Welcome to the club bro'... It just means I've seen a lot in gaming..."I go way back as a gamer" is hardly an accomplishment here. Lots of old farts here who started with pong. I did too. Get in line.
To keep playing Elite Dangerous
- Thread starter Ghiby
- Start date
The utter irony of this thread is that I’m a mature (54) gamer, non-combat focused, and I don’t consider the NPCs to be much of a threat at all, unless I fight back. Even then, it’s less a question of ‘Will I Die,” and more a question of “How long it will take.” But I’m no casual player, even if I am time poor.
In Supercruise, the likelihood of NPCs interdicting you is pretty much nil unless you’re deliberately flying in a way that makes it easy for NPCs to interdict you. Case in point:
I’ve done interplanetary trading before, doubly so since Odyssey released, and it shouldn’t take “10-15 minutes” to make one trip with the older FSD, let alone one equipped with an SCO. The SCO isn’t there to be an “I win the interdiction” button. It’s there to be a “ludicrous speed” button. When used correctly, you should be docking before the NPCs even know you’re there.
One boost should get you clear of the gravity of your departure world. A second boost (if any, it takes time to cool and 186ls is a very short distance to traverse) gets you in proximity to your destination (it’s OK to overshoot, you’ll still get there faster and any potential pirates are at the wrong angle to interdict), and then a high-speed planetary approach, and you’re there.
In Supercruise, the likelihood of NPCs interdicting you is pretty much nil unless you’re deliberately flying in a way that makes it easy for NPCs to interdict you. Case in point:
I’ve done interplanetary trading before, doubly so since Odyssey released, and it shouldn’t take “10-15 minutes” to make one trip with the older FSD, let alone one equipped with an SCO. The SCO isn’t there to be an “I win the interdiction” button. It’s there to be a “ludicrous speed” button. When used correctly, you should be docking before the NPCs even know you’re there.
One boost should get you clear of the gravity of your departure world. A second boost (if any, it takes time to cool and 186ls is a very short distance to traverse) gets you in proximity to your destination (it’s OK to overshoot, you’ll still get there faster and any potential pirates are at the wrong angle to interdict), and then a high-speed planetary approach, and you’re there.
I've already broken my joystick practicing avoiding interdictions in a cargo hauler boat... and I've got pretty good at it until elite combat NPC pirates are attacking me in their Anaconda while I'm in my bulky t9...
I can't switch to another cargo ship unless someone shows me how to configure it to carry 744 tons as I do now with the old t9...
rootsrat
Volunteer Moderator
The more I read your replies here, the more it becomes apparent that Elite may just not be the game for you.
You seem to want "max profit with no danger" space trading game - and Elite never was and never will be that game.
Did you try the recently released Space Trucker? You can dial down the difficulty there to be what you seem to pursue in gaming and it's a game about being a, well, space trucker.
OK allow me to introduce you to my T9
I did competative CGs in this consistently getting 10% finishes running, at the time 708 tonnes of cargo.
These days it's more often used as a Carrier tender hauling 752 tonnes.
Avoiding NPCs is simple enough; when you jump in turn your stern to the star and sit at 30km/s with >60% heat. NPCs will fry themselves trying to get behind me, leaving me a clear run to the port.
I actually stuck burst lasers and seeker missiles on it so I could choose to accept some of the lower end pirates and claim their bounties.
Despite all the years I spent in this it' only saw the rebuy screen once due to a double interceptor hyperdiction shortly after Taranis' arrival. No ganker or CG camper has ever done that, though I have arrived in port with hull % in the single digits a few times.
I did competative CGs in this consistently getting 10% finishes running, at the time 708 tonnes of cargo.
These days it's more often used as a Carrier tender hauling 752 tonnes.
Avoiding NPCs is simple enough; when you jump in turn your stern to the star and sit at 30km/s with >60% heat. NPCs will fry themselves trying to get behind me, leaving me a clear run to the port.
I actually stuck burst lasers and seeker missiles on it so I could choose to accept some of the lower end pirates and claim their bounties.
Despite all the years I spent in this it' only saw the rebuy screen once due to a double interceptor hyperdiction shortly after Taranis' arrival. No ganker or CG camper has ever done that, though I have arrived in port with hull % in the single digits a few times.
I was not in a Thargoid system...
