Make the Game a Bit Harder

[Miklos Atreides]

After playing the game for a year (1-3 hours per week maximum), I cannot be happy enough about it! However, there is no limit to perfection, and here is the list of what I would like to see:

* reduced income for killed ships. Make the payments proportional to the damage inflicted;
* some enemy ships refuse to fight and fly in a straight line around you;
* increased price for some ships. Some ships feel like 3-10 times cheaper than they should be;
* decrease progression among ranks. I spent only a couple of evenings after 12-hour work shifts and gained 1 level easily in a faction!
* decrease price for sold installed units. Let players choose it with wisdom;
* change prices at stations more regularly so that third-party tools cannot track routes for you. You will need to buy information from others or stations.
* the new update, hopefully, will bring missions that are much harder as you climb the ranks. I seriously hope about it.

Elite and David, [heart] we love you! You managed to create a game that appeals to casual players like me and yet be complex!

my thing to add is
finite resource sites.
Extraction Sites that do nolonger infinite spawning meterial/ships. At some time the a specific resource is exhausted and the hype is over.
Pirates start to avoid this Resource site after some hundreds of collegues have been taken down there. At least for a while.

Regards,
Miklos

 

[Leper Messiah]

No. Global difficulty is already one of the worst things about modern MMO style games. Unless it's an OPT IN harder difficulty level that is then go for it or just have uber hard missions for the Sado Masochists , as long as I can opt out of it. I play games for relaxation and fun and when they are too difficult I stop enjoying and playing them and in some ways Elite is dying for me (I hardly play it now, compared to almost playing it constantly last year) because I'm a risk averse person and sometimes the risk of losing a craft is too much. I don't mind dying in games, I just don't like it when "progression" is affected and I lose the one thing that is most precious to me and that is time. I do NOT want to go backwards in any game.

To keep everyone happy I think Solo should have difficulty settings, these will affect NPC Ai, cost of ships and modules and MOST importantly reduced reward for easier settings. Open can be made as hard as anyone likes as I couldn't give a chuff about open, and seeing as that is the PvP mode then it needs a global difficulty.


seriously though, why is the Elite community so lacking in the understanding that people of all skill levels have EVERY RIGHT to enjoy games, it's not the preserve of the Uber gamer.

 

[mistohise]

seriously though, why is the Elite community so lacking in the understanding that people of all skill levels have EVERY RIGHT to enjoy games, it's not the preserve of the Uber gamer.

In before "IT'S CALLED ELITE: DANGEROUS".

I, too, am happy with the current levels. Moreover, the suggestions in this are nothing to do with difficulty and everything to do with increasing the time it takes to do stuff.

 

[Daffan]

My favorite part about this game was ranking to rear admiral. Literally just logging in and out for hours getting donation missions. Intense

 

[JohnnyTwoKettles]

No. Global difficulty is already one of the worst things about modern MMO style games. Unless it's an OPT IN harder difficulty level that is then go for it or just have uber hard missions for the Sado Masochists , as long as I can opt out of it. I play games for relaxation and fun and when they are too difficult I stop enjoying and playing them and in some ways Elite is dying for me (I hardly play it now, compared to almost playing it constantly last year) because I'm a risk averse person and sometimes the risk of losing a craft is too much. I don't mind dying in games, I just don't like it when "progression" is affected and I lose the one thing that is most precious to me and that is time. I do NOT want to go backwards in any game.

To keep everyone happy I think Solo should have difficulty settings, these will affect NPC Ai, cost of ships and modules and MOST importantly reduced reward for easier settings. Open can be made as hard as anyone likes as I couldn't give a chuff about open, and seeing as that is the PvP mode then it needs a global difficulty.


seriously though, why is the Elite community so lacking in the understanding that people of all skill levels have EVERY RIGHT to enjoy games, it's not the preserve of the Uber gamer.

