A n00b complains about things

[Myrm]

I've clocked up 992 hours so far and this game still keeps me coming back for more. I don't do a great deal in it compared to others. I don't fight, I don't bounty hunt, I don't carry illicit goods. I prefer to make money by exploring and have fun doing it. I tend to play in Open Play mostly for two reasons:

1). I see far more real life players

2). It's quite exciting never knowing if I am going to get griefed/attacked by a naughty real life player >.<

EDH will keep me going for a vary long time yet.

[ballantos]

Ooooo this should be fun. Get popcorn....

First, oh mah garsh, this game is slow. It requires far too much time investment to get anywhere, and if ever a method is uncovered of shortening the time requirement, Frontier removes it. I doubt I'll ever experience the best of the later stages of play because I'm not committed to playing this game for 2000 hours.

Slow? Really? So travelling 1000LY in less than an hour is slow? You do realise that it takes DAYS for us to get to the moon in Normal space, right? Ships fly in Meters Per second. 500 m/s is 1800 kph. Yep Slow. Or do you mean that you have to do missions from one place to another? Guess you have never played WoW, Witcher, or other games that have quests. THOSE are slow and drove me nuts.

I wasn't talking about how fast the ships go. I was talking about how much time you have to put into the game to make any progress. I indeed have played niether WoW nor Witcher.

The worst thing is that it seems like the player base is at least partially to blame for this. My perception is that some people want this to be a life simulator, where everything is as realistic as possible, and everyone has to struggle to get ahead because that's what life is like. I want a video game. Also, I want to move on to other video games at some point instead of pouring my entire soul into this one.

Guess you never looked at any of the plethora of info from David Braben about Elite or how much they love the Science they have used in the game. You do understand that the Galaxy in game is as close to 1:1 to the real thing that they can do, right?
If you think it is too much for what it is, then yes, head on to other games. I personally love Spider Solitaire to relax. Choose your own. You can come back later, no one says it has to be your life. We all have different times to play.

Is that a player? I haven't really delved into the community, but I agree that the science is the best thing in this game. I'm an astronomy nerd and love that I can fly to Betelgeuse or M42 or the galactic core. I love how the system background is a more-or-less accurate projection of the simulated galaxy. I love how every generated world has lots of nerdy statistics in its info panel. It's part of why I'm an explorer.

It doesn't help that much of the game is just not very interesting. The bubble is enormous but relentlessly generic. I long for a richer bubble. No station or planetary base has a story of any kind. All that changes from place to place are the station/base model and the services offered there. No mission has any sort of story, and never asks for anything interesting. Everything is relentlessly bland.

Do you even read Bro?
TONNES of material about the history of Elite. Lets see... Games dating back to 1985, with sequels, Books. Tonnes of Galnet articles. Yep. No stations have any story... Oh wait, in game? Ah.. Ok, so the Factions have no history according to you. Don't tell them, they don't know it. They don't understand why Achenar is important. Nor do they perceive that the verge of war between the Federation and the Empire is happening and all the infighting inside the Empire is a problem. They have no clue as to why those stations in Sol are named as such. The history is In the game if you read the Galnet Articles and see each system has its own story. Just some are more important than others.

Yes, in game. The first and only time I looked at Galnet, all it had were some articles about economic expansion, which didn't interest me much, so I never opened it again. Guess I'll take another look.

You have no idea how much combat can be done in a Cobra or Viper or Eagle. And you don't need a second "Specialized" ship to do it. Just because "you" have not figured it out in 100 hours does not mean it does not exist. I still remember the first time I Solo'd a Python in an Eagle. Damn good feeling. Even my Old Sidewinder managed to get a good chunk of money taking on Anacondas with the Cops help. Never managed to Solo one in the Sidewinder though.

My combat rank is Mostly Harmless. I have a lot to learn there. Haven't had the time...

...this is based on the Original Elite Game. Maybe Contact the makers of Escape Velocity and see if they have plans to make a comeback. Stranger things have happened. No one expected Elite to come back. It happens.

This made me laugh a little, because EV has a cult following that has been pining for that to happen. You have no idea how many people have requested a 3D, online sequel to Escape Velocity. Elite Dangerous is almost exactly that very thing, which is why I think maybe EV cribbed a lot from Elite. But...

Sorry Bro, this is Elite. It is what it is. Your game sounds good, but this aint that.

Yeah, I get it. Thing is, it's not like this is a crowded genre. There's nothing quite like ED in the gaming world. I've not found an alternative as compelling, so I can't just go play some other game to get my fix. It's so close to "my game", which is why I get frustrated.

As I said earlier, you must have not played other games with Mission/Quests. They all grind. This is grind with Spaceships. Oh and when those other games see that things are being exploited to give advantages to a small bunch, they adjust the game, just as FD has. Your expectations for what Elite is may not be inline with what you want to do or enjoy doing. Thats cool Bro. I hate games Like COD and GTAV so to each their own.

But before you hit reply and post back to me, maybe take a look at what this game really allows you to do, and decide if that is what you really enjoy. There is a lot of crap in this game I hate. A lot I love. I have Played Daily since shortly after the launch. Only missed maybe 20-25 days in the entire 2 years. Why? Cause I love it. So how can I still play?

Easy. I don't do the shit that I hate. Screw Power Play. Screw CQC. Screw killing other players for Shits and Giggles. Screw all those other things I don't like. Instead I do ONLY the things I like, and the things I want to do. Only have a hour or two, I would race around in a Buggy or Blast ships in a Nav beacon. Or take a couple of missions or trades, then log off wherever I was and continue another time.

