I think I've found the perfect long-term play style for me...

[DaveB]

I fly an Asp, but the same thing would fit any multirole ship larger than a Cobra.

I am primarily a trader, but the Asp isn't maxed for cargo or defenseless, I rather like the idea of being able to defend my cargo. With that proviso it takes only minimal tweaks to the loadout to rig it it for bounty hunting. What I have been doing over the last few days, rather than "a trading session" or "a hunting session", which I kept different ships with optimized loadouts for, what I've been doing is prospecting for trade routes running empty but whenever I jump into a new system, before I go check out the market at a station I go spend some time ratting at the nav point. When the supply of wanted ships dries up or I need to reload, THEN I go check out whether this system can be a decent node on a trade route and turn in any local bounties. I swore I'd never sell my Cobra but since this play style means I'm likely to end up a LONG way from where I parked it, I did. When I next feel the urge to settle down in a particular area, I can always rebuy and repimp another one.

I've lower cargo cap than if I were rigged purely for trading, because I *expect* to get shot up a bit so I've made the space for a SCB and an AFM module. I don't care. I make credits slower than most traders, accumulate kills slower than most bounty hunters but like this I don't think I'll burn out on the game anytime soon. Every session is sufficiently varied that it never becomes boring and if it threatens to, well that's my cue to go somewhere else in the Galaxy where I'll find more variety.

If I feel the need to live dangerously I'll go ratting with a full hold at each end of a trading jump


So, cmdrs.. what counts as the perfect long-term play style for you?

 

[Aussiedroid]

I tend to think along the same lines in the view of having a good all rounder to fly. Being able to do a bit of whatever you feel like without changing loadouts or ships. I am a bit of a drifter too so its hard to keep all ships local after a while.

Good to see another player not in the race for ships or credits and just enjoying the ride.

My Asp build at the moment was more 70-30 split primarily as explorer with some weapons etc. But I think I could beef up a bit for battle and not loose too much on the jump range. Haven't got to tweaking it yet. For now I am testing out a Viper after a long exploration trip with some straight combat (which is fun). So cheap to run compared to the Asp, but anyways still love the potential of the Asp, seems more appealing that the bigger ships.

 

[TheLastCall]

I primarily a Trader & Explorer, so my current home is a good trading port with High demand and supply, with a lot of A class outfitting. It’s rarely visited by other traders, I’ve never seen one and I’m the only one listed in the last 24 hours (every time I check). This station is on the edge of the empire, so it’s not a bad trading point and a good jump off point for exploring.
I’m still classed as Harmless, as I don’t do much combat.

I’ve just rigged a Cobra for exploring and left my T6 parked for when I come back to trade. Nice to be able to swap critical expensive parted between these two ships. You can swap the FSD, Thrusters & Advance Scanner between them.

The Cobra is rigged for exploring and combat (got a little sick of the interdictions in unexplored space). I use to explore in the T6 because of the range.

Now I’m off exploring, killed two interdictors on my way out. NPC’s are less likely to interdicted an armed Cobra it seems. I’ll Explore to 1000ly, then turn back and pick up some USS’s on the way back. Hopefully I will get some alien artefacts and drop them at a station I know has black market on the way back.

Loving the game.

 

[Darque]

I am in the same boat as you fellas. I never got on the trading band wagon early though, so I was primarily a bounty hunter. Now that it would be nigh impossible to crank out the credits for a python or anaconda for the likes of me, I have resigned myself to Cobra living...and it is good enough. Maybe one day I will switch to an Asp if I ever make a load of money, but my two attempts before of non-optimized Asps didn't go so well.
Mostly I tool around and bounty hunt with occasional trading thrown in. Well, in truth I read the forums more than play the game these days, but when I do log in, I BH.

 

[ccowboybebop]

I like basic bounty hunting. Sure trading is profitable but I can only play so much because of other stuff I have to do. Fully equipped Viper hunting bounties or getting involved in warzones is so much fun for me.. I'll probably keep doing this till the updates for planetary landings and what not.

