Forum noob: ED is perfect, yet I don't play

[Cmdr_Prussian]

Hey guys,
I am new on these forums but very active on many others including Star Citizen forum.

Now, I have played ED for maybe 10-20 hours, and I often bring it up as an example for an excellent game. However, I have no incentive to play.
I don't know why that is, but the open world feels so disconnected. Doing PVP or generally combat is fun, but fighting just for the sake of fighting gets dull soon.

I have a Viper and I wanna keep it. The only incentive people are playing this is to get the next "better" ship, but I have no interest in an Anaconda etc. I'd be itnerested in cap ships if we wouldnt control them from a forward facing cockpit, but had bridge mechanics instead.

So without the urge to grind for a better ship, I don't know what to do. Tried mining, horribly boring. I like trading, but making a significant profit is very hard with minimal and varying margins, so profiting is hard if you dont have a freighter.
Fighting is great fun, I am hugely successful in it as well but all the combat seems so unbelievable. the "law" killing people over wrong parking and similar stuff.
You just kill people for no reason, this is so counterimmersive.

Missions are made extremely boring, repeating passionless pattern all the time, and the functionality of stations is really limited to landing and takeoff and the station menu.

Powerplay is so abstract it doesnt change anything.
Exploration is generally not so much my thing, and I am actively demotivated to make a trip to Sol for example by the thought of having to fly back should I want to play with friends at some point.
Teamplay has been improved, but there still not much of value you can do.

I guess cooler missions, better teamplay and a faction systems where you can actually take an influence might catch my interest more.

The buggies in horizon look great, but I dont wanna pay again because i dont feel i got my money out of the original game, even though its awesome.

CQC is great fun, but also gets boring quite fast.


This is paradox.
Im constantly quoting ED as a game that is great in almost everythign it does, but I still can't find a reason to play it longer than 20 minutes.
I am an intensive player actually, I have over a 1000 hours of game time in many different games like War Thunder,
so my question is: What do you do to have proper fun with E?
How do you keep your motivation up?

I honestly feel like there is something I am missing because it seems so much like the game of my dreams (I LOVE space sims exactly the style of ED, 4x + multiplayer), yet I just don't find the incentive to play.


Maybe you can help me out?
-Prussian

 

[Whiterose]

Set yourself mid term achievable goals, and reasons for doing them.
Such as going to Sag A via a long looping route.
Flip a system.
Rank up, and rank up with a faction.
Role play.
You have to decide what you want out of the game, and achieve those objectives. If you are sat there and cant think of anything, then I suggest the game isn't for you. Not everybody likes ED and many have given up after a short period of time.

 

[Katkon]

I'd suggest joining an active player group. Perhaps you'll find that fun?

 

[Vorxian]

Forget what the game wants you to do, credits are just a means to an end. I can agree that ED is very scrooge-like when it comes to pay outs (heck it's why people see cash cows like the now-dead smuggling thing etc and dive in). I think you just have to get out of the missions / questing mind-frame, and basically you're on the right track.

I think they're only in the game to get some income going. But yeah, people need to be able to play ED without the grind. It wears a lot of people out quickly, especially when it does feel that ED is real lean on credit payouts compared to price of items.

 

[DaveB]

I'd say, to get rid of the disconnected feeling set yourself better goals. If you find a good trade route don't glomp on it and grind it to death, make a few credits off it, write it down for future reference and then challenge yourself to find an even better one. If you're bounty hunting, spend the time to track down the biggest bounties rather than occupying your time frying minnows by the dozen. If it's combat you're after, eschew the low intensity spots or load up your hold with pirate bait and just SC around a CG system for a while - you don't even need to sign up for the CG! Exploring is it's own reward if you're into it but lets be honest here, everyone and their cat has done Sag A, how about grabbing yourself a whole slew of "first discovered by" credits in a totally different arm of the galaxy? Probably nobody else will ever see them, because space really is that big and there aren't really that many of us, but YOU will know you got 'em

 

[Cmdr_Prussian]

Forget what the game wants you to do, credits are just a means to an end. I can agree that ED is very scrooge-like when it comes to pay outs (heck it's why people see cash cows like the now-dead smuggling thing etc and dive in). I think you just have to get out of the missions / questing mind-frame, and basically you're on the right track.

I think they're only in the game to get some income going. But yeah, people need to be able to play ED without the grind. It wears a lot of people out quickly, especially when it does feel that ED is real lean on credit payouts compared to price of items.

I think all of you are right somehow. But still, I got 1200 hours in War Thudner, which is basically only one big grind, so thats not what turns me off.
Theres just so few things happening and stretched out over such long amounts of time that a session feels so unproductive.
I'd love to be part of a war that doesnt extend over more than a few systems so it actually matters what you do and achieve somethign in the long run.

 

[raok]

Basically you are saying that there is no content, and that is the reason why so many quit the game.

