Modular Terminals - do they exist?

[GraXXoR]

You won't believe this... Actually, you probably will...

I found 4 Modular Terminals on offer...

Problem: Ship too big...
Outpost mission asking to deliver 112 T.... So couldn't just buy a Hauler...

sigh... This game really kicks you when you're down.

What the hell is the problem with that? Why can't I just change to a smaller ship later?

All they need is a "strong" warning message before you take the mission to make sure you understand the risks.

Bah humbug!

Still, At least I've seen them.

 

[Infidel Deity]

You won't believe this... Actually, you probably will...

I found 4 Modular Terminals on offer...

Problem: Ship too big...
Outpost mission asking to deliver 112 T.... So couldn't just buy a Hauler...

sigh... This game really kicks you when you're down.

What the hell is the problem with that? Why can't I just change to a smaller ship later?

All they need is a "strong" warning message before you take the mission to make sure you understand the risks.

Bah humbug!

Still, At least I've seen them.

They are just as elusive as Muhammad in movies.

 

[The New Number Two]

Know what's really funny? These elusive unicorn commodities, available only as medals for running missions, are actually... drumroll.... COMPUTER MONITORS. So realistically, you should be able to pop in to any local Space Mart and pick up 25 of them for under 3000 bucks.

"Modular terminals are ubiquitous items that provide a hardware display of data in a visual and audio format. While they can be sold at markets for a minimal price, these are more often used by engineers for their upgrades."

7

 

[hookandsling]

So tonight the RNG gods smiled on me and I got 3 missions in a row.. I'm THERE!!

Over to Marco to throw them over the counter at him and.. Terminals gone. Still showing 13 to go.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.

Fixed itself in the time it took to submit a pleading support ticket.
Relieved doesn't really express it.

 

[digitalscream]

Has anyone noticed the description?

"Modular terminals are ubiquitous items that provide a hardware display of data in a visual and audio format."

The key word is in bold. I don't think it means what FD thinks it does.

 

[Sapyx]

But they are ubiquitous. All our ships have hardware interfaces that display data in visual and audio format, and they must be "modular" since the interfaces on every single ship in human space are identical. The trouble is, they're apparently so delicate, they don't survive getting the ship blown up around them, so we never find them in debris fields.

I wish an Engineer would provide a Defragmentation Laser mod, to break an enemy ship up into it's components, causing a lot more materials to drop off from them. And if an enemy had a mod that needed Modular Terminals or Exquisite Crystals to build, there'd be a good chance they'd drop those things when they exploded. That would at least give griefers a logical reason to go around blowing up newb ships.

I hate the bizarre logic that there are things around that simply cannot be bought. Modular terminals must, logically, be made someplace. It's not like they grow on trees, or spontaneously form from dust inside nebulae, or get mysteriously teleported into Human shipyards by benevolent aliens. Maybe we could find them inside cargo canisters full of "computer components". There are bound to be some modular terminals in at least some of those. Let us break them open and have a look!

 

[GraXXoR]

This waiting for the right missions to spawn is one of the most irritating things of the Engineers.

I have logged in once yesterday and two times today.
I check a few stations and then I logout again within 30 minutes or so, because I am so irritated about the fact that I can't go on with what I want to do.
I would be willing to work through a score of missions for an entire day if I was sure that at the end I would get the mats I am looking for, in this case modular terminals, but as it is now I might play for a week and find nothing at all.
It is such a bad game mechanic in my mind.

Imagine if this was how you had to buy stuff in the real world.
We would all go mad within a week and jump off a cliff into the see.
That is what this mechanism makes me want to do.
So that is why I can't currently bring myself to play ED. It is too frustrating.

I am now at 34 hours of game play and found my first modular terminals.

Unfortunately, I was in my Annie so could not accept the mission because it said my ship was too big... WTH frontier?!

Of course, when I got back in my Asp, the missions had ticked over.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Well, guys, if you think modular terminals are bad, you'll be relieved to know that getting unknown fragments is better... erm... a little bit.

