Is this game a grind? An attempt to answer...
- Thread starter Obsidian Ant
- Start date
Time will tell, Grindfest games never last long they may gain a some serious players but there comes a point when new blood stops, development goes into a 2 year cycle as there is only 2 people there.
Is it, or are YOU just going to play something else?
I'll be playing all three. I have 6Tb of drive space for a reason.
DeFrag on that beast must suck lolz
Well, i have been with the game since premium beta and I have enjoyed my time here. However I have not installed the power play beta (I just couldn't be bothered) and I am having a bit of a rest from the game. I am back playing BF3 which I never seem to tire of. ED is a good game and i have enjoyed playing it but for me it is a grind! Trade to earn money to buy bigger better ships, once you have seen several multi coloured planets you have seen them all, hopefully power play will rekindle my interest.
I hope so.
I hope so.
According to Steam, I've played Skyrim for 231 hours and GTA5 for 43. I've not played either in some time. Their missions are variations on a theme as you say. Once completed, those worlds are pretty stark and tedious.
I've played E: D every day for at least an hour beginning in Feb. I am easily over 500 hours play at this point (and I'm not counting time on the second Steam account I got for my Ironman YouTube series). I've never bought a second game account ever, but I did with E: D. I never play until I'm bored; I play until I can't see the screen from yawning because I need to get to bed. I've raged because of being killed pointlessly by others, I've rejoiced at a successful smuggling attempt, but I've never felt meh about it.
Tonight, after dinner has been consumed, the cats have been fed and the wife has been chatted to, I'll be right back on my PC blasting away again. When I'm done playing for the night and the missus is in bed, I'll connect my tablet to the TV and watch an Isinona, Chaoswulff or Obsidian Ant video to learn another aspect or take on the game. (Aside comment: Anyone who says this game has not gotten better since release should watch the older Alpha, Beta, Gamma vids because it has improved by leaps and bounds.) Then I might spend a bit of time editing a new YouTube episode. No game has ever grabbed me like E: D has.
What others call grind, I call a sandbox. I've done every occupation in E: D save pirate and miner. I'll be trying mining on my return from my exploration trip. I love this game. I can change my mind halfway through something and go off in another direction. This sim sings to me and I can't see it wearing off for some time.
The E: D "X" in the OP graphic above should be much higher and to the right with nothing else close to it.
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Yes! You will grind you hear! There is no escape!
/sarcasm off
/sarcasm off
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If FD doesnt fresh up this game with new fun content with diversity (both graphical and gameplay wise), better multiplayer mechanics and a new mission system that actually works... they will be doomed by the end of this year.
As soon you realise how repetitive and lifeless the ED universe is and take a brake because if that boredom (first 100 hours were amazing), because of that it will be hard to come back to the same repetitive content, really hard. FD need fresh features, and Im not talking about more grind gameplay like the powerplay update or those boring community goals, Im talking about a true multiplayer event system where the player actually will have fun with new dinamic content, thats the key if you want people to play your game for a lomg time: dinamic content.
Singleplayer games die fast, only those with a huge mod community survives. Games like ED doesnt have that, doesnt have a true multiplayer gameplay (this game is more lika a singleplayer game with a persisten online world) and neither have a mod community, and the events are just a singleplayer extension of the same repetitive game mechanics.
Sorry for my broken english.
As soon you realise how repetitive and lifeless the ED universe is and take a brake because if that boredom (first 100 hours were amazing), because of that it will be hard to come back to the same repetitive content, really hard. FD need fresh features, and Im not talking about more grind gameplay like the powerplay update or those boring community goals, Im talking about a true multiplayer event system where the player actually will have fun with new dinamic content, thats the key if you want people to play your game for a lomg time: dinamic content.
Singleplayer games die fast, only those with a huge mod community survives. Games like ED doesnt have that, doesnt have a true multiplayer gameplay (this game is more lika a singleplayer game with a persisten online world) and neither have a mod community, and the events are just a singleplayer extension of the same repetitive game mechanics.
Sorry for my broken english.
ED is a grind if your sole goal is to acquire spacebucks by trading or bounty hunting at RES sites.
Also when spacebucks isn't your goal there's no other escape then the escape button.
I am currently taking a break from Elite to play the Witcher: Wild Hunt at the moment (By the way a bloody AMAZING game). But I know once I have completed it, I will be back.
