AXI’s Stance on recent changes to FDEV’s monetization practices

Our primary concern is always having fun in this game and rarely do we decide to speak up openly on broader game matters. But, on rare occasions, we feel it is important to share our perspective for our community to consider.

The proposed introduction of the permanently-paywalled $30 “Dodec” super-Tier 3 station, with the added bonus of a 40-hour haul-skip, has divided the Elite community in ways we have rarely seen before.

On one hand, one side of the community sees this as a legitimate way to raise revenue, but others see it as an escalation of a pattern of locking more and more content behind (now for the first time permanent) paywalls.

Our view is that the introduction of ever more predatory monetisation schemes is not a good direction for the game’s business model to be heading in, and believe it will negatively impact the health of the game in the long term.

Supporting the game you play and love is a noble and wonderful thing. We will continue to support Elite Dangerous, including proceeding with the 500k-ARX fully-custom-named headquarter system we are committed to. But as gamers, we vote with our wallets, and the type of microtransactions that we make informs the developers of what we want to see more of.

And we will not support the continued introduction of ever more arbitrary pay-to-win microtransactions. We do not want to see this trend of exclusive ships offering unfair competitive advantages to players who spend money for undetermined amounts of time, stations that offer otherwise unobtainable gameplay perks – and who knows what next – continue any further. This statement is not a call to action for players to act one way or another, rather, it’s an explanation of our thoughts on the current state of the game. We only wish for this game to continue to have a bright future, that we all may continue to have fun together.

Glory, To Mankind.