I bought the Horizons, finally decided to do it, even tho I was not planning in the 1st place. The original game does not have content, I assume Horizons is without content as well.

I still think, that most probably Braben is slowly understanding that the game sucks just because there is no content. It is hard for me to believe that Braben does not understand this at some point, sooner or later... Later in this case, but better later than never.

The sad thing is, that a lot of people left the game already, because there was not content. Now the real question is, how many will come back when we have content?

btw. I only grind/play, because I believe Braben will understand to make content. Then I will already have some money etc. But have to admit that it is often really boring.

 

[Jason S]

ED is a little like SC in that it is a work in progress and should have much more content year on year. Both games just give them time.

 

[Bazorlag]

"So without the urge to grind for a better ship, I don't know what to do. Tried mining, horribly boring. I like trading, but making a significant profit is very hard with minimal and varying margins, so profiting is hard if you dont have a freighter."

Does not compute. Severe logic error... error... error... System rebooting...

Just joking, but honestly: How could the best minigame in ED be more boring (not saying its great of course) than hauling items from one station to another back and forth?

If you want profits from early trading, trade rares. That gives good profit per ton value on smaller ships.

 

[Cmdr_Prussian]

"So without the urge to grind for a better ship, I don't know what to do. Tried mining, horribly boring. I like trading, but making a significant profit is very hard with minimal and varying margins, so profiting is hard if you dont have a freighter."

Does not compute. Severe logic error... error... error... System rebooting...

Just joking, but honestly: How could the best minigame in ED be more boring (not saying its great of course) than hauling items from one station to another back and forth?

If you want profits from early trading, trade rares. That gives good profit per ton value on smaller ships.

Here's the problem: I have no interest in profits because I only need them for bigger ships, but I have the one which perfectly fits me already. I cannot use that money to buy a station or build an empire etc etc etc

Raok says there is no content, but there are stations, tons of ships, a very solid flight model and this is content as well but I think he is right that there is not much content in terms of possible experiences to be had.
So the core mechanics and content are down and IMHO pretty spot on, but what can be done to give the player a framework in which he can experience something interesting. Imagine the stories you can tell your friends:
...and then I spent 6 hours searching for a resourche rich asteroid....and then i made 50.000 bucks in a 6 hours traderun....and then i killed 523 bandits in 6 hours...

see what I mean? There is this feeling of meaninglessness within this vast game environment that is actually so rich

 

[GormDeGamle]

...There is this feeling of meaninglessness within this vast game environment...

You are in fact pretty meaningless - just a pilot in a huge galaxy! You better learn to cope with that.
You can have a litte influence e.g. on a minor factions well beeing or throuph PP - but that's about it.

I do love that game simply for its unique playfield: a 1:1 scale galaxy with stars, planets, moons and everything!
No other game can offer something like that. Just beeing there is stunning.
Exploring is something I really like and even when minig, trading, fighting or bounty hunting I keep in mind where I am doing this: In this wonderful and unique ED galaxy.

 

[Indy Original]

Fighting is great fun, I am hugely successful in it as well but all the combat seems so unbelievable. the "law" killing people over wrong parking and similar stuff.
You just kill people for no reason, this is so counterimmersive.

Just speaking for myself, this is what is missing. Elite does such a good job of creating that sense of immersion, of being actually in a ship flying through space, but then it does something illogical or game-y and destroys the immersion that it has worked so hard to build. I love watching Isinona's videos, they always tell such great stories and show just what is possible in the Elite universe... but that's because Isinona goes out of his way to play the game in a story-telling way, and it draws you in. The game itself, however, has so many little niggles and inconsistencies that instead of drawing you in, it actually pushes you away.

It might seem strange, but I think the original game from 1984 was better in this regard. The graphics were very simple and there was a lot that was left to your imagination, but there was nothing that actually broke your immersion... the game itself was just that polished, you couldn't help but lose yourself in it. Part of this is because of the manual that came with the game, which did a masterful job of setting the scene; but many of the things you mention in your post were simply not an issue in the original game.

For example, you would get attacked by pirates a lot, but usually only in anarchic or other dangerous systems, so it made sense; and sometimes a pirate would eject in the last seconds, just like a real person would, which never happens in Elite Dangerous. Also, although you did get a small bounty for every pirate you destroyed, it wasn't much - whereas in Elite Dangerous, it is possible to make so much money farming pirates, you simply cannot suspend your disbelief enough to overlook it. The missions in the original Elite were rare, and thus special; the missions in Elite Dangerous are fetch quests, and you do them over and over again. Even when you thought you were an expert and were ready for anything, the original game could still surprise you with a 'MISSILE JAMMED' or something at the worst possible time... it felt real. Whereas the background simulation in Elite Dangerous is so opaque that even when it is actually working properly, you still don't really understand it... and without things like cause and effect, everything seems too random to be immersive.

