Engineering and Pre-Built Ships

[Cosmo]

What's that? The open game was killed (and continues to be killed) by gankers, they spent years learning the mechanics of flight, collecting builds practicing, and they are not interested in killing Thargoids, they are more interested in killing unprotected people.

The chances that you encounter other players is very low. If you're worried about safety in open then you can play with others. That's how it's done in other MMOs that only have 1 game mode. This incentivizes players to play together to protect each other. Some join a guild for protection or hire an escort in-game.

 

[SergMx]

The chances that you encounter other players is very low. If you're worried about safety in open then you can play with others. That's how it's done in other MMOs that only have 1 game mode. This incentivizes players to play together to protect each other. Some join a guild for protection or hire an escort in-game.

Generally in Elite, a ganker can accidentally (if you are completely unprepared) kill YOU only once in an open game. Then it is up to you to decide whether to meet him or not. (blacklist mechanism)

 

[tolm]

Tweaking material numbers for ship engineering sounds reasonable. Also, tweaking the trade ratios might help.

But, for me, it’s the on foot engineering that needs more work:

• some materials I’ve literally never seen
• the amounts needed are insane compared to ship-based
• all materials need to be tradeable (with the possible exception of the schematics, assuming they can be made available via a mix of legal/illegal missions and the numbers needed are dropped by about a factor of 5!)

 

[Sol Valou]

The chances that you encounter other players is very low. If you're worried about safety in open then you can play with others. That's how it's done in other MMOs that only have 1 game mode. This incentivizes players to play together to protect each other. Some join a guild for protection or hire an escort in-game.

Teamwork makes the dream work!

Generally in Elite, a ganker can accidentally (if you are completely unprepared) kill YOU only once in an open game. Then it is up to you to decide whether to meet him or not. (blacklist mechanism)

As for blacklisting players, traditionally in other games it only blocks chat. If a player continues to harass you via in-game actions you have to page a GM or send in a ticket which would result in the banhammer or the threat of using it. Frontier decided not to burden themselves with that and gave the power to the player to "ban" whomever they wish. Pros and cons to this because on the one hand it saves a lot of time for staff and players can curate their own experience on the fly, on the other hand players can weaponize it. (denying a bounty-hunter chasing you down being an easy example)

Back on topic, I feel it should be safe to say that on-foot engineering won't be left out of this rebalance because that'd just be common sense. They mention backpacks in the announcement, so going off that it's at least on their radar. That being said, fdev's track record reminds me of my grandpa saying, "Common sense is uncommon."

 

[SergMx]

denying a bounty-hunter chasing you down being an easy example

There is no such mission in the game.

As far as hiking materials go, it's complicated. When I collected materials for all the costumes and all the weapons I cried on the forum that it is difficult ....
Well, I've collected everything and I don't need anything else. I even have 2 combat suits - mobile and in the shield. ALL ! There is nothing else here and it is finished !
But the materals for ships and ship modules I still collect ...

 

[SergMx]

On topic.
Personally, I'd like to have no bugs and special omissions in the finished builds. I play a long time and I like to do the assembly of ships and really want to know everything about the mechanics of this equipment.
I am carefully studying these builds to understand for myself what is more optimal.

For example, in the finished assembly of the miner, many write that they forgot the ring scanner. And maybe it is not so ? Maybe they want to show that the ring scanner affects only deep drilling, and when assembled with a laser it is not necessary ?

 

[Disemboweled Ego]

For example, in the finished assembly of the miner, many write that they forgot the ring scanner. And maybe it is not so ? Maybe they want to show that the ring scanner affects only deep drilling, and when assembled with a laser it is not necessary ?

That's still going against the community and everything the guides say. Even if all the guides are wrong new players who put in the effort to learn the game will be caught off by the missing scanner when every guide tells them they should have one.

 

[SergMx]

That's still going against the community and everything the guides say. Even if all the guides are wrong new players who put in the effort to learn the game will be caught off by the missing scanner when every guide tells them they should have one.

Can we have a link to such an official guide ?

I remember it was always surface drilling and we didn't have DSS. DSS came along with deepwater drilling.

 

[aRJay]

...let's not forget, it also just killed Open.

There are at least three players that would be upset about that.

 

[Disemboweled Ego]

Can we have a link to such an official guide ?

A new player isn't going to find an official guide because there is no official guide.

I guess under pilots handbook the DSS is listed under optional, but everything there is so barebonse I wouldn't really recommend using it as a guide.

 

[K Olley]

Can we have a link to such an official guide ?

I remember it was always surface drilling and we didn't have DSS. DSS came along with deepwater drilling.

Minerals and Metals and where to find them.

Not a guide but a list of what can be mined, where it can be mined, whether it has hotspots and how it can be mined.