Why do you need to stop at the Python? Only if you give yourself that arbitrary goal... My goal isnt about getting the biggest ship at all, and I have been playing pretty consistently since Beta dropped last year.... So I have MORE than got my money's worth out of this game and now a couple of friends have it and we wing up with comms and everything and its just opened it up more...
Also, you were impressed/pumped by the Fallout 4 Trailer??
I know I wasn't, it looks like a game from 2011, even MORE so now that its post Witcher: Wild Hunt.. In fact I would go as far as to say that it not that much of an improvement on Skyrim at all.
Not saying the game wont be good (not by a long shot) but I was super disapointed that its not using an updated Gamebyo engine.
And did you SEE that In Engine footage for The Bard's Tale IV released today??? Comparing that to the In Engine Footage of Fallout 4's Trailer it seems really...... Meh...
of course thats my opinion.. I'm sure yours is different...
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I suppose it's relevant so I'll just link a post I made in another thread that indicates my view on the topic:
@Shadragon
"Tonight, after dinner has been consumed, the cats have been fed and the wife has been chatted to ..."
Good priorities there, moggies before wife especially so.
I agree that watching UTube videos is a good way to learn about different aspects of the game and the three gents you mention do a spiffing job at introducing said aspects, as, indeed, do many others (Blind Pew's work I found particularly useful when I was starting out). Without those introductions I probably would still be floundering around and in ignorance of some of the best, or at least most interesting, aspects of the game (e.g what happens when you turn flight assist off). I do wish you fellows would stick to one name though, for example Ganite on here is, I discover today, Obsidian Ant in the other place. What name do you post your videos under?
As for the game being a grind I agree with the school of thought that says it can be if you let it. The idea that the game is a mile wide and an inch deep is undoubtedly true for some players, probably the same sort of people who "beat" Skyrim in just x hours (my first playthrough took just under 500 hours and I did two more after that one of which is still open). Aside from anything else, the new Power Play is going to have a huge effect - just the fact that different rules will apply in different areas will change the game dynamic and add enormously to the play possibilities. If I could ask the developers for one thing it would be the ability to transfer credits directly from one player to another - with that simple change a whole new economic model based on player interaction would be brought into life.
"Tonight, after dinner has been consumed, the cats have been fed and the wife has been chatted to ..."
Good priorities there, moggies before wife especially so.
I agree that watching UTube videos is a good way to learn about different aspects of the game and the three gents you mention do a spiffing job at introducing said aspects, as, indeed, do many others (Blind Pew's work I found particularly useful when I was starting out). Without those introductions I probably would still be floundering around and in ignorance of some of the best, or at least most interesting, aspects of the game (e.g what happens when you turn flight assist off). I do wish you fellows would stick to one name though, for example Ganite on here is, I discover today, Obsidian Ant in the other place. What name do you post your videos under?
As for the game being a grind I agree with the school of thought that says it can be if you let it. The idea that the game is a mile wide and an inch deep is undoubtedly true for some players, probably the same sort of people who "beat" Skyrim in just x hours (my first playthrough took just under 500 hours and I did two more after that one of which is still open). Aside from anything else, the new Power Play is going to have a huge effect - just the fact that different rules will apply in different areas will change the game dynamic and add enormously to the play possibilities. If I could ask the developers for one thing it would be the ability to transfer credits directly from one player to another - with that simple change a whole new economic model based on player interaction would be brought into life.
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The 95 Version of Elite was better, thats all they needed to do as BASE content.
So many good points raised in this thread!
I've been a massive fan of the space genre for as long as I can remember, and have played most of the space games on PC over the past few decades! When I saw the Elite Kickstarter I was so pleased to see that the space sim genre was making a come-back. Although Frontier did a very poor job in the first few weeks of the Kickstarter campaign with providing zero information to the backers, they soon got their act together. Eventually we were shown what a wonderful game Elite would be.
A world of EMERGENT gameplay, provided via game mechanics that reacted to the players actions. There was never a mention of levels, or filling bars, or accessing tiers. All the talk was purely about a dynamic galaxy. Here are the examples I have written about here already over the past few days:
1) Selling exploration data to the highest bidder, or to the faction of your choice. This would cause said faction to go exploit the resources in that area. The opposing faction may put a bounty on your head for selling out. The galaxy REACTS to you selling the your discovery data, not by a bar filling up - but because the NCPs and faction base their actions and decisions on what you have done!