Rep for that.
We are all different, we all play different. This is life anaesthetic for me and many others not a job. A game without choices isn't a game it's just a grind. If you choose to buy the best ship in the game to make life easier then it will be easier. Personally I want to work my way through every ship, I want to enjoy every part of the game it has to offer. I didn't pay out money to be instantly the best pilot, I spent it to pretend I was a space pilot for a few hours each week.
If you want to make the game harder there are many ways to do it already.

 

[InlineSix]

You're discussing what is already decided... FDev has at more than one point told us about changes in A.I., missions and overall difficulty... Just wait for 2.1. as a starter...

 

[hunvagy]

My favorite part about this game was ranking to rear admiral. Literally just logging in and out for hours getting donation missions. Intense

So just because you abuse the game systems to fast track your federation rank, it's the game that is at fault? That's some lofty logic there.

Bounty hunting and CZ payouts were low in the beginning. If I recall before the changes, every ship in a CZ was only worth 3k Credits, no matter if it was a fighter or an Anaconda. Then people started complaining that Bounty Hunting and combat pilot is not up to par with trading, and that this is not fair. So it got changed. And now it's too much? I guess FD just can't do it right for everybody.

Ship prices.. the Vulture originally was a lot more expensive, so was the FDL. People started complaining that they are too expensive, so the prices got slashed. Now you want to raise them again? So which is it then? Too grindy, or too easy. People should finally make up their minds about this.

 

[Ziljan]

After my second PvP battle, I decided to give all fixed weapons a try. So I loaded up an FDL with 4 fixed beam lasers and a huge cannon.


I've since realised how rubbish I am at combat.

Yup . Fixed weapons are like a whole new game. They definitely have advantages though. At a distance they act like gimbals that can target and damage subsystems. For another they also ignore chaff. And of course as you say, they force you to really learn the flight mechanics.

As I'm sure you already know, for small ships your best bet is to actually keep a little range to ensure you're hitting with all of your hardpoints.

 

[The_Quasar]

After playing the game for a year (1-3 hours per week maximum), I cannot be happy enough about it! However, there is no limit to perfection, and here is the list of what I would like to see:

* reduced income for killed ships. Make the payments proportional to the damage inflicted;

Make it harder to compete as a Bounty Hunter, against the inflated income of a Trader/Smuggler, ok, why?

* some enemy ships refuse to fight and fly in a straight line around you;

AI is being improved for 2.1, this should no longer be an issue after that

* increased price for some ships. Some ships feel like 3-10 times cheaper than they should be;

A pity you don't say which ships you think are that much cheaper. I'm assuming you don't want BHs to get better ships.

* decrease progression among ranks. I spent only a couple of evenings after 12-hour work shifts and gained 1 level easily in a faction!

I notice that you don't say which rank you obtained, if it was a low one, that would be about right. Rank progression has already been made harder after the last update, I see no reason to make it harder still

* decrease price for sold installed units. Let players choose it with wisdom;

Why? Most of them are pretty cheap already, and it's only the top ones that are mega expensive, and rightly so.

* change prices at stations more regularly so that third-party tools cannot track routes for you. You will need to buy information from others or stations.

I have no problem with this one

* the new update, hopefully, will bring missions that are much harder as you climb the ranks. I seriously hope about it.

I would like to see more challenging missions too... for better rewards. The reward should be in correct proportion to the amount of time and effort taken to complete it.

Elite and David, [heart] we love you! You managed to create a game that appeals to casual players like me and yet be complex!

No argument.

I'm surprised you didn't complain about the rewards of smuggling and trading, as it's possible to make far more money doing them than bounty hunting (killing ships). I therefore presume you are a smuggler/trader.

To make the game harder, I'd reduce the amount of credits you can get from trading/smuggling; making mining, in comparison, better. Make the NPC ships have better AI (coming in 2.1), which will reduce the income from bounty hunting. Make crime and punishment more realistic (also coming in 2.1, I hope). Exploration, I would leave unchanged, except to add a few anomalies to find. As missions are being given a lift in 2.1, I want to see what they come up with, before I comment further.