A number of mined goods can be laser mined in there own Hotspots including Platinum, Painite, LTD's, bromellite and Tritium

 

[SergMx]

Minerals and Metals and where to find them.

Not a guide but a list of what can be mined, where it can be mined, whether it has hotspots and how it can be mined.

A number of mined goods can be laser mined in there own Hotspots including Platinum, Painite, LTD's, bromellite and Tritium

Thank you.
I'm aware of that, and I think I wrote that there was laser mining before, but no DSS.
So it's not an error when it's not in the final build !

 

[K Olley]

I have mined without a DSS, it may have been before they were introduced but all my laser miners have now got them fitted.

 

[Wisho]

However, we will be listening to your feedback as we go about this process.

Good news, so here it is

Pre-built ships : personally won't use them, but good point for new players to give them a glance at what engineering can do - and FD does need funding in order to keep E: D alive.
More mats space : yeah, why not, especially for G5 manufactured, they fill up real quick and the trader is so greedy.
Increase mission payout (1) : why not again - although I'd better say "make payout more varied": missions always grant the same 3-4 mats while some others are so rare and require dedicated, knowledge-and-time-consuming HGE grind.

So, suggestions :

• Make every kind of mats more accessible across the activity board : as said above but not only with missions (1), as of today there is a bit too much of "to get this, you must do that".
• Extend engineerable modules : too bad many modules, especially hardpoints, cannot be engineered or miss classic blueprints - for some of them that could fix what makes them pretty useless, or at least open up new uses. Long range (=faster) dumbfire missiles, overcharged flechettes, high capacity shock cannons, efficient railguns, lightweight cabins and SCBs and all optionals, ...
• Make more advertising for engineering itself - I personally found that going from one engineer to another asking for another treat is a great way to discover what the whole game has to offer, and once started it doesn't feel like so much of a grind because G3-G4 blueprints grant significant boosts for easily accessed mats. However back in 201x, what I read here and there about the "full G5 grind" initially made me very reluctant to start...

(1) But please ahead of all that, first fix the many disastrously balanced activities across the mission board.
"Legal" missions that involve entering a surface settlement with an SRV while surviving in there will mostly grant you a big bounty and notoriety, hatch breaking targets made unbreakable by point defence unless shooting limpets point blank with a dedicated superengineered superfast ship, wing assassination missions with always the same FDL+spectating Vultures team, wing missions yielding not much more than single player missions, bases practically denying service because of any 100Cr bounty or notoriety, and so on.

 

[SergMx]

I have mined without a DSS, it may have been before they were introduced but all my laser miners have now got them fitted.

It's easy to check. Fly to the spot and work with the laser for an hour, then fly to the dark zone and there as well.
You'll see right away.
And they have a pulse scanner at .....

 

[Sol Valou]

There is no such mission in the game.

I'm not talking about a mission. I'm referencing a scenario in which player A has a bounty and player B interdicts player A, hoping to claim said bounty. Player A evades player B, jumps to another system and then blocks player B. Player B is then outta luck and has no chance of pursuing that bounty.

 

[Nowski]

Haha. I'm really hoping they've thought of that and put a great big flashing warning when you try to uninstall a prebuilt module.

Similarly, I hope FDev have fully considered the case of players accidentally selling the ship they paid for with Arx.

 

[SergMx]

I'm not talking about a mission. I'm referencing a scenario in which player A has a bounty and player B interdicts player A, hoping to claim said bounty. Player A evades player B, jumps to another system and then blocks player B. Player B is then outta luck and has no chance of pursuing that bounty.

Player B lacked skill and missed his chance.

 

[V'larr]

Back on topic, I feel it should be safe to say that on-foot engineering won't be left out of this rebalance because that'd just be common sense.

Careful with that, the common sense. It should've been common sense that Engineering, ship and on foot, being the way it is and for this long would be a "bad move", but here we are. At least now finally something is being done about it.

 

[Sol Valou]

Player B lacked skill and missed his chance.

Haha well ok my friend, that's a fair enough take I suppose. So what you're saying here is interstellar justice has no business ever being served in this game and player A (the despised ganker) should be able to continue their reign of terror if player B (the bounty hunter) lacked skill and just needs to somehow git moar gud before being personally banned? When they're already disadvantaged by needing to bring a kill-warrant scanner, a wake scanner and an FSD interdictor while a ganker inherently only needs the FSD interdictor?

The open game was killed (and continues to be killed) by gankers...

This has to be some sort of karmic justice for the early days of mmo griefing. Am I the only one that sees the irony here? It's absolutely hilarious and I am here for it.

Meanwhile there are players with this mentality:

You cannot and will not be allowed to tell me how to play the game.


I'll play how I damn well please, in solo, messing up your BGS on purpose knowing that you're nothing but helpless agaist me.

Which is arguably a form of griefing.

¯\(ツ)/¯

Can't we all just, get along?