 

[Goilveig]

I like basic bounty hunting. Sure trading is profitable but I can only play so much because of other stuff I have to do. Fully equipped Viper hunting bounties or getting involved in warzones is so much fun for me.. I'll probably keep doing this till the updates for planetary landings and what not.

Assassination missions are great, too. Probably the most fun activity for me. Profits aren't bad (I earn ~600k/hr which is good for a bounty hunter) and it keeps me on my toes. 1.1 made it harder by quite a bit, but that just gave more incentive to get better and not fly as sloppy as I used to.

 

[Ydiss]

I did this for a while in my Asp, back in the day. It was a lot of fun.

It's not lucrative enough now as I have bigger ships but it served me well. I ran rare trade routes, by loading up the Asp with as much as I could each time I docked to re-arm. I'd then bounty hunt with cargo on board (which greatly increases the challenge of bounty hunting as pirates engage on sight, rather than sit about waiting for you to attack them first), then travel to the sell station once I had enough cargo.

It's a very fun way to play. I'd still do it, in my Python, if there was a way to get more than 50-60 rares in one shot, without travelling a long distance between loads. Currently, the Lave region allows up to 60T or so.

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Assassination missions are great, too. Probably the most fun activity for me. Profits aren't bad (I earn ~600k/hr which is good for a bounty hunter) and it keeps me on my toes. 1.1 made it harder by quite a bit, but that just gave more incentive to get better and not fly as sloppy as I used to.

Has the Orca bug been fixed yet? This put me off Assassination missions completely.

 

[Goilveig]

Has the Orca bug been fixed yet? This put me off Assassination missions completely.

I run the missions daily and have never seen the "orca bug" others talk about. It's very obvious which missions are for Orcas and which aren't (Orca missions pay about 40k instead of about 150k, so as long as you pay attention you never need grab one).

I've only tried two or three Orca missions, they all turned in and gave rewards correctly, though none were all that fun (they just sort of sat there and died - I've fought sidewinders that were more fun) so I don't take them anymore.

 

[Shizuka]

I do what I feel like, I first traded a little, then I bounty hunted, then I explored, then I stole a little, now im in a long jurney but when im back, i think im gonna back to stealing.

I just have fun, dont care how much money I do, what I do care is that for example if I steal something, that will pay the bills, if u know what I mean.

 

[FatteusTwerpage]

I've been in since Beta and play for a bit most days, yet only have about 8mil to my name. This is because I refused to get on the must-get-credits-to-get-biggest-ship bandwagon, and played for the fun of it.

I don't use third party tools to max out my earnings as I prefer to find good routes myself. Then, having found a good route, I'll trade it for a few days before getting the combat itch, at which point I'll do the nav beacon tango or the RES shuffle. Throw in a bit of exploring between long jumps, where the destination is usually arbritary, and when I get where I'm going I'll do some missions until I've made friends with the locals.

Yesterday I traded a bit of gold around Achenar until I'd had enough, then went out to the rings for a change of pace. Provided a bit of security for the miners against an onslaught of Sideys until I accidentally shot up a fellow bounty hunter and had to leave. When i went back for more, the pirates had run out of Sideys and so they had their Pythons out, and that was a lot of fun. Spotting a big group of allies on the radar helps when looking for trouble, and I was able to find the fights quite easily. I'd get there to find three or four System Security Eagles taking on a Python without being able to do much damage, so I'd wade in with my Cobra and a bit of righteous fury. I only stopped playing last night because I had to go the pub!

Make your own story, mix it up a bit, pick random destinations, do random stuff, and chances are you'll never burn out.

Fly safe

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

I fly an Asp, but the same thing would fit any multirole ship larger than a Cobra.

I am primarily a trader, but the Asp isn't maxed for cargo or defenseless, I rather like the idea of being able to defend my cargo. With that proviso it takes only minimal tweaks to the loadout to rig it it for bounty hunting. What I have been doing over the last few days, rather than "a trading session" or "a hunting session", which I kept different ships with optimized loadouts for, what I've been doing is prospecting for trade routes running empty but whenever I jump into a new system, before I go check out the market at a station I go spend some time ratting at the nav point. When the supply of wanted ships dries up or I need to reload, THEN I go check out whether this system can be a decent node on a trade route and turn in any local bounties. I swore I'd never sell my Cobra but since this play style means I'm likely to end up a LONG way from where I parked it, I did. When I next feel the urge to settle down in a particular area, I can always rebuy and repimp another one.