I was carrying pax - passengers - not cargo in my beluga I think...it was in the bubble and the system was not invaded or controlled by thargoids...it happened to me twice then I gave up on moving pax...
This is what we used to evacuate refugees from stations being invaded;
Fast enough to escape glaives. Near the Thargoid systems you might get Scythes, keep the temp down and you should avoid the shutdown missiles.
Fast enough to escape glaives. Near the Thargoid systems you might get Scythes, keep the temp down and you should avoid the shutdown missiles.
Options as I see it if you do enjoy the game.
Get a better ship.
Spend your time working up to an Imperial cutter, which will allow you to trade with the ability to ignore npc pirates.
Buy a T8 and trade smaller amounts, but with faster times. You can easily make a minimum of 320t trader with defences. Beat interdictions with ease. Also very good for smuggling cargo, and uses the sco drive beautifully. I ran to a 50,000 ls station in less than 1 minute last night.
You seem to be focused on profit above survivability. Bad business plan I would say.
What are you looking to make so much money for so quickly, that you will risk the huge losses involved flying the T9?
Get a better ship.
Spend your time working up to an Imperial cutter, which will allow you to trade with the ability to ignore npc pirates.
Buy a T8 and trade smaller amounts, but with faster times. You can easily make a minimum of 320t trader with defences. Beat interdictions with ease. Also very good for smuggling cargo, and uses the sco drive beautifully. I ran to a 50,000 ls station in less than 1 minute last night.
You seem to be focused on profit above survivability. Bad business plan I would say.
What are you looking to make so much money for so quickly, that you will risk the huge losses involved flying the T9?
And if you were to encounter thargoids in the black, far from the bubble, that would be a jackpot for an explorer, not a nuisance.
I could suggest buying a more robust joystick or as I did for a long time just have the joystick un anchored so when I got too heavy handed the whole thing would move, I might lose the fight but wouldn’t break the hardware.
A trick that can work for fighting interdictions is to slow right down to about 5% throttle things can be less violent and so easier to work.
You can make your victory segments increase faster if you don’t keep bang in the middle of the escape vector but wobble across it.
If they are trying to interdict you near a planet consider crashing into its exclusion zone if you are arriving if departing a planet or star but still very close slow down and point directly away from the body so they hit the exclusion zone when they try to get behind you.
Now you know we cannot do that any more than we could convince you that delivering more smaller cargoes where all of them arrived was a more workable strategy.
Now if you had the Imoerial Rank for a Cutter that would be another thing.
Even engineering the thrusters on your T9 would help a bit as it would reduce its lack of agility.
Perhaps the OP can post their T9 ship build.
With 744 tons cargo capacity, no engineering, and I'm going to assume no Prismatic Shields, the OP's T9 has at best a 5A shield and maybe some unengineered shield boosters. OP said no SCO. No indication the OP has Guardian stuff, so I'm guessing no Guardian FSD booster. At best a size 3 fuel scoop, which for a T9... useless.
That leaves the OP with a T9 cargo ship with minimal shields and when fully loaded a jump range of 11.7 Ly? A ship speed of 134, boost to 206.
Based on their stated activities, this doesn't make sense to me. T9 with 744 Cargo
If the OP does have Guardian FSD booster they get a 23Ly jump range and are flying with no shields.
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This cargo ship might be okay for loading to/from a fleet carrier that is in turn used to jump between systems, but OP implied they did not have a fleet carrier. And there was no mention of using a fleet carrier throughout this thread. If they were using a fleet carrier the overall interdiction threat would exist but quite low.
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good point,
I would post my ship's config, but I don't know how - maybe this will help
I just got, literally around 12 hrs ago, a SCO class 6A, only to be interdicted again and realize I cannot use it during the interdiction mini-game to escape... I did manage to escape the mini-game, breaking my joystick in the process, but the NPC pirate was not elite level this time with an Anaconda, lucky me...
and yes, everything else is basic, just A-rated modules, no Guardian FSD booster (I don't know how to get one), and nothing engineered, because I don't have the materials for the engineering, nor the time to find them
my old T9 is an old basic ship, but I've managed to fit in 744 tons of cargo and it works for me if NPC pirates at elite combat levels won't attack me
I don't do transportation missions, or stack those up because I'm well aware those will attract pirates
I am just a simple dull space trucker, buying low at the shipper and selling high at the destination, nothing more, because I don't have time for more, and as such I'm a novice in anything else...
