Mostly Harmless Questions

Gimi: We already know that there will be area of the galaxy cut off for later use and no planetary landings at launch. Will these sort of limitations be incorporated into current Elite lore and fiction, and given plausible in game explanations? Yes, to an extent. For the areas cut off, you will be prevented from going there – the drive will simply not lock on. We may add a message if we feel we need it like “Unable to lock on” or similar. For planetary landings, there may be a piece of equipment you will need to purchase, that will only become available later. Nomadski: Will there be missions that ask questions of a pilot's flying skills that dont necessarily revolve around combat? There will be missions that require quick transits. I like the idea of ones that amount to races between players not unlike the old Tea Clipper races from China back to Imperial Britain in the 19th century. In Elite Dangerous, it might be the first to get the latest harvest of Lavian Tree Grubs back to Earth (this way all players would start at the same time) – but I think there will be tricky issues with this sort of thing – people playing in different countries meaning the start time is at an awkward time of day.

SzarWilk: Will different types of ammunition be available for different weapons? Yes. Many weapons like lasers don’t use ammunition, but we have already planned a wide range of missile types. It should also be possible to get ammo for other projectile weapons that is a little better, for significant extra cost.

Ben Ryder: Will we be able to buy books like the Art work of Elite and sketch books? Yes, that would be a great thing to do, though such a book is not yet planned.

Rog: Will auto-generated missions involve interaction with, or even the destruction of actual *human* players? Generally no, but there are some special cases. For example if a player defaults on a deal with a particularly dangerous NPC, he or she may put a contract on that player’s head. There is no reason that contract might not be taken by a player…