Let's Talk - RES Nerf - Powerplay - Feeling Burnt Out

[Vurosia]

After hours of trading, and switching back and forth to RES (Pre Patch) I was able to keep my sanity. Now that RES's have gone down the drain of ''Oh, honey remember this? I still can't get my head around why they removed it! Oh well'' I think I'm officially going to have a mental breakdown. It is bad enough that the game's soul money making machine is the mind numbingly boring trading that we know today. But at least we had viable alternatives *cough* RES *Cough*. Now we are left with USS's, or bulletin board missions, which are... eh.

Something needs to be done about the RES situation. We either need to accept that RES is gone, but get another way of bounty hunting that functions like RES's (Nav Beacons?) Or we bring RES's back to what they used to be. FD, please! The RES's were perfect! They allowed players to have an alternative to trading when they got bored from it, and they could even function as a great source of income without trading!

With PP and the nerf of RES's, I am not really confident in what FD is going to show us at E3, I don't think much of us are.

The game still has INCREDIBLE potential. PP was not done correctly, at all. FD had the idea on this one, but dropped the ball when they executed it.

But hey, I'll still keep playing, that Anaconda is not going to trade for itself! *Slowly begins to cry*

 

[Ichijo]

I think the devs know it's broken at the moment. For now if we want to have an income, we must play Space Truck Simulator. That or do combat missions.

I hope they will fix this. I've never seen an expansion for a game be this bad. They must have skimped on the qa testing. At my best, I was able to make 4 million credits per hour at a RES killing Anaconda after Anaconda. I'd sometimes have to tag one and rush to the next one so that I won't lose track of them.

 

[Eric Sheppard]

Theatrics aside, I get the feeling the RES nerf is more a bug than anything else. I believe a developer, whose name I forgot, had mentioned the day before yesterday that they were looking into things 'not spawning correctly' in these sites. IF it's not a bug, but intentional, I'm done with ED. I keep trying to like this game, but it seems that every time I fall back on something that's actually enjoyable to do, it's patched out.

 

[Kryoten]

Already in another thread; I forget which or else I'd point to it. It's a bug, they know it exists, they're looking into it.

 

[Psycho Romeo]

People keep saying RES nerf. Yes, you can't grind RES the way you used to.

You can get a similar experience at a CZ.

You can get similar profits bounty hunting if grab some sorties and bring an interdictor and KWS.

I see no problems with this.
...I kind of feel people are being narrow minded with this change.

 

[Moosegun]

We REALLY needed another thread on this topic, only 5 on the first two pages. Personally I hope they dont change RES back to how they were, ridiculously easy, required no skill at all just an endless stream of credits hopelessly outnumbered as the police assist you to seal club them. I am not really bothered by credits per hour, seriously what does that mean, is this a GAME or a job? But I know I am pulling a good profit from doing other things, missions, CZs etc.

 

[Eric Sheppard]

See, the reason we liked RES sites the way they were wasn't to get cheap thrills. There are better games for that - We liked RES sites as a source of in-game income. I've been playing video games for around twenty years now, and this is the only one I've played that has so much grinding and so little satisfying content. When there's more to Elite, when it's easier to make money, sure, nerf RES. Right now all it's done is take away the only way to make decent money in the game that doesn't involve tedium so bleak it would cause anyone to question what they're doing with their lives.

 

[JughedJones]

It's not a 'nerf' (geez I hate that word) Bounty Hunting is now bounty hunting. Farming kills has been moved to the appropriate place, combat zones.

 

[FuzzySpider]

I hope they will fix this. I've never seen an expansion for a game be this bad. They must have skimped on the qa testing. At my best, I was able to make 4 million credits per hour at a RES killing Anaconda after Anaconda. I'd sometimes have to tag one and rush to the next one so that I won't lose track of them.

I've never seen an expansion this bad either. In fact I've never seen a bad expansion, as they've almost always built on the game. I've seen expansions which are lackluster, or have done nothing for the game, or have just been more of the same. But this is the first time I've ever seen an expansion which has made me think the game is worse than it used to be. Powerplay was supposed to make this universe feel more alive. Instead we got an arbitrary turn-based board game tacked onto Elite which screams "This is an MMO GAME you are playing! Stop trying to blaze your own trail and go join in!"

 

[Moosegun]

See, the reason we liked RES sites the way they were wasn't to get cheap thrills. There are better games for that - We liked RES sites as a source of in-game income. I've been playing video games for around twenty years now, and this is the only one I've played that has so much grinding and so little satisfying content. When there's more to Elite, when it's easier to make money, sure, nerf RES. Right now all it's done is take away the only way to make decent money in the game that doesn't involve tedium so bleak it would cause anyone to question what they're doing with their lives.

