Recommended tiny Timelines change fixes everything

[Morleond]

I wrote the following review on steam but I want to post I here in the hopes that someone from Egosoft will see it and possible run this by the powers that be in a developer meeting. if this is the wrong place for this please let me know and i will gladly repost in the correct place.

Dear Egosoft, and fellow players
I just played through all of the time line missions through to the credits at the end. The only reason i give this a thumbs up is because almost any DLC that adds ships and Sectors to the sandbox is a winner in my books but I have to give the story content and missions to it a thumbs down. Egosoft, I think you can change my vote with a very simple change that I believe you can very easily make and SHOULD make.

*****Spoiler zone ahead read at your own risk*****
Looking at other people's reviews a common critique is that the timeline missions are pointless and boring. I very much have to agree! BUT! all you need to do is fix the context of the missions by simply changing a certain character's color from WHITE to RED. The incredibly forgettable big boss as the end ....sephoran....seporoth... zanadoo... what ever I forgot the name after just 4 hours of completing the story. He didn't provide any different answers than what you get at the beginning. "what you are doing here is incredibly important work" oh and you are a synthetic being OH AND you broke one of writings biggest rule. NEVER EVER EVER say it was all a dream, the end reveal that the x universe might just be a simulation is horrible. That end scene did not suddenly make me feel like what any of that was had any significance and worse it takes away from the sandbox. Now if you change that machine's eye light from white to red and kill all three of the characters (including the player character) Now it would be holy crap! The Xenon have started taking humans from across time and making them run through simulations so that the Xenon can get a better understanding of how the organics behave in certain scenarios so that it can adapt and become even more of a threat to the galaxy. Now suddenly the racing doesn't seem pointless, now suddenly the mining doesn't seem pointless. Now the combat scenarios are more than just shooty shooty big explosion fun time. The whole context of it would completely change. Just be sure to add some small bread crumbs that we can find. Because just as the players are saying why do i have to do all these stupid missions, the players character needs to exhibit the same disdain and curiosity. Other characters need to as well. Maybe the split character can say something about the whole thing seems wrong not just that she is upset about being taken away from her other life. Or the person who's been in hiding can say something but DON'T Bury that in a huge text block in the secret mission descriptions. what happens in the installation needs to have just as much focus as that missions.

some minor fixes that need done. there needs to be a quest log in the facility to have players go and talk to key NPC's I had no idea that the Split person wanted to escape until i came out of a mission and she said hey its time to escape. mind you after I finished each of the 6 original sets of missions I went and talked and explored. I found the graffiti (don't add a quest marker to the dark room to make finding the secret room easier)

Sure some people hate a retcon but I think you should change it as I suggested and make a new end cinematic and make it large and extremely visible on the games main screen for anyone who has already completed the DLC as well as changing it in game for anyone who hasn't.

[vvvvvvvv]

He didn't provide any different answers than what you get at the beginning. "what you are doing here is incredibly important work" oh and you are a synthetic being OH AND you broke one of writings biggest rule. NEVER EVER EVER say it was all a dream, the end reveal that the x universe might just be a simulation is horrible. That end scene did not suddenly make me feel like what any of that was had any significance and worse it takes away from the sandbox.

That's not the ending. The ending is when you get Grandmother achievement. In the sandbox. Once you get the achievement, you'll see what they wanted to do and how it all fits together.

[Morleond]

He didn't provide any different answers than what you get at the beginning. "what you are doing here is incredibly important work" oh and you are a synthetic being OH AND you broke one of writings biggest rule. NEVER EVER EVER say it was all a dream, the end reveal that the x universe might just be a simulation is horrible. That end scene did not suddenly make me feel like what any of that was had any significance and worse it takes away from the sandbox.

That's not the ending. The ending is when you get Grandmother achievement. In the sandbox. Once you get the achievement, you'll see what they wanted to do and how it all fits together.

i haven't done the sand box yet since finishing the timelines content yet so I will have to do it and see if that changes my opinion. I hope it is more satisfying than what the ending was in the timelines section leading up to the credits

[JcJet]

The incredibly forgettable big boss as the end ....sephoran....seporoth... zanadoo...

