What 2.2 means for small craft pilots

[goemon]

Well guys, I really don't get what's wrong here in this thread. Maybe I'm victim of a bug or sort of, or you're telling me things that worked for you once and you now assume that still works. For me - to state that very clearly now - 2.2 has the following impact:

- I AM ABSOLUTELY UNABLE TO MAKE **ANY** PROGRESS SINCE THREE DAYS - NO INCOME, NO REP UP, NO RANK UP

Now the reasons, and before blaming me for not knowing how to play, please try yourself first. Either some things have changed or I'm being bugged or in extremely bad luck:

- I get nearly no missions in new systems because of my "neutral" ranking to new factions. This is new now and was not an issue before 2.2. I was in 10 systems, got 1 mission for 32,000, which was not enough to rep up.
- I get no tourist missions because of that exact same issue.
- Bounty hunting became ways harder, especially for actually profitable targets. Vulture insurance is 1M credits, you don't wanna go for 100 of the 10,000 cr targets just to get your insurance in...

So, is this a bug, are you ACTUALLY not having these issues in new systems NOW or am I just having very bad luck??

What I did NOT want is want to compain about that 2.2 adds some stuff that is not yet avaiable to me.

profit from mining and trading, and exploration data allows you to gain reputation without missions.

e.g. if you choose a system, where you want to stay for a while, do sandbox activities till you have the reputation for missions you like to do.

for small ships rare trading is probably the best way to gain reputation fast, together with the explo data from your trips.

just saying, because you say you are trying since three days

 

[Deleted member 110222]

2.2 has turned my Cobra into a truck, a bus, a fighter, a miner, an explorer... All thanks to module storage! Love the update!

 

[Darkfyre99]

You cannot donate, since it's a mission, and I've repd up a lot by bounty hunting. But never with exploration or trade. Are you certain to get a rep up at a local faction by that?

profit from mining and trading, and exploration data allows you to gain reputation without missions.

e.g. if you choose a system, where you want to stay for a while, do sandbox activities till you have the reputation for missions you like to do.

for small ships rare trading is probably the best way to gain reputation fast, together with the explo data from your trips.

just saying, because you say you are trying since three days

^^^ What he said.

As I said, when I get home from work, I'll go someplace new and test things out. I've followed this pattern for quite a while, and I normally don't have trouble finding missions for my chosen faction. I'll probably have to choose a route that'll let me get some exploration data, though, since I recently sold what I had.

edit:

2.2 has turned my Cobra into a truck, a bus, a fighter, a miner, an explorer... All thanks to module storage! Love the update!

Isn't it great?

I have two class four economic, business, and first class cabins for my Cobra, plus its original two class 4 cargo bays, and class two and four fuel scoops, not to mention some weapons and power plants, just waiting my home base right now.

It used to be establishing a new theatre of operations required learning the lay of the land so I knew where to buy the modules I'd need to fit my Cobra for various roles to complete missions. Now I can hot swap everything, and when I move, I can ship them to my new base.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Wow. great. Combat isnt noticeably harder? What a great motivation for ship launched fighters. I've played ED since it's release, so I really have not started playing just yesterday. And for me this all simply doesn't work out right now.

Well, not to repeat myself, but... Did you try actually after 2.2 to rep up with a local faction you're neutral at?

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You cannot donate, since it's a mission, and I've repd up a lot by bounty hunting. But never with exploration or trade. Are you certain to get a rep up at a local faction by that?

Honest question: whats the point of asking us questions if you dismiss the answers immediately? Yes to all, again. When you make a decent explo trip and return, whatever faction you give it to is installed allied with you. Bounty hunting is a bit changed, depending with what you compare it with: it only gives rep to the dominant faction owning the station you hand them in. So BH is a great way to get a good rep with the dominant faction, but it will hurt your standings with the other factions eventually. In that sense exploration/trading is a better way, unless you dont care about any but the dominant faction in that system.

Missions do seem to have more 'cordial and higher' reqs, which is annoying, and there should still be more missions available, but progress is still easy to gain.

 

[conceit]

Honest question: whats the point of asking us questions if you dismiss the answers immediately? Yes to all, again. When you make a decent explo trip and return, whatever faction you give it to is installed allied with you. Bounty hunting is a bit changed, depending with what you compare it with: it only gives rep to the dominant faction owning the station you hand them in. So BH is a great way to get a good rep with the dominant faction, but it will hurt your standings with the other factions eventually. In that sense exploration/trading is a better way, unless you dont care about any but the dominant faction in that system.

Missions do seem to have more 'cordial and higher' reqs, which is annoying, and there should still be more missions available, but progress is still easy to gain.

At first, I dismiss only answers that basically say that my playing style -- that I've had fun with for several months now -- was the problem or that I'm doing it wrong now, all over sudden. The question if exploring and trading adds to rep was a serious question, just in case you thought I was ironic here. I wasn't. But, if you play ED like me, the new mission spread is hurting a lot. I wasn't aware what's going on there in the very first (that's why my problem discription is a bit out of focus in the OP). In the meantime, I found another thread and some posts complaining about missing missions. So, seems to be an issue for some players, not just me.