If you want to stay in one place (because I understand that actually hunting is boring right?) then why not go to a Combat Zone, with the buffed rewards a decent pilot can still pull in a decent income (several million an hour) and it is actually a bit more competitive.

I hope they will fix this. I've never seen an expansion for a game be this bad. They must have skimped on the qa testing. At my best, I was able to make 4 million credits per hour at a RES killing Anaconda after Anaconda. I'd sometimes have to tag one and rush to the next one so that I won't lose track of them.

This for me sums up 90% of the people complaining about RES, people who just want any easy way to make easy credits. RES were nothing more than shooting fish in a barrel, no skill required at all. As I have said before, how many of you have tried CZ?

 

[MrReynolds]

It's not a 'nerf' (geez I hate that word) Bounty Hunting is now bounty hunting. Farming kills has been moved to the appropriate place, combat zones.

Now have a CZ in an asteroid field and I'll be one very happy commander!

 

[EddyRockSteady]

It's not a 'nerf' (geez I hate that word) Bounty Hunting is now bounty hunting. Farming kills has been moved to the appropriate place, combat zones.

Yes you're right it's not a nerf: As mentioned above, it's a bug. Res sites are currently completely broken and are in the process of being fixed so the old days will return shortly - just be patient.

That said, if you want to test your skills, go to a conflict zone. Payments have increased 100% with attendant difficulty being ramped up 200%. It's more an exercise of 'How long can I survive vs credit farming. If you do manage to stay alive for any length of time without running away bravely, screaming like a giddy schoolgirl, then earnings are about 2 million an hour. Not bad considering that said hour feels like 5 minutes after you make it through the grinder.

They should make 'I survived a Low Intensity Conflict Zone' T-Shirts.......Swear to Gawd I'll buy one!

 

[Araviel]

But this is the first time I've ever seen an expansion which has made me think the game is worse than it used to be.

its a shame that i can't browse back far enough in your ranting,,, erhm sorry i men't posting history to find a point where you actually thought the game was good.

 

[Moosegun]

Yes you're right it's not a nerf: As mentioned above, it's a bug. Res sites are currently completely broken and are in the process of being fixed so the old days will return shortly - just be patient.

Sorry but they have NEVER said they will be returning to how they were, they have said they are not working as intended. If they were happy with how they were they wouldnt have changed them. The speculation is that certain zones will have higher security and lower level spawns but others which will have higher spawn levels will have much lower security. For me if this is the fix it is a good one, I have no issue with people wanting to farm an endless stream of high level ship for high bounties BUT it HAS to be competitive. I could pull 3-4mil credits from the old sites being more worried about damage from asteroids that enemy ships. If the new sites are spawning high bounty condas etc then they must be in a way which tests the players.

That said, if you want to test your skills, go to a conflict zone. Payments have increased 100% with attendant difficulty being ramped up 200%. It's more an exercise of 'How long can I survive vs credit farming. If you do manage to stay alive for any length of time without running away bravely, screaming like a giddy schoolgirl, then earnings are about 2 million an hour. Not bad considering that said hour feels like 5 minutes after you make it through the grinder.

They should make 'I survived a Low Intensity Conflict Zone' T-Shirts.......Swear to Gawd I'll buy one!

This is how res should be, if you want to get the big rewards there must be some risk involved.

 

[DeathFish]

If you want to stay in one place (because I understand that actually hunting is boring right?) then why not go to a Combat Zone, with the buffed rewards a decent pilot can still pull in a decent income (several million an hour) and it is actually a bit more competitive.

This for me sums up 90% of the people complaining about RES, people who just want any easy way to make easy credits. RES were nothing more than shooting fish in a barrel, no skill required at all. As I have said before, how many of you have tried CZ?

I would think most of us have tried CZ. The problem with CZ is that I don't want to come home from work, and spend an hour trying to find one (given that by definition they don't persist for long). I want to blast around and see lots of bangs and unwind then forget the game and get on with life. Elite has always been good at providing that, except that now it has—apparently accidentally—been changed into space truck simulator, with an offer you can't understand in the form of PP tacked on as an afterthought. As an action game the spirit of the old Elite appears to have been buried and I just hope it is a temporary thing, but unless FD do something radical with PP it doesn't excite me much, too much boring holes in space for abstract returns. PP is, from my POV anyway, best described as 'worthy' rather than 'fun' right now. OTOH, shooting at, and getting shot at by, NPCs is fun, even I can get the hang of it, and once you had found a good RES, it hung around and didn't decay into boring old peace, which I love so much in real life. Maybe the solution is to make CZ easier to find, but farming CZ is complicated by the strong tendency they have to go away.