Dude, it's Sohnen, one of the races of the game.
https://x3.solasistim.net/index.php/Sohnen/
Everyone know that.

[vvvvvvvv]

He didn't provide any different answers than what you get at the beginning. "what you are doing here is incredibly important work" oh and you are a synthetic being OH AND you broke one of writings biggest rule. NEVER EVER EVER say it was all a dream, the end reveal that the x universe might just be a simulation is horrible. That end scene did not suddenly make me feel like what any of that was had any significance and worse it takes away from the sandbox.

That's not the ending. The ending is when you get Grandmother achievement. In the sandbox. Once you get the achievement, you'll see what they wanted to do and how it all fits together.

i haven't done the sand box yet since finishing the timelines content yet

You really need to finish sandbox mission, as ENTIRE Facility storyline is a buildup/setup for that mission's final. It didn't "quite" work, but you'll see what they were going for. The final mission will tie everything together and explain missing bits. It also isn't exactly difficult.

[alt3rn1ty]

As a "Seeker of Sohnen" I loved the ending, been wondering for ages before Timelines if Egosoft would give us another sniff of their presence .. But yeah as others said, you aint there yet

[Morleond]

That's not the ending. The ending is when you get Grandmother achievement. In the sandbox. Once you get the achievement, you'll see what they wanted to do and how it all fits together.

i haven't done the sand box yet since finishing the timelines content yet

You really need to finish sandbox mission, as ENTIRE Facility storyline is a buildup/setup for that mission's final. It didn't "quite" work, but you'll see what they were going for. The final mission will tie everything together and explain missing bits. It also isn't exactly difficult.

Maybe I am missing something but I did the grandmother's mission and got the experimental shuttle. I don't think it tied anything together at all. Is there more to the story I am missing? If not my opinion hasn't changed.

[vvvvvvvv]

i haven't done the sand box yet since finishing the timelines content yet

You really need to finish sandbox mission, as ENTIRE Facility storyline is a buildup/setup for that mission's final. It didn't "quite" work, but you'll see what they were going for. The final mission will tie everything together and explain missing bits. It also isn't exactly difficult.

Maybe I am missing something but I did the grandmother's mission and got the experimental shuttle. I don't think it tied anything together at all. Is there more to the story I am missing? If not my opinion hasn't changed.

Maybe you used custom start and set it to final stage? That would be incorrect. After finishing timelines, your sandbox should be at "Quettanauts" stage of QUE storyline. The last stage is "grandmother", and you get XPerimental shuttle AFTER THAT.

Spoilers ahead.

Spoiler

Show

At the last stage you meet this girl:


Which you know from Timelines Facility. Kaori, the one that came up with "Quettanauts" name. She bluntly tells you that they were running missions for Sohnenn, it was a long time ago, and eventually missions were over, and she is the last remaining original quettanaut, and she is virtually immortal.

Meaning, events of Timelines happen in the past. Possibly well before events of X Beyond. Sohnenn want to prevent heat death of universe, but at some point they found divergent and unstable point of timeline, that's where humans with their jumpdrive appeared. So Quettanauts were created to solve instability in this possible timeline before it happened, to improve quality of their simulation. Oh, and that annoying rock in middle of your HQ you can't get rid of is Sohnenn facility Kaori was created on. Kaori visits you, Boso Ta is excited, she wants to tell more, but she wants to know if that annoying rock can be used to fix her jumpdrive in "Xperimental shuttle", and tries to contact Sohnenn. They respond. And immediately take her away via a teleport.

So your suggestion to create a Xenon overlord kidnapping people does not make much sense, because at this point of time Xenon likely do not yet exist. It is the "highly advanced precursor" race, Sohnenn, who is not concerned with minor issue like Xenon or Kha'ak.

The entire Facility storyline is buildup for the moment you met Kaori in the sandbox. At that moment you're supposed to go "woah". It almost worked, but didn't punch as hard as it was supposed to. Logically, the story is complete. There is a problem with delivery.