I did manage to rank up to Tycoon (yey) in trading, and I assume the NPCs are scaling up to match or exceed my rank, as so I won't be "bored" with boring easy fights...altho' I avoid any fights, easy and boring, or not... I'm not elite rank in anything, I'm not that good, I'm just a casual player, enjoying flying ships in our simulated galaxy and in fact, I love landing on planets and exploring around...
that's why I'm sad about leaving ED, because in fact, I love this game at the core... I just can't make it, it became too frustrating for me and that's not fun anymore
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right... I don't know how to use the SCO correctly... I just got it, and it appears I'm a dumb incompetent player...
I did manage to win the mini-game during the interdiction attempt, breaking my joystick in the process, like literally, but lucky me, this time the NPC pirate wasn't an elite combat pilot in an Anaconda, as such I successfully got away, this time...
you have good points...
I barely have Tycoon rank in trading, I'm good at nothing else apparently... I don't even know how to properly use the SCO, since it wasn't a thing when I was playing actively... since I've started this conversation, I logged in and got a 6A SCO for my T9 and it's not working during the interdiction... so it helps me how? run away before they attempt to interdict, if they send me the taunting message, and if I see it in time to react fast and jump away... I'm slow, I keep saying, I'm a casual player, not a competitive one, and I have a disability (ulnar palsy) on my left hand that prevents me from having fast reflexes and dexterity, but I enjoy ED, or I used to love it, before I started to lose ships and cargo to NPCs...
so, is ED not the right game for me and I should leave..??.. that was my message about, letting Fdevs know why am I leaving ED and why am I not eager to spend real money on ED...
yes, good or bad strategy I am focused on profits more because I used to be able to survive, escape interdictions, or if not to defend my T9 and cargo enough until the security vessels arrived to save me... then, the NPC pirates were not elite combat level flying a nimble Anaconda, now they are very versatile and aggressive, much more than before... because I ranked up?? OK, I made it to tycoon in trading, but I'm novice in combat, and hey, an elite NPC pirate in an Anaconda is attacking me, as a form of scaling up to my tycoon rank in trading... how fair is that?... oh, yea, no one said it has to be fair, naive me to think that...
why do I focus on profits?? to buy a carrier, why else?? to buy better ships, better modules, better suits, weapons, etc.
it might be the wrong strategy, but this is what I consider fun, being able to afford better items in the game I play... now being frustrated while I try to get better items is not really my idea of fun...
yes mate, that's exactly what my initial post was about, me abandoning ED and letting Fdevs know why, and more importantly why I don't feel the urge to spend real money on ED to support the game, that I used to love in fact... I still love the ED core concept, flying in the galaxy, Newtonian physics and all, space legs, landing on planets, exploring, etc. I still love the concept...
but, it's a difference between being fun, relaxing, enjoyable, and being frustrating to play... sure, we all have a different understanding of what "fun" is or what "frustrating" is... what's fun to me, may be frustrating to you, and vice-versa...
I was just exposing how I feel, to the Fdevs mainly, so they can analyze, review and do whatever they wanna do with this information...
as you well know, many are leaving, abandoning the game without saying a word, and in case they (fdevs) care, they are left with an unanswered question as of "why..??.."
well, unlike others, I took the time to write down how I feel, and let them - fdevs - know why...
assuming they have some kind of a team that's monitoring the players' retention...
I know many respectable developers and publishers - EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Paradox, etc, the list is too long - have such teams in place, so I assume Frontier has one too... I was addressing that particular team, to let them know why one player is leaving, and more importantly, why is not eager to spend real money on ED... if nothing else, they must care about why players are spending - or not - money on their game...
I'll say it again, I just spent over $160 US$ on ESO, and that was just now, recently, a week ago, I'm even afraid to calculate how much I spend in a year... why?? because it's fun, it's easy to clear content in PvE, it's not frustrating, the rewards vs effort ratio, aka balancing, is just right to keep it fun, and not slide into the frustrating side... and so, like an addict, I open my wallet to that...