My playing style: I like small craft, gipsy style. That means to rep up quickly in a new system, do what's fun there to do even if that is very risky and costs you a ship or two. Don't ever care too much for money, but try to get the costs in. Don't massively grind for more. This will let you advance in rank and credits very slowly, for the sake of more freedom and fun (for me). If it gives some profit, fine, if not... no matter, just try to hold balance. If I'm sick of it, I move my tent to somewhere else and ... rep up quickly again, get to the exciting missions, do some of this, some of that... Whatever mood I'm in...

This is no more possible now. I wanted to quit BH for a while (done that too much during the last weeks), playing some missions, maybe assault here and there, smuggle, see what comes, try some tourist moving to see nice new places. Now, basically I either have to bring virtual boxes from a to b (I simply do not like trading), or explore - which is quite time consuming. I've done exploring, it's nice if you're in the mood for it. But now I feel somewhat forced to either BH or explore. The mission system now takes a lot of freedom away from me. It's hard to rep up now. So no more moving my tents. Funny, in a game that's all about moving. I used to pick 3 or 4 missions, preferably Fed factions to support my Navy ranking, do them in one run, and then come to the fun part. Now I search 10 systems to find one that gives me one single mission. After having done that one mission, I don't get a second one. This kicks me out of the game over night, extremely frustrating as I was having a bunch of fun with it until recent.

 

[DirkLarien]

Seems to me like people play it to "progress"
Where are you heading ?
Why so fast. Kiddo you will be disappointed when you "progress" where you want to get.

Dont ruin ti for yourself by "working" the game. Enjoy the trip there.
Its always the same. You folks want to get to max level/ship because reasons.

There is nothing at the end.

Anyway i really liked hauling folks around.
They are talking to you, demand detours, can be annoying :-D
Its better then cargo... it does not talk to you.... except fishes
Fishes are different .... they tell me stuff. [wacky]
...just have to listen ...closely
they told me the secret.
.... the secret of the universe [up]
.... i just have to kill all.... .

anyway its bit more fun.
But its weird when doing sightseeing tour and ship does not have any windows so where and how are they doing the sightseeing is a mystery to me.
Lets hope they will come to the cockpit when models are ready to actually see something during the sightseeing in non dedicated sightseeing ship ;-)

 

[goemon]

My playing style:

your playing style isn't much different to mine, only i do most of it without missions. want to smuggle a bit? search the next source of narcotics ... or an illegal rare... like to do a base assault? have a look for the modified consumer firmware thread, they have an amazing list of stations for base assault to all liking... want some murdering? take an fsdi or hunt convoys etc. etc.

but yes, mission spawn is bugged riht now. no need to wait for it!

 

[conceit]

your playing style isn't much different to mine, only i do most of it without missions. want to smuggle a bit? search the next source of narcotics ... or an illegal rare... like to do a base assault? have a look for the modified consumer firmware thread, they have an amazing list of stations for base assault to all liking... want some murdering? take an fsdi or hunt convoys etc. etc.

but yes, mission spawn is bugged riht now. no need to wait for it!

Thanks for cheering me up a bit! Obviously I have to change a little, but well... doesn't get boring.

 

[Darkfyre99]

At first, I dismiss only answers that basically say that my playing style -- that I've had fun with for several months now -- was the problem or that I'm doing it wrong now, all over sudden. The question if exploring and trading adds to rep was a serious question, just in case you thought I was ironic here. I wasn't. But, if you play ED like me, the new mission spread is hurting a lot. I wasn't aware what's going on there in the very first (that's why my problem discription is a bit out of focus in the OP). In the meantime, I found another thread and some posts complaining about missing missions. So, seems to be an issue for some players, not just me.

My playing style: I like small craft, gipsy style. That means to rep up quickly in a new system, do what's fun there to do even if that is very risky and costs you a ship or two. Don't ever care too much for money, but try to get the costs in. Don't massively grind for more. This will let you advance in rank and credits very slowly, for the sake of more freedom and fun (for me). If it gives some profit, fine, if not... no matter, just try to hold balance. If I'm sick of it, I move my tent to somewhere else and ... rep up quickly again, get to the exciting missions, do some of this, some of that... Whatever mood I'm in...

This is no more possible now. I wanted to quit BH for a while (done that too much during the last weeks), playing some missions, maybe assault here and there, smuggle, see what comes, try some tourist moving to see nice new places. Now, basically I either have to bring virtual boxes from a to b (I simply do not like trading), or explore - which is quite time consuming. I've done exploring, it's nice if you're in the mood for it. But now I feel somewhat forced to either BH or explore. The mission system now takes a lot of freedom away from me. It's hard to rep up now. So no more moving my tents. Funny, in a game that's all about moving. I used to pick 3 or 4 missions, preferably Fed factions to support my Navy ranking, do