embark on a tour of the Federal frontier systems. The aim of the trip is to build stronger links between Sol and its offspring. For years, frontier systems have complained that the Mars Congress has consistently failed to provide adequate support for fledgling Federal colonies.

Senator Arissa Lavigny addressed her supporters at a conference held ahead of today’s closed meeting of the Senate to reveal the culprits behind the attempted assassination of Emperor Hengist Duval. She told her supporters: “Evidence collected by members of the court has provided my investigators with irrefutable proof that the leadership of the HR 706 Chapter of Emperor’s Grace acted to commit treason most foul against our beloved father.”

Several weeks ago, Imperial Palace security uncovered an attempted plot to poison Emperor Hengist Duval. Princess Lavigny-Duval and Chancellor Blaine both launched their own investigations into the matter. After smashing a number of pirate dens, Imperial investigators learned that funds for the hit had been channelled via Silver Allied Network through Silver Universal Plc to an unknown group in HR 706.

After 3 weeks of intense activity in the Lave Cluster, the Alliance Elite Diplomatic Corps (AEDC) has managed to return control of Reorte to an Alliance aligned faction.

::WARNING:: A Travel Advisory is issued for system NGC 6124 SECTOR DW-N C6-10. This system should be avoided. Explorer Lance 'Spacecat' D. (last name withheld) warped in-system to find himself inside the corona of the system's 'B' star which is abnormally close to the 'A' star. He only survived the experience thanks to quick reflexes, an auto field maintenance unit and the ruggedness of his scorched Type-6, now nicknamed the 'Sundiver'. He reprimands the system's previous explorer (name withheld) for NOT issuing such a travel advisory.

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That’s it for Newsletter #73. As always, if there's anything in particular that you’d like to hear more about, or if you'd like to ask a question, then please contact us at elite-newsletter@frontier.co.uk.

Click for the latest Game Manual, Quickstart Guide and Pilot Training Videos. Visit our Support team here and read all our previous newsletters here.

Until next time, fly safe and Right On, Commander.

The Frontier Team