2) NPC Wingmen. A trader with a non-combat ship could hire NPC Wingmen. Some of these wingmen may turn out to be untrustworthy and betray you at a key moment! The galaxy REACTS, not by filling bars or accumulating numbers - but because an NPC makes a decision about you and decides upon a course of action.
3) "Assassination Mission". A player is offered a mission to assassination a political leader. A second player is offered a mission to stop the assassination. The galaxy REACTS, it forces two players into a confrontation situation - not by filling bars, changing stats or using ladder gameplay - but rather by directly placing the players in confrontation over a matter that is occurring in the game, rather than something linked to progress bars and galnet text.
4) Resources discovered in a ring systems cause miners to appear, which in turn causes an Outpost to be built. If player numbers increase more miners arrive, followed by pirates and bounty hunters and then security forces. Still more players arrive, so a station is built, followed by traders and economic booms...attracting Factions and Powers. This is a DYNAMIC alive galaxy...one that is reacting to player activity, rather than presenting bars to be filled.
This is the Elite that I imagined...it is the Elite which was discussed in the design documents and during the early development. This is an Elite which can be placed to the far right of my graph. However this is not the Elite we actually have.
I've been a massive fan of the space genre for as long as I can remember, and have played most of the space games on PC over the past few decades! When I saw the Elite Kickstarter I was so pleased to see that the space sim genre was making a come-back. Although Frontier did a very poor job in the first few weeks of the Kickstarter campaign with providing zero information to the backers, they soon got their act together. Eventually we were shown what a wonderful game Elite would be.
A world of EMERGENT gameplay, provided via game mechanics that reacted to the players actions. There was never a mention of levels, or filling bars, or accessing tiers. All the talk was purely about a dynamic galaxy. Here are the examples I have written about here already over the past few days:
1) Selling exploration data to the highest bidder, or to the faction of your choice. This would cause said faction to go exploit the resources in that area. The opposing faction may put a bounty on your head for selling out. The galaxy REACTS to you selling the your discovery data, not by a bar filling up - but because the NCPs and faction base their actions and decisions on what you have done!
2) NPC Wingmen. A trader with a non-combat ship could hire NPC Wingmen. Some of these wingmen may turn out to be untrustworthy and betray you at a key moment! The galaxy REACTS, not by filling bars or accumulating numbers - but because an NPC makes a decision about you and decides upon a course of action.
3) "Assassination Mission". A player is offered a mission to assassination a political leader. A second player is offered a mission to stop the assassination. The galaxy REACTS, it forces two players into a confrontation situation - not by filling bars, changing stats or using ladder gameplay - but rather by directly placing the players in confrontation over a matter that is occurring in the game, rather than something linked to progress bars and galnet text.
4) Resources discovered in a ring systems cause miners to appear, which in turn causes an Outpost to be built. If player numbers increase more miners arrive, followed by pirates and bounty hunters and then security forces. Still more players arrive, so a station is built, followed by traders and economic booms...attracting Factions and Powers. This is a DYNAMIC alive galaxy...one that is reacting to player activity, rather than presenting bars to be filled.
This is the Elite that I imagined...it is the Elite which was discussed in the design documents and during the early development. This is an Elite which can be placed to the far right of my graph. However this is not the Elite we actually have.
Only if you make it about grinding.
I never did anything in the game I did not felt like doing, money will come by anyways so just try to enjoy the ride. There are more cool things to work on like your combat skills.(not rank)
I see most people complaining about grinding do nothing else but farm money and look at the numbers, thats a big mistake right there if you make the game about making credits you'll just feel lost when you finally have enough money for the ship you always wanted. You'll be asking yourself "what now?"
I never did anything in the game I did not felt like doing, money will come by anyways so just try to enjoy the ride. There are more cool things to work on like your combat skills.(not rank)
I see most people complaining about grinding do nothing else but farm money and look at the numbers, thats a big mistake right there if you make the game about making credits you'll just feel lost when you finally have enough money for the ship you always wanted. You'll be asking yourself "what now?"
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The thing is though - Frontier made a choice about what direction to take Elite in. We could have had a galaxy that reacts to player actions in the way I highlighted in the post above yours. Instead what we have is a galaxy which "switches" states based upon how full a progress bar is. These are two very different approaches.
But yes, a player can choose to grind, or choose to not grind. That principle is true for any game.