Elite: Dangerous rank changes

[robo]

Can you place a link to the site you know to make the badges? I think this is a great idea and £2 per badge is not too bad! Thanks!

Yeah sure, the 25mm badges are £2 each, but I opted for 38mm at £2.50 each. Currently they are closed to the 27th, but when they open, I’m getting 12 more knocked up, 9 of which are the rankings, here is the link…

http://www.badgeplanet.co.uk/index.asp

Here is how they look on my cmdr’s cap at the moment, not a great picture, but the print on the badges & the badges themselves are of really good quality...

Once I get my 3D printed original style Elite badge, Elite Dangerous badge, plus the other badges I’m getting knocked up, wearing my badge of rank, I should be sorted.

Also, FD’s representation of the Harmless rank has the underneath word not centralised, you may want to use this one that I’ve knocked up…

 

[Daeron]

It's not forcibly. It is to show that good piloting skills enable not only fast and precious killing, but also other feats. I think it is very good justification.

If only justification and execution had not operated in two separate realms, the end result might have been far prettier. No amount of justification can hide the incompatible naming scheme, and broken thematical coherence.

If the rationale is to avoid having to do more, in order to achieve less, the logic here must be that shortcuts are ugly by nature.

That, and Dr. Frankenstein had a bad supplier in the first place.

 

[Ben Ryder]

I think they could have just left the ranking alone. Most people would have a good idea. If they are going to change it, then it should be for the better.

Separate ranking progression for professions all leading to an elite status might be a good way.

Or they could use something like a naval ranking system.

The new ranks are a bit of a mess.

It's just down to the labels. Which could just as easily be numerical levels.

Maybe the average band could be something like neonate, novice, adept. Dangerous and Deadly sound like it's all about combat so how about something fairly simple like seasoned, vetran or ledgenary.

What ever the out come is, the new ranks could really do with a bit more thought and reworking.

They're nothing too hard to get right so let's hope they the ranks another shot once they've sorted out the development and game play.

Get the names teh ranks right should be an easy win for the developement and production team

 

[DrBaggy]

updated it, badge size now.

Great stuff Mobius! Did I miss where this would be shown on our ship? Or just for our personal glorification/humiliation(the latter in my case)? Will it (and our Founder's decal and Imperial/Fed/Alliance badges) appear on our ship grills like AA badges of old?

 

[Andrew Sayers]

journeyman

"Journeyman" is a great name for a rank! But I'm replying about it over in this thread to avoid duplication.

On reflection, my only issues with the ranking system are that "expert" and "master" are synonymous in my head, and that the terms jump back and forth between solitary words (harmless/elite) and social words (novice/master). A better word choice might be:

harmless / mostly harmless / competent
novice / journeyman / master
dangerous / deadly / elite

That would also suggest different missions for the different levels. The first and last three are solitary words, so you'd expect to get solitary missions (deliver this box, save this planet). While the middle three are social words, so you'd expect to get social missions (serve on the front lines in a war, lead a band of bounty hunters in the search for a notorious pirate).

 

[Stachel]

Great stuff Mobius! Did I miss where this would be shown on our ship? Or just for our personal glorification/humiliation(the latter in my case)? Will it (and our Founder's decal and Imperial/Fed/Alliance badges) appear on our ship grills like AA badges of old?

Mobius is King. Does anyone else find the last 4 look too similar really? If you saw them on a ship in space etc. I'd be hard pressed to tell which was which at a glance.

 

[Cody]

Did I miss where this would be shown on our ship?

I'd have thought the badge would appear on one's avatar when walking about arrives.