If you can't see the enjoyment, maybe it isn't a full time game for you. Maybe you need to get deeper into the history. The Original Elite is available on the Frontier Store for Free. Give that a Spin, who knows, you might like it. Maybe pick up a Novel or two. Maybe read back to the original Galnet Articles on the Website. Or check out the Forum Archives to see some of the history that was discussed.

Or, just continue doing what you are doing. Whatever. Heres to another 100 hours. Fly Safe Cmdr. If THAT game you mentioned ever comes back, let me know. Sounds interesting.

I didn't play 100 hours because I hated it. I'm enjoying being an explorer, and I'm actually pretty excited for the Colonia expansion. The idea of a community colonizing this vast empty space is compelling.

[Myrm]

David Braben created Elite (and the 1984 original).

[Cmdr Kharma]

I too find a good rant very cathartic.

Poof......

[Relix Typhon]

I too find a good rant very cathartic.

Poof......

You can't go saying things like that in this day and age; does Mobius even have a safe space for the offendeds??

[smartroad]

The bubble is generic, but as anyone who does a lot of business travel will testify generic is what you get, all airports are the same, all hotels are the same, etc...

I started a job this year that means I am away quite a bit, staying in hotels. You are right most chain hotels are very much the same (in the UK Holiday Inn, Travelodge, Premier Inn) close your eyes and you wouldn't know which you are in LOL.

You do get some nuggets out there though, some independents are good and I love some of Best Westerns hotels, which can be, er, eclectic

[smartroad]

I too find a good rant very cathartic.

Poof......

Did he dissappear?!

[smartroad]

David Braben created Elite (and the 1984 original).

And Ian Bell (1984 one)

[Daniel Dakota]

Thread made me check how many hours I've played....

Oh shit !

To the OP, if you like exploration etc you could sign up to things like the 'Distant Stars Expedition' (although that one will prob require an explosive return to the booble), And when it comes up (Distant Worlds 3303).

The Galactic Mapping Project and Expedition Hub is another suggestion.

Have fun

o7
DD

[Loriath]

Lots of stuff you said

Too much to quote.

David Braben is the Head of Frontier and the Founder with Ian Bell of Elite.

Elite has a rich history, and there is a LOT of information out there about it. Take a look at the Old Galnet articles to get a taste.


Xebeth, although he is a Poof (I agree with my A-Team Comrade) is right. There is no End game. There will never be a pop up screen that says you finished. So with that in mind, the game is what YOU do or don't do. What role YOU play. This is a choose your own adventure and there is nothing to guide you. So do what you want, how you want.

Yes of course it seems slow. Other games can be as slow, but they have and end, or and End Game. Even WoW has an end, its called Level Cap. Reach it then there is nothing but Raids and waiting for the next expansion so you can grind more levels and then reach the end and raid. We have Ranks that top out, but there are no raids. You can always do things that will see you progress, but it may not have a Rank or Level associated with it.

Take a look at a game like War Thunder. You cannot Buy your Tanks and Planes outright. You have to get to a certain level with a plane/tank set and then you unlock the next level.

Theoretically (although it would be one hell of a tough grind) you could stay in a Sidewinder and make enough cash to buy every ship in the game and A-Rate them in one day. You say you are Mostly Harmless. Thats cool, it shows you have been interested in other things. Now Imagine staying that way and getting Elite in Exploration. And in doing so, you get Lots of credits. Then one day you fly your Sidewinder (cause your want the satisfaction of seeing other pilots faces (or chats at least) as you slide into Founders world and Leave a while later in a Fully A-Rated Battle ready Corvette, still with a Mostly Harmless Rank It would be a laugh.

I am guilty of the same thing you are; coming to one game hoping it would be another. I did that often. I have learned the hard way (thank god for steam sales) that some games are just shit, and others that say things like "Spiritual Sucessor" or "Plays like a modern" are so full of shit that thy cup runeth over

I came to Elite with no clue about the previous history. Glad I did.

As far as things that change, to quote a Cylon "All of this has happened, and all of this will happen again." They have to make changes. Things are not balanced when one aspect of the game is all that is used. FDL for PvP for example. There is a reason the PvP people use it. It can be modded to the tits while everything else falls short. Balance. Ceos/Sothis? No Balance. I wonder if FD has stats of how much Bio-Poop was hauled before they shut it down. Betcha more than the Entire bubble could produce if the population was actually moddeled.

I remember Fed Rank grinding in TUN. Yep, I used it. Why? I hate the feds, but wanted a Corvette. The Imperial rank I got the hard way and loved it. I find engineers a grind as well, but they do have their uses. I prefer to pay in Fish, but that won't happen outside of ßeta. Then there was the Bazillion Passenger missions. I would rather eat my own intestines than take a Passenger mission, so I am glad they "fixed" balanced that. Adjustments have to be done.

And since the Engineers was such a "piss off the playerbase" moment, they are now really starting to listen to the players. They might know the code behind it, but we know more about "playing" the game than they ever will. Again, its a time thing, and they realise that and are listening to us.

There will always be changes, and always be problems, but as long as they keep the game so that we can do what we want when we want, then its okay. I redpect FD and do believe that they are working on things to make them better, even though they are slow and sometimes too damn quiet about things.

I am also a backer of SC. I regret it, but at least I didn't spend $$$$$ like some. I have never done kickstarter, and probably never would. I got into SC because the Premise at the time sounded good. It is not what I sighed up for anymore. Like ordering the Steak and being served Lobster and Caviar (I Hate both, sue me)

Do what you want, how you want, and if it ever gets to much, play Solitaire. Oh, and always wear sunscreen.

Cheers Cmdr.