I've lower cargo cap than if I were rigged purely for trading, because I *expect* to get shot up a bit so I've made the space for a SCB and an AFM module. I don't care. I make credits slower than most traders, accumulate kills slower than most bounty hunters but like this I don't think I'll burn out on the game anytime soon. Every session is sufficiently varied that it never becomes boring and if it threatens to, well that's my cue to go somewhere else in the Galaxy where I'll find more variety.

If I feel the need to live dangerously I'll go ratting with a full hold at each end of a trading jump


So, cmdrs.. what counts as the perfect long-term play style for you?

Sounds like I play in the same way as you. I have a cobra and have geared it up for a bit of everything. Right now it "only" has 16 tons of cargo as I am exploring and checking out metallic rings for possible mining missions in the future, but usually it has 32 tons, and i explore, BH and do a little trading on the side whilst i am at it (I even smuggle if a pirate drops some shiny loot on their death and I am near a base with a possible black market).

once i am done mucking about with mining i will buy an ASP i think, but I keep all of my ships, and do have a T6 & T7 if i feel the need for some full on trading.

 

[babelfisch]

I basically do it like you, but instead of trading I do various missions. I usually accept 5-10 missions and fly around neighboring systems, hunting pirates, hauling cargo, getting interdicted.

 

[Putok]

My playstyle is similar, with a healthy dose of exploration mixed in. With my well equipped Clipper and 15 mil in the bank, I don't feel much need to worry about grinding for money, or losing 50k here or there to a scratch in the paint.

 

[BishopC]

FYI, the Orca bug is NOT fixed. The bounty is around 130k - 160k, and it is not discernible if the target is an Orca or an Anaconda. I busted ~200 targets in that price range, and I am still reasonably miffed everytime I find it is an Orca. Damn bug is a little further than one might think, I suppose for that bounty it shouldn't be an Orca, and the Orca should not behave the way it does. Severly broken.

Did kill one assassination target Julie Springer 10 minutes ago in an Orca, explosion, nothing happened. Abandon.

 

[Hilight]

I really like trading and my play style revolves around that and some minor exploring. First of all, I make extensive use of two trading tools-- Slopey's and Cmdr's Log. I don't consider using trading tools to be 'cheating.' Just as in the day-to-day world, commodity and stock traders take into consideration the recommendations of analysts, so I figure these tools function as my trade analysts in the game...
Second, I don't make obtaining maximum profits and the buying the most expensive ships my ultimate goals. Making the most money is not the be-all and end-all of the way I play. I'm here to have a good time, nothing more, nothing less. I like exploring and seeing new places in Elite as the visuals and sense of the enormity of the galaxy are two of the features I like the most about the game. When I get tired of trading in one location, I'll call up either the galaxy map or the trading tool, and pick someplace at random around 100ly away, fly over to it and take a look around. If it turns out to be in the trading tool, I look for the most profitable route out of that system and then decide if I'll stay awhile and do some runs A to B for a bit. Or, I find out what kind of stations are in the system, and look on the galaxy map for systems nearby that might be good trading partners. Either method works fine. Also, I'm partial to the Alliance, so if I fly into an Alliance system and they have a few rep missions, I might decide to run a few of them
Alternately, I'll call up the trading tool, key in my current system and fly to whatever the most lucrative system is within 65ly of it. When I get to the new system, I find the most lucrative route out of it, buy some more goods and out into the black it is for me once again. If I come across a pair or triplet of really good trade routes, I'll stay around for a bit, but after a time the itch to drift on hits me an off I go. In this way, I hop all around inhabited space, seeing new areas all the time. Nothing much becomes monotonous because I'm not just going back and forth all the time between the same two systems. Right now I'm flying a Type-7 but I think I'll go back to an Asp pretty soon as it facilitates longer trips more easily and the kind of light exploring I like to do, although I must say there is a certain appeal to flying a ship that feels like it has a considerable amount of girth to it.