 

[Pyros]

Ok, got power back and here goes nothing - an idea for different ranks:

Basic approach:

• One Global "Elite" rank, resulting from a composite of the other ranks
• Three independent "Ladders", one per type of action: Combat (pirating, bounty hunting, defense and offense), Wealth (trading and mining) and Exploration (piloting and finding new things)
• Each rank has 9 levels, with the final one in all cases being Elite

An alternative idea is to have 9 ranks per activity (none of them Elite), but the global rank having 10, with the final one being Elite:

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I don't think FD will budge on new rank changes

 

[Pyros]

I don't think FD will budge on new rank changes

Me neither, just toying with the idea

That said, I think they could have done a better job - as they are they mix combat ranks with activity ranks in a not very logical fashion. Nothing gamebreaking though

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

Ok, got power back and here goes nothing - an idea for different ranks:

Basic approach:

• One Global "Elite" rank, resulting from a composite of the other ranks
• Three independent "Ladders", one per type of action: Combat (pirating, bounty hunting, defense and offense), Wealth (trading and mining) and Exploration (piloting and finding new things)
• Each rank has 9 levels, with the final one in all cases being Elite

An alternative idea is to have 9 ranks per activity (none of them Elite), but the global rank having 10, with the final one being Elite:

This is the kind of idea I thought they were implementing.

The new ranking system seems kind of absurd and due to that it may end up as an in game dynamic I pretty much ignore due to not caring about it. I hope I have missed something and this reveal in the latest newsletter is just lacking in detail and is not actually what it appears to be.

 

[Iskariot]

Ok, got power back and here goes nothing - an idea for different ranks:

Basic approach:

• One Global "Elite" rank, resulting from a composite of the other ranks
• Three independent "Ladders", one per type of action: Combat (pirating, bounty hunting, defense and offense), Wealth (trading and mining) and Exploration (piloting and finding new things)
• Each rank has 9 levels, with the final one in all cases being Elite

An alternative idea is to have 9 ranks per activity (none of them Elite), but the global rank having 10, with the final one being Elite:

FD should have a look at this.
I like these ranks. I feel this is a good basis to build on.

 

[[VR] Shadowman]

Agreed, that's some nice work. There are only a couple of ranks I'd query, but otherwise I like it.

 

[fireFly1000]

+1 to that.

I don't think FD will budge on new rank changes

David Braben said in December that they will probably make mistakes during the alpha and the purpose of this phase is to correct them.

Well, they kinda got it wrong this time. And with the ranking system of all things.
I see it as the most fundamental aspect of the game. It gives the name of the game after all. This is a sandbox, so this progression to Elite may be the only stable goal in this game.

Being in a situation where I may be inclined to disconsider the ranking system because it doesn't make sense, like Pyro said, would sadden me to the extreme.
This is the ladder we have to climb to reach Elite status, and right now it's broken.

I can only hope FD will fix it.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Frontier had declared that there will be many rankings. I hope there will be of general rankings in real time on the homepage of the game. Top 100 of bounty hunters, top 100 of traders, top 100 of explorers, top 100 of military, top 100 of spaceships (equipment, weapons etc ...)

 

[Daeron]

Very happy to see this one not floating down to the sea bottom of very dead forum creatures. Pyros is now closer to something I could live with, compared to what we have seen in any newsletter.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

David Braben said in December that they will probably make mistakes during the alpha and the purpose of this phase is to correct them.

This is effectively rewriting of lore. I am ready to bet that all writers knew it months ahead. This is no alpha stuff. This is clearly what they intended to.

Well, they kinda got it wrong this time. And with the ranking system of all things.
I see it as the most fundamental aspect of the game. It gives the name of the game after all. This is a sandbox, so this progression to Elite may be the only stable goal in this game.

But I don't see it wrong. It's ok for me. It does it's job. Newsletter also explained why changed has been made.

 

[Daeron]

Frontier had declared that there will be many rankings. I hope there will be of general rankings in real time on the homepage of the game. Top 100 of bounty hunters, top 100 of traders, top 100 of explorers, top 100 of military, top 100 of spaceships (equipment, weapons etc ...)

Include the list of top 100 Imperial uniforms with unnecessarily pompous hats, and we have a solid deal. They can rename average to beverage for all I care then.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Include the list of top 100 Imperial uniforms with unnecessarily pompous hats, and we have a solid deal. They can rename average to beverage for all I care then.

For me it is simple, more there will be of general rankings in real time on the home page of the game, more I'll be happy. It is not for the purpose of comparison between the players, but to admire the best in real time. I think it adds an supplementary dynamic to the ED environment

 

[Patrick_68000]

Include the list of top 100 Imperial uniforms with unnecessarily pompous hats, and we have a solid deal.

Your hat, undoubtedly, has all its place in the 100