Once Elite Dangerous gets better missions, once the background simulation is fixed and is explained better, once the AI has been improved and once all of the little niggles and inconsistencies have been ironed out, THEN Elite Dangerous will be a perfect game - and hopefully it will be soon, because in many ways it is almost there. But for the moment, I turn to Isinona for my Elite experience, because it feels more immersive watching him play than it would do playing myself.

 

[Marak]

ED for me is like a second life - "I'm a bloke with a spaceship!"

How great is that!?

 

[Ian Skippy]

Here's the problem: I have no interest in profits because I only need them for bigger ships, but I have the one which perfectly fits me already. I cannot use that money to buy a station or build an empire etc etc etc

Raok says there is no content, but there are stations, tons of ships, a very solid flight model and this is content as well but I think he is right that there is not much content in terms of possible experiences to be had.
So the core mechanics and content are down and IMHO pretty spot on, but what can be done to give the player a framework in which he can experience something interesting. Imagine the stories you can tell your friends:
...and then I spent 6 hours searching for a resourche rich asteroid....and then i made 50.000 bucks in a 6 hours traderun....and then i killed 523 bandits in 6 hours...

see what I mean? There is this feeling of meaninglessness within this vast game environment that is actually so rich

Maybe you want to fight slavery, maybe you want to helps us figure out the UA mystery. Maybe you want to side with a tiny anarchy faction in a meaningless little system and make it expand. Maybe you want to provide protection for traders at the CGs, or maybe you dont want us to have a station in a region were alien activity is suspected and you blockade the system in an attempt to prevent it. Really, none of us can give a meaningful answer, you have to figure out what you are going to do on your own.

 

[Lowievisser]

thats what i like about this game , no point or goal at all. most games i like a point or goal but this is one of the few i dont need it. i bought it in 2014 with life time expansion pass for the sake of planet exploring , i like expo planets for some reason , lucky for me its in the making.

 

[William J Smith]

Maybe you can help me out?
-Prussian

You love the viper, go bounty hunting, pick an area of the galaxy to call home (I tend to lurk in the Anlave-Altair area) and say to yourself.... "anyone with a wanted sticker is going to have a real bad day"

I'm an Asp'er by the way, I love the little ship, sure its not got the firepower of a big ship, nor can you throw it around the sky like an eagle(or viper) but it works., I can fight off smaller ships than me, and run away from bigger ships.
Plus it can run rares when the repair bills get a bit too big.

Elite has always been about doing your own thing where you want to, when you want to. (thats why I'm off exploring for 3 weeks on the 1st of November, might even make it to Sgr A* this time.. after the previous 2 goes were ruined by other events and bad flying)
Do a grand tour of inhabited space, a community goal, or even something as simple as seeing just how fast you can get from one side of known space to the other
And finally , find people you can team up with and jump into a CZ or a SSS and find the combat related fun there....

Bill

screaming "get those damn vultures off me" into the mic as your hull rapidly melts is rated as 'good fun'... alledgedly

 

[Wayfarer]

I've spent a lot of time in games that are sandbox / no main story to follow etc. Generally that's what I like. But the problem with that approach is that yes, it probably has a higher chance of getting boring sooner than something with an engaging storyline.

Apparently there's stuff going on - it's in the news feeds. But that's totally unengaging for me. Sure it's "realistic", fits the setting, you are just a nobody yadayadayada. But ech. Just seems so pointless unless you want to get into the actual multiplayer side of it and likely be a homicidal maniac with the rest of the player base.

Maybe some missions that had multiple parts would be a solution, a chain to follow. Maybe introduce NPC dialogue a lot more. But why, they probably think, you can play with other people. See above point.

 

[Some1else]

It makes me wonder how folks get through day to day life if ED is so hard to make enjoyable. I am sorry that people feel this way, and hope they find a solution.


My advice to any and all folks is very simple. Grinding in ED or any other game is flat out self-inflicted. That is not meant to be derogatory. Just a simple observation.


LLAP

 

[Ignition]

The game is far from excelent. The ideas are great but the game lacks gameplay and depth, thats why you dont find any reason to play longer than 20 minutes.

The game is simply bad and boring.

 

[goemon]

I think all of you are right somehow. But still, I got 1200 hours in War Thudner, which is basically only one big grind, so thats not what turns me off.
Theres just so few things happening and stretched out over such long amounts of time that a session feels so unproductive.
I'd love to be part of a war that doesnt extend over more than a few systems so it actually matters what you do and achieve somethign in the long run.

true. there are few things which can be achieved in a single session.

if you urge for "visible" feedback, maybe take part in unlocking one of the suprressed/illegal rare goods. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=63119

or you get in contact with one of the groups running their own minor faction, and help them in their tasks.

i do rarely things which can be "achieved" in a single session; especilly influencing the background-simulation requires weeks. but one them has been in this week: fitting an a-class eagle to max, and rock a high RES till i got destroyed (actually i made some millions... and then took the eagle to an hazardous RES).

have fun