why no explanation of the rules?

[Fian]

It is clear that FD have made a conscious decision not to explain explicitly what rules/algorithms govern:

movements in market prices,
system influence,
reputation changes,
rank movement, (in trade, exploration and combat)
Production of goods,
etc.

We are left guessing and inferring from limited feedback to try to understand the rules of the game we are playing. I assume that they think this is more "fun" than having it explained, or perhaps that CMDRs will play more naturally without this information instead of min-maxing their game time to achieve whatever they are looking to achieve.

I certainly don't agree that this is more fun, I want to understand how cause and effect works in the game world and would definitely prefer to know what the consequences of actions i take will be rather than guessing.

This approach has led to speculation in the past that they were manipulating things manually with no underlying system applying. I don't subscribe to that view myself but i can see how it arises where FD refuse to disclose the rules under which cause and effect occur.

Have FD ever come out with a reason to explain why they keep the rules of this game "secret" instead of letting the players know what they are?

If not : could I ask that they do please?

 

[Derpster Frey]

Part of ED is learning the mechanics on your own.

 

[Joe Spivey]

Have you read the manual?

 

[Titus Balls]

Part of ED is learning the mechanics on your own.

Then funnily enough people complain when folks crowd source this, or build spreadsheets or apps to make it easier for folks.

Remember when David Braben said he didn't want spreadsheets in space? Yea never going to happen when most of your audience is also technically minded.

I do agree Frontier need to start peeling back some of the curtain, otherwise a lot of F.U.D and mis-information is going to be put forward.

 

[Kalearne]

Part of ED is learning the mechanics on your own.

my opinion is that's an excuse to omit documentation. Creating a little mystery is one thing, but this.....

 

[Commander Halley]

From what I've seen, the background simulation is very basic, nowhere near as advanced as what we expected from the hype; I believe that very little is explained, because it's being coded in a rush due to limited resources. It is what it is, best sit back and play the long game.

 

[Titus Balls]

Have you read the manual?

You very well know that the manual is geared more towards the practical and less of the technical.

 

[Thylacine]

That also applies to equipment - i still haven't figured out how to lower the problem of overheating. Do I need a better power plant? Or power distributor? Game is silent about it

 

[Joe Spivey]

You very well know that the manual is geared more towards the practical and less of the technical.

I only browsed it when it came out but I thought it contained at least some of the background stuff. Oh well, disregard my last then.

 

[Janichsan]

Have FD ever come out with a reason to explain why they keep the rules of this game "secret" instead of letting the players know what they are?

They haven't, but the reason is clear enough: known rules can be exploited.

 

[Fian]

Have you read the manual?

Yes, but the manual does not explain any of the underlying rules/system governing the things I listed in the question.

 

[Titus Balls]

That also applies to equipment - i still haven't figured out how to lower the problem of overheating. Do I need a better power plant? Or power distributor? Game is silent about it

Indeed. http://www.edshipyard.com/ can help with some of this, but it certainly doesn't go into any detail of HOW or WHY, it just gives hints based on figures that people have managed to reverse engineer.

 

[Ancipital]

From what I've seen, the background simulation is very basic, nowhere near as advanced as what we expected from the hype; I believe that very little is explained, because it's being coded in a rush due to limited resources. It is what it is, best sit back and play the long game.

Welcome to Sim City.. uh.. Elite Dangerous.

(Oddly, both claimed massive online simulation, and omitted offline modes and the "simulation" excuse appeared to be largely misleading.. hmmm... </tinfoil_hat>)

 

[TriumphANT]

In a complex system like market prices in real life, there are so many influences, some based upon real events, e.g. demand, economic change, and some based upon human intervention, e.g. Market Makers doing their thing by moving prices to force buying/selling. As with everything, you cannot learn or know everything about the underlying system, otherwise the markets wouldn't work at all. ED is like that too, where multi-variant calculations are used to balance our little universe. These aren't "rules". They are algorithms. You can work some out by feel, but knowing everything is impossible as you don't have all the information used to do the calculations. e.g. if production of goods is based upon the time since the last purchase, a weighted average of the demand over the past 7 days, and the relative faction influence of that particular station within the system, you can't interpret changes as you don't have those figures.

 

[CmdrSimonsen]

While I too share the want to understand the mechanics, I think full disclosure would only increase min-maxing/optimizing, and leave whatever mechanics that isn't up to par out.

 

[babelfisch]

Then funnily enough people complain when folks crowd source this, or build spreadsheets or apps to make it easier for folks.

Remember when David Braben said he didn't want spreadsheets in space? Yea never going to happen when most of your audience is also technically minded.

I do agree Frontier need to start peeling back some of the curtain, otherwise a lot of F.U.D and mis-information is going to be put forward.

There will always be people who try to find out every mechanic and how its working. Either because of curiosity or profits. But there are also people who don't want to know how the game works in particular. It destroys immersion (I actually hate that word).
I have less fun playing ED after reading the forum. Talking about mechanics all the time takes away the magic and leaves just a game. However, if someone realy wants to know more about something he should be able to look it up, which is working quite well thanks to the community.

 

[DiAL033]

They haven't, but the reason is clear enough: known rules can be exploited.

Yes... that`s the reason... That`s why the rules of chess, football, poker, etc. are being kept secret, so that nobody can exploit them.

 

[Whiterose]

I can understand some people wishing to know the maths and mechanics behind it all, but personally I would rather just play the game and see the effect of what I am doing. I dont want to know that if I have one more bounty kill, or one more trade, or one more discovery will move me up a rank, as that will break what I am doing. As it is I have a fair idea of when I will rank up in all three, reading extensively through the forum. Reputation I agree with to a certain extent, but as I have said, will knowing what I need to do mean that i do only combat missions as opposed to all the other missions.

 

[Thylacine]

Indeed. http://www.edshipyard.com/ can help with some of this, but it certainly doesn't go into any detail of HOW or WHY, it just gives hints based on figures that people have managed to reverse engineer.

What would help is to see more stats, other than the classes a, b, c... Having more detailed numbers on things like shield capacity, hull strength, cooling capacity, weapon damage would be a great help to decide on equipment changes with potential trade offs

A good inspiration could come from Diablo 3, where stats are very transparent.

 

[Derpster Frey]

I believe a dev said they are going to include modules stats at some point, it just wasn't a priority.
Can't remember who.