Elite: Dangerous will be getting its first major update next month, and while we are being promised a lot of changes, today we got some specifics on a major aspect of what developer Frontier is planning on bringing to its space sim- specifically, they went a bit more in depth with Community Goals, which is a new feature that they are adding to the game.

Explaining Community Goals, this is what they had to say:

“Already players are working together to influence the power struggles in our galaxy, but Community Goals are a shared objective we can generate to allow vast numbers of players to collaborate towards the same goal,” executive producer Michael Brookes told PC Gamer.

“A Community Goal will be created to supply the food within a set time limit, and if the players achieve the goal then they’ll save the population. And whether they succeed or fail will have ramifications for the balance of power in the galaxy,” Brookes said, giving the example of famine as a common goal players will be dispatched to deal with.

So that sounds good to me- actually, I’ll be honest, it almost sounds EVE-esque. We’ll see just how it turns out when it’s finally a part of the game, but for now, color me cautiously optimistic.

Elite: Dangerous, the space sim from Frontier Developments, launched just over a month ago after a long development cycle that nonetheless kept players engaged and involved at all stages in the process; now, the game is set to get its first update next month, and it sounds like it will be a big one.

Exact details are actually a bit murky- Frontier has confirmed that it will be a major update in its newsletter, but it has neglected to actually mention what the changes will be, though they did tease a ‘new way to collaborate with other players in the galaxy’.

A specific change that was confirmed, however, was one to the route planner- it sounds like the update will increase the maximum distance for the route planner up to 10 times, allowing for longer journeys in-game.

“We couldn’t be where we are today without our community,” the developer said. “Players have been integral to the development of Elite: Dangerous over the past two years and it’s been a two-way relationship that’s set to continue throughout 2015. We have a number of major updates planned throughout the year, and our Beta backers will get exclusive access first. Beta participants will play on a separate client so testing won’t keep you from playing the regular game, and all participants can continue to play the full retail game while testing is ongoing.”

I’m personally excited to see what these major changes will be. Bring on February.

Yesterday, we reported that right ahead of the launch of the game, developers Frontier had dropped the single player offline mode from their upcoming space sim game, Elite: Dangerous; fans were understandably upset, and started demanding refunds– something that is somewhat difficult in context of Frontier’s refunds policy regarding the game as it stands now, where if you have ever played the game at all, you are not eligible for a refund.

Frontier did, however, say that they would continue to look into each case on an individual basis to determine if a refund was appropriate, but that was not enough for the fans. There was such an outcry that the developer has now gone ahead and re-opened requests regarding refunds that arose in the wake of this issue.

“We initially declined some people’s request for refund as our records showed they have already played Elite: Dangerous online,” Frontier’s David Braben wrote on the Frontier forum.

“After listening to many of the comments I received after my AMA here, we have since re-opened these requests and informed those people that we will be contacting them so that we can fully understand their individual situation before making a more informed decision.

“We will be contacting them each in the next few working days.”

Well, good on them for honoring their commitment to their customers and backers, I guess.

Elite: Dangerous is the upcoming space sim game from Frontier Games, and it has now entered the final phase of its development. The game’s final beta has accordingly gone live, and it costs a staggering £50 if you want in on that, available directly from Frontier’s website. The final release is slated to cost £35, and it will be available before the end of this year.

“Beta 1 is yet another significant milestone for the development of Elite: Dangerous,” the developer said said.

“It further builds out the core gameplay with the addition of many important features. Beta 1 marks the beginning of the final phase of development.

“We want to again thank all the Alpha and Premium Beta players who have contributed so much to date. We are delighted to welcome a large number of new people to the Elite: Dangerous multiplayer experience, and are looking forward to everyone’s reaction to the great new features and increased scale.”

Of course, if you think that £50 is a lot, consider this- the DLC won’t be included with this purchase. You’re gonna have to buy it separately. Seriously.

I mean, damn. The game looks great, but that’s some serious price gouging right there.

“It’s the way we’re doing it,” the developer admits. “We’ve planned it this way for sound reasons, and part of that is going towards backing the game. We don’t have a publisher here. That backing helps financially.”Okay, I guess.