What you do is you find the right system, then sit in supercruise, waiting for the right signal source to spawn. Its fairly easy. Just sit, and wait and wait and wait and wait. You might get lucky, and one might appear quickly, or you might be waiting 15-20 minutes for the right signal source to spawn. Make sure you have a nice cup of herbal tea ready for that one, and a good book.

 

[GraXXoR]

Has anyone noticed the description?

"Modular terminals are ubiquitous items that provide a hardware display of data in a visual and audio format."

The key word is in bold. I don't think it means what FD thinks it does.

Three posters previous to you did, apparently ;-)

 

[jasonbarron]

Well, guys, if you think modular terminals are bad, you'll be relieved to know that getting unknown fragments is better... erm... a little bit.

What you do is you find the right system, then sit in supercruise, waiting for the right signal source to spawn. Its fairly easy. Just sit, and wait and wait and wait and wait. You might get lucky, and one might appear quickly, or you might be waiting 15-20 minutes for the right signal source to spawn. Make sure you have a nice cup of herbal tea ready for that one, and a good book.

I don't understand why everybody complains about finding these items. I started looking for Modular Terminals on a Saturday morning, and by the end of the day I was sitting on 28 of them. When I wanted UF's, I went to a system they were rumored to spawn in and it took me roughly 60 minutes to gather all that I needed.

I've never had a problem with finding anything the engineers wanted. I doubt if that's because of luck, but I could be wrong.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

I don't understand why everybody complains about finding these items. I started looking for Modular Terminals on a Saturday morning, and by the end of the day I was sitting on 28 of them. When I wanted UF's, I went to a system they were rumored to spawn in and it took me roughly 60 minutes to gather all that I needed.

I've never had a problem with finding anything the engineers wanted. I doubt if that's because of luck, but I could be wrong.

It all depends on whether the RNG loves you or hate you. It helps by finding a system where there are lots of missions you can take, but even then, you are at the mercy of the RNG. One person might get offered tons of missions, while the next person might be left mode switching for hours.

Its not really a great design decision leaving progress to the whims of the RNG.

If they wanted to make some things more difficult to obtain, then a better way would be if you could go to a contact and say "Hey, look guys, i need modular terminals!" and they say "Oh, right. Those things are tricky to get hold of, right eh Frank? *sniggers* Really tricky. Tell you what, go assassinate this dude who has been giving us trouble... oh yeah, he's Elite and flying a Corvette, and usually accompanied by a wing of 6.... i'm sure you are up for the job".

 

[Helfar]

I am doing missions to grind rep and am selling quite a few, so yes they are in game and come in packs of 4 with a mission

 

[dynamicbob]

lots and lots high tech system with minor factions in boom

 

[sndle9]

If they wanted to make some things more difficult to obtain, then a better way would be if you could go to a contact and say "Hey, look guys, i need modular terminals!" and they say "Oh, right. Those things are tricky to get hold of, right eh Frank? *s      s* Really tricky. Tell you what, go assassinate this dude who has been giving us trouble... oh yeah, he's Elite and flying a Corvette, and usually accompanied by a wing of 6.... i'm sure you are up for the job".

Id hate that as its effectively saying you must be a good combat pilot to use engineers. Not everyone who plays this game wants to fight. Some like trading/exploration/mining as well and Engineer upgrades are useful for them as well.

 

[CTCParadox]

I hate the bizarre logic that there are things around that simply cannot be bought. Modular terminals must, logically, be made someplace. It's not like they grow on trees, or spontaneously form from dust inside nebulae, or get mysteriously teleported into Human shipyards by benevolent aliens. Maybe we could find them inside cargo canisters full of "computer components". There are bound to be some modular terminals in at least some of those. Let us break them open and have a look!

FDev have a very compartmentalised approach with separate game systems that don't interact with anything else. Makes ED feel a bit like a bunch of minigames stacked beside each other. They need to let the system be messier, more natural, less controlled.