 

[Whiterose]

I have just got a Clipper, so will stay in that for a long time as its a lovely ship to fly. Will use it for trading, at 180T its a decent size, and Bounty Hunting, but will need decent gimballed weapons. It will take me ages to A grade everything I need to. I tend to fly from A to B to c to D to trade, so always stop off at the Nav point to pick up some spare cash to pay for my fuel. I stay entirely in Empire space as its quieter than around Sol.

 

[Hilight]

I have just got a Clipper, so will stay in that for a long time as its a lovely ship to fly. Will use it for trading, at 180T its a decent size, and Bounty Hunting, but will need decent gimballed weapons. It will take me ages to A grade everything I need to. I tend to fly from A to B to c to D to trade, so always stop off at the Nav point to pick up some spare cash to pay for my fuel. I stay entirely in Empire space as its quieter than around Sol.

I keep hearing about the Clipper. I know many like it and say it flies well. It looks pretty good in Elite Shipyard loadouts too, but I'm not sure I want to go get all the Empire rank that it takes to be able to buy one..

 

[Lupin]

I have my Asp for most things, but T-6 (Not sure if I will upgrade) for cash/cr cow trading routes.

Happy with setup that allows me to do most things without a problem and switch as I feel the need. Mainly exploring, trading and helping stations. Though will look to my Federal Navy Rank soon.

 

[Cmdr Pli55ken]

I fly an Asp, but the same thing would fit any multirole ship larger than a Cobra.

Having recently upgraded to an Asp I'm doing pretty much the same (though due to cash shortage it's still more of a cargo-Asp than killer-machine....but one module at a time I'm getting the A grades going).
I find that the Asp does perform adequatly well as a trader. Better than my previous T6 in all respects, for sure. (With the T6 I was even occasionally buying a throw-away Sidewinder for scouting out new trade routes).

Trading is a role that didn't seem particularly suitable for the Cobra. On the other hand I'm not sure how the Asp will fare at mining. Haven't tried that yet. (Found the Cobra was pretty optimal for that. It's cargo space is just big enough that it's filled up when you get the feeling of "let's do something else" )

 

[Jex =TE=]

I fly an Asp, but the same thing would fit any multirole ship larger than a Cobra.

I am primarily a trader, but the Asp isn't maxed for cargo or defenseless, I rather like the idea of being able to defend my cargo. With that proviso it takes only minimal tweaks to the loadout to rig it it for bounty hunting. What I have been doing over the last few days, rather than "a trading session" or "a hunting session", which I kept different ships with optimized loadouts for, what I've been doing is prospecting for trade routes running empty but whenever I jump into a new system, before I go check out the market at a station I go spend some time ratting at the nav point. When the supply of wanted ships dries up or I need to reload, THEN I go check out whether this system can be a decent node on a trade route and turn in any local bounties. I swore I'd never sell my Cobra but since this play style means I'm likely to end up a LONG way from where I parked it, I did. When I next feel the urge to settle down in a particular area, I can always rebuy and repimp another one.

I've lower cargo cap than if I were rigged purely for trading, because I *expect* to get shot up a bit so I've made the space for a SCB and an AFM module. I don't care. I make credits slower than most traders, accumulate kills slower than most bounty hunters but like this I don't think I'll burn out on the game anytime soon. Every session is sufficiently varied that it never becomes boring and if it threatens to, well that's my cue to go somewhere else in the Galaxy where I'll find more variety.

If I feel the need to live dangerously I'll go ratting with a full hold at each end of a trading jump


So, cmdrs.. what counts as the perfect long-term play style for you?

Well you have the ship you want and you have a plan for you medium term gameplay at least which is good Doesn't matter how many credits you're making since the game isn't about making credits, or is it....

Since you're going to have this game for years, you will eventually end up with more cash than you need so who cares how long it takes if you're having fun with the game