I could do that with ED too, after all, I love the game... but it's getting more and more frustrating, and not fun... hence why would I pay to be frustrated... I'm OK to pay for fun, it's the entertainment business after all, but to pay to get frustration, that's unnatural I'd say...
some say that ESO is too easy... rest assured, they have special sections, dungeons, and maps, for hard-core players who can play on brutal difficulty until they drop out of exhaustion trying to beat a boss... if one wants that, one knows where to go to get just that... but the regular player, average, casual, not on steroids seeking brutal combat just to kill "things", can also enjoy and have fun in a slow pace, casual environment, where PvE is cleared somewhat easy, rewards are great, time spent is fun and you find yourself coming back again and again... and bring your friends too, to make it even more fun...
in ED, I barely log in once a year... that's sad because the game concept is great...
about the "Space Trucker" new release... yes, I'm looking into it... but, I've spent so much money on games, from Eve Online to ED and to many others not listed, I'm reluctant to spend even more money on a not-yet-proven game... why not have that in ED, where the platform to make that happen is already in place... I've already spent money buying my legal copy of ED and Oddysey... why buy a new game and who knows a new one again and again...
I already have a cargo hauler boat in ED and I've worked hard to obtain it and fit it with the modules I need... (I put in over 100 Mil if I'm not wrong, just on that hauler, may not sound much to some, but it's a lot for me...
then, there are already great, really GREAT tools in place in ED mods and add-ons, by great creators, so why not be a space trucker in ED, why move to another game... just because balancing is off..??.. balancing can be adjusted...
but, to answer your question, yes, I am considering the Space Trucker, which is sad for ED... losing one more player should be a sad thing for the community... if it's not, then that's an extra reason to just abandon it entirely...
bro'... I paid for my legal copy of ED and Oddysey, like any other player, and so I have the right to come here and express my opinions as I see fit... not sure about you, but I proudly live in a country where freedom of expression is greatly valued...
that being said, just because you don't agree with me, that doesn't mean I complain... we can agree to disagree, that's what people do in a civilized society...
back to ED, I was just stating, for fdevs mainly, that I am leaving the game, because it became frustrating to me, and more importantly that's why I don't feel the urge to spend real money on ED... if nothing else, rest assured, they care about why are people not spending real money on their game... if somehow they don't care, then no wonder they have poor financial results below their predicted expectations, as per their own public statements to shareholders...
to answer to your question:
I've seen a different type of advertising, while I was brutally fighting PvP in Eve Online, in a cutthroat galaxy where you lose billions, without recovering anything back... what I saw??
- a game where you can recover 95% of your ship, in case you somehow lose it
- a game where you can have space legs, land on planets, do exobiology exploration, spend time in a concourse in a space station, do cargo hauling, and passenger transport in slick cruiseliners, and such things I could not do in the brutal Eve Online... if you think ED is brutal, I'm sorry to break it blunt to you, but ED is a walk in the park compared to Eve
- I saw a great community, of great friendly players, helping each other, unlike in Eve where they slit your throat if you give them the opportunity by not looking over your shoulder
- I saw a great community of modders, creating GREAT mods and addon's for ED, to enhance the game experience
but, least of all, I didn't expect to be ganked by NPCs, overpowered NPCs way above my rank...
if I'd be ganked by another human player, with better skills than me, I'd bow my hat, and say to him " Well done mate, that was a good fight, you've earned, let me know how you did it..." but to be ganked by NPCs, that's just pitiful... hence frustrating... hence, not fun, to me at least...
by the way, for the record, I didn't mean to offend you in any way shape, or form... if it came across as such, please accept my sincere apologies, it was not my intention...
if you enjoy intense grinding, that's fine by me, it's a form of release by being deeply drawn and focused into an activity and I get that...
I was just stating that's not my thing, not my idea of fun... but I respect your way of doing things, as you better see fit for yourself...
I'm not offended at all, so no apology required.
And obviously what 'fun' is, is relative.
My point was that having a credit restricted game actually (for me, anyway) was great, because then choices really matter, something that does not really feature in 2024 ED. When was the last time you worried about money, or had to choose between a weapon or a new PD? In this context (if FD kept a lid on credit inflation) engineering would have then had a place - you'd be modifying inferior equipment to a higher standard rather than simply going G5 on A rated gear simply because you can't easily get or afford top end stuff.
What I find off-putting in ED is that the game heavily revolves around getting the best stuff as a starting point, rather than it being a long term thing. Flowing from that we can buy the best ships instantly, and never have to really make serious choices because we always have the cushion of money.