I don't think making rank increases harder still is sensible, imho it's hard enough already.

 

[Clicker]

Serious mistakes are too hard to make and too easy to survive, considering that the penalty for loitering is death.

Yeah! This.

Clicker

 

[Clicker]

...and...

I've said this before in threads and I'll say it again...

it only becomes a grind when you stop "playing the game" and only focus on achieving an "end game" goal.

Example = sidewinder --> anaconda

If that's your goal then you ain't playin the game....you are grinding.

You should be playing to make the incremental gains to;

A) upgrade your ship
B) get the next level ship (not go from sidewinder to type 9 to anaconda)
C) have more fun.

Clicker

 

[Skybird]

OP has some good ideas. I would like to add that I think docking is too 'easy' in general, once you have your docking computer, if that's your thing. I would love for certain stations to be very, very hard to land at, and you would have to use manual controls, and navigate using something similar to an airports ILS system. Make a landing in certain specific stations and / or planets feel like you have accomplished something, and when you finally dock safely, you gingerly release your sweaty palms from the stick and throttle, and breathe a huge sign of relief. That hard.

 

[Metal]

The game was so hard, few patches back. But outcry of playbase, nerfed the op npc's.

So.... we are beating the dead horse here.

 

[frostypaw]

My favorite part about this game was ranking to rear admiral. Literally just logging in and out for hours getting donation missions. Intense

Sounds well earnt!

 

[Ryan P Bodfirst]

The game was so hard, few patches back. But outcry of playbase, nerfed the op npc's.

So.... we are beating the dead horse here.

Yes I think the only way we'll get a more difficulty in some of the areas mentioned in this thread is if options are added to the game to allow us to optionally increase the difficulty in those areas - that's the only way FD could do it without upsetting large parts of the player base and putting beginner players off.

...Be nice to be able to be able to set up player groups with custom global difficulties at some point for those that wanted more of a challenge.

 

[Steve50]

...and...

I've said this before in threads and I'll say it again...

it only becomes a grind when you stop "playing the game" and only focus on achieving an "end game" goal.

Example = sidewinder --> anaconda

If that's your goal then you ain't playin the game....you are grinding.

You should be playing to make the incremental gains to;

A) upgrade your ship
B) get the next level ship (not go from sidewinder to type 9 to anaconda)
C) have more fun.

Clicker

Some people should read that ^^
a lot of common sense there.

 

[Aratoth]

"* increased price for some ships. Some ships feel like 3-10 times cheaper than they should be;"

I'm actually curious about this one....OP can you extrapolate and identify the ships on your list and tell us how much you'd like to see them cost?

If we're going to have a discussion lets do this properly dammit!

Regards,

 

[Forlorn]

OP has some good ideas. I would like to add that I think docking is too 'easy' in general, once you have your docking computer, if that's your thing. I would love for certain stations to be very, very hard to land at, and you would have to use manual controls, and navigate using something similar to an airports ILS system. Make a landing in certain specific stations and / or planets feel like you have accomplished something, and when you finally dock safely, you gingerly release your sweaty palms from the stick and throttle, and breathe a huge sign of relief. That hard.

Sounds like FA-Off to me.

 

[mistohise]

It really doesn't make a lot of sense that there would be space stations with landing pads that are trickier to reach. There's not likely to be obstructions other than wacky design decisions to place pillars in front of pads. The reason we have airports that are tricky to land at is because of physical factors meaning that approach is difficult. That doesn't really apply to space stations, which tend to be in lots of space. This is a fair idea for land bases as you could have them surrounded by mountains in high G environments and whatnot.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Bottom line there are usually ALWAYS ways for a player to make a game hard for themselves, in a FPshooter only use a pistol and don't pick up health, in a racing game never use traction control and ABS, in Elite use a smaller craft, less powerful modules, fixed weapons (as others have said) etc etc. Gamers usually don't have ways to make a game easier other than difficulty settings.