 

[EddyRockSteady]

Sorry but they have NEVER said they will be returning to how they were, they have said they are not working as intended. If they were happy with how they were they wouldnt have changed them. The speculation is that certain zones will have higher security and lower level spawns but others which will have higher spawn levels will have much lower security. For me if this is the fix it is a good one, I have no issue with people wanting to farm an endless stream of high level ship for high bounties BUT it HAS to be competitive. I could pull 3-4mil credits from the old sites being more worried about damage from asteroids that enemy ships. If the new sites are spawning high bounty condas etc then they must be in a way which tests the players.

Aye apologies for that I was a bit vague. By saying 'returning to the old days' I was referring to ships actually spawning as opposed to the graveyard the Res sites are today - no spawns at all most of the time. Agree with your sentiments 100%.

It's true yes that the High/Low security sectors are implemented, making the hunt for Res sites a wee bit more interesting - currently only the spawn mechanic is bugged.

 

[Moosegun]

I would think most of us have tried CZ. The problem with CZ is that I don't want to come home from work, and spend an hour trying to find one (given that by definition they don't persist for long). I want to blast around and see lots of bangs and unwind then forget the game and get on with life. Elite has always been good at providing that, except that now it has—apparently accidentally—been changed into space truck simulator, with an offer you can't understand in the form of PP tacked on as an afterthought. As an action game the spirit of the old Elite appears to have been buried and I just hope it is a temporary thing, but unless FD do something radical with PP it doesn't excite me much, too much boring holes in space for abstract returns. PP is, from my POV anyway, best described as 'worthy' rather than 'fun' right now. OTOH, shooting at, and getting shot at by, NPCs is fun, even I can get the hang of it, and once you had found a good RES, it hung around and didn't decay into boring old peace, which I love so much in real life. Maybe the solution is to make CZ easier to find, but farming CZ is complicated by the strong tendency they have to go away.

I am not sure why PP is being discussed here, it has nothing to do with RES what so ever, it is just clouding the issue. Also not sure the original Elite was an action game? I cant remember it have any zones which you could go to and farm for hours on end with no chance of dieing. I remember it being mostly a series of small encounters.

As for CZs I dont seem to have much trouble finding them, they seem to be in around 1-4 locations I visit. I concede that they do disappear but then you just take 20 mins looking in local areas. I do a lot of mission running though, so dont stay in the same zone all the time.

As I have said my biggest issue with the old RES sites is the level of return vrs the risk, massive return vrs zero risk does not make a good game mechanic. I will know when RES sites are fixed when we get forum threads moaning that RES sites are too difficult.

 

[Colonel North]

Definitely seems to be a difference in challenge/ opportunity in RES vs CZ.

Just left a supposedly high intensity RES after melting a handful of mostly harmless Adders. Bored with the vacant RES I went in the same system to a low intensity combat zone. Full of Pythons! I took one down then ran away when my hull % starting dropping.

If the CZ is meant to be that hard then fair enough. Although the reward seems a bit low the 3 Adders paid out more almost as much as the Python.

But the RES seems weak. It sounds like this has been recognized though so hopefully it will get 'fixed'.

 

[persephonius]

Definitely seems to be a difference in challenge/ opportunity in RES vs CZ.

Just left a supposedly high intensity RES after melting a handful of mostly harmless Adders. Bored with the vacant RES I went in the same system to a low intensity combat zone. Full of Pythons! I took one down then ran away when my hull % starting dropping.

If the CZ is meant to be that hard then fair enough. Although the reward seems a bit low the 3 Adders paid out more almost as much as the Python.

But the RES seems weak. It sounds like this has been recognized though so hopefully it will get 'fixed'.

CZ sites are paying out more per kill now then they were before 1.3. It is great farming for a python or an anaconda, but in something like a viper, there is some strategy you need to employ. In a CZ it is mainly about keeping your threat generation as low as possible and to as few targets as possible. Only target NPC's that are currently attacking you. This will likely mean smaller ships like eagles and F63 Condors at first. The 'select highest threat' keybind makes this quite simple. If you go in to a CZ in say a viper, and work your way down from your contacts list so you are targeting the larger ships first (which give the best payout) you will have too many ships on your tail. If you can break the first spawn of NPC's and get to the point where you are waiting for the next spawn alone, then you can survive indefinitely in the CZ.

 

[Colonel North]

CZ sites are paying out more per kill now then they were before 1.3. It is great farming for a python or an anaconda, but in something like a viper, there is some strategy you need to employ. In a CZ it is mainly about keeping your threat generation as low as possible and to as few targets as possible. Only target NPC's that are currently attacking you. This will likely mean smaller ships like eagles and F63 Condors at first. The 'select highest threat' keybind makes this quite simple. If you go in to a CZ in say a viper, and work your way down from your contacts list so you are targeting the larger ships first (which give the best payout) you will have too many ships on your tail. If you can break the first spawn of NPC's and get to the point where you are waiting for the next spawn alone, then you can survive indefinitely in the CZ.

I've not been using the 'highest threat' keybind, I will now! Cheers