But the evidence of their influence on the game world has been limited to what amounts to futuristic faxes, text-only stories that players can pick up when they dock at starports. Since the early alpha, political factions have existed in Elite.
The core of the change is adding what are called Powers to the game. Their next update will completely revamp the quest and faction system, adding a kind personality to the game that simply doesn't exist right now.
While that's not entirely fair, the team at Frontier Developments have taken it to heart. One of the biggest criticisms of Elite: Dangerous, the vast spaceflight simulation now on Windows PC and Mac and slated for release on Xbox One and eventually PlayStation 4, has been that there's nothing to do.
