The first of four planned Beyond updates will expand Elite Dangerous this month, according to ED Lead Designer Sandro Sammarco. The third “season” substantially expands the space sim, from revised crime and punishment mechanics to a new chapter of the Thargoid invasion. And all of the upcoming Beyond content will be available as free downloads.
For longtime Elite players, the arrival of the first Beyond update is exciting primarily because it will provide huge updates (in some cases, “overhaul” might be more accurate) for some of the game’s most important systems. The changes to crime and punishment will be some of the most obvious. Going forward, players will face harsher penalties for breaking local laws and the most-consistent rulebreakers’ lives will be intruded upon more frequently by law enforcement.
Elite Dangerous players can also look forward to an expansion of the mission reward system. In the current build, commanders don’t have much choice over rewards. Players can choose to skip a quest if they think the payout isn’t worthwhile, but that’s it. Chapter One will modify that structure later this month, and each mission will let players choose from three different reward packages (all roughly equal value). Traders will get expanded readouts of the galactic economy; however, only those who’ve traveled extensively will be able to forsake online trading tools like Eddb.io.
But the addition we’re most excited about is the introduction of GalNet Audio; a brand new, fully-voiced means of staying up-to-date on all the biggest news from Frontier’s simulation of the Milky Way. GalNet will aim to tell a number of stories with audio updates, queued up via your ship’s UI, on every corner of the galaxy. Some will advance the unfolding situation between mankind and the Thargoids. Other GalNet reports will explore the Elite Dangerous community’s accomplishments, whether it’s a noteworthy kill by a pirate hunter or an impressive Community Goal performance by a specific pilot or player-run organization (like the Fuel Rats).
New game mechanics aren’t the only appeal of Chapter One, either. Elite Dangerous’ first Beyond update will continue the story of mankind’s latest run-in with the Thargoids. Hostilities between the two sides have grown in recent months, with relatively harmless interdictions giving way to semi-regular space battles and the destruction of one human facility. And now we’ll get to see how mankind fights back against a bigger, more technologically-advanced enemy.
Elite Dangerous is out on PS4, Xbox One and PC. The first Beyond update arrives Feb. 27.
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