- Powerplay commodities are separate special things that only exist for the sake of Powerplay.
- No-one has ever sold a Power module (like Imperial Hammer) and had it turn up on a market somewhere.
- Same for engineered modules, they never turn up on the used market.
- Iron (and other materials) are not commodities and can't be bought and exist only for Synthesis and Engineering.

CMDR CTCParadox

 

[Iskariot]

I don't understand why everybody complains about finding these items. I started looking for Modular Terminals on a Saturday morning, and by the end of the day I was sitting on 28 of them. When I wanted UF's, I went to a system they were rumored to spawn in and it took me roughly 60 minutes to gather all that I needed.

I've never had a problem with finding anything the engineers wanted. I doubt if that's because of luck, but I could be wrong.

That is RNG for you.
Just because you are a lucky guy this does not mean everybody is.

I have been doing missions for 2 days and have not encountered a single mission that offered modular terminals.
I am allied or friendly with all factions in the system I am in.

I will try again today, simply because I love flying around in Elite so much, but this material spawning thing is doing my head in.



EDIT:
And just now I got offered a mission with modular terminals as a reward .
It involves an act of piracy, something I would never do normally, but now I will.

 

[warlock]

Just offered four of these on swap shop if anyone is interested p.m me i will be around shinrarta and sol.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Id hate that as its effectively saying you must be a good combat pilot to use engineers. Not everyone who plays this game wants to fight. Some like trading/exploration/mining as well and Engineer upgrades are useful for them as well.

Well, they could offer a variety of missions then. But at least make your mission rewards more targetted.

 

[CharlesD]

I'm doing data missions between Ceos and Sothis for Fed rank and I've been getting them as rewards on occasion.

 

[[VR] Deggial]

That is RNG for you.
I have been doing missions for 2 days and have not encountered a single mission that offered modular terminals.
Just because you are a lucky guy this does not mean everybody is.

I will try again today, simply because I love flying around in Elite so much, but this material spawning thing is doing my head in.

Again I am wondering, if the RNG issue is only (mostly?) one for commanders in their "late game".

I know you are a strong supporter of ED, Iskariot and I admire your positive post history. If you (and others; Ziggy, for example) complain about the game mechanic, I am more inclined to take the negative feedback serious than from those well known all-time-complainers.

However, may I ask, whether or not you have maxed out your other goals in the game? Is there anything to strive for beside engineer mods?

Because for me, even a week of looking for MTs wasn't an issue at all!
You know, I did a reset at 2.1.
- Now I am working on my military ranks for the Empire as well as the Federation in order to get access to the higher tier rank-locked ships.
- I still have to earn money in order to be able to afford them.
- My reputation with the local factions in question is still low.
- I am able to increase my Pilots Federation ranks again.
All of this can be achieved while doing missions and "waiting" for one with MTs as a reward to pop up. This is not boring at all. This is playing the game!

You say that you still enjoy flying around and this is obviously the most important thing, I tend to believe that this migth not be enough for others.

So, the real question is: is the cause of all the engineer-boredom the fact that the people affected by it don't have other things to do in ED beside gathering the required materials?
For me, this might be the case, if I were in the same situation.
If everything else I gained during my one week long search would have be pointless for me, I wouldn't have enjoyed it the same for sure.

Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the games fault.
Sure, there isn't much incentive left, if you reached everything you desired (credits, ships, ranks,...) and I, too, hope that there will be more "late game" content in the future. Maybe 2.2 and the arrival of aliens will achieve this.
But the fact is: Every game will get boring at some point after you "maxed out" - and while there are new things to strive for with module optimization, it might not be enough without other things to achieve in parallel.
And most (all?) games I know are not designed around this end-state, but around the path to get there.

The good thing is: If I am correct in my assumption, we all have it in our own hands to change the game for ourselves again and get rid of the "single-task-frustration".

--

Sorry, Iskariot, my comment grew longer and longer and is only loosely based on your quote. I just took it at an anchor to link my own thoughts on. I am sure you know all this yourself already. As I said, I don't take you as a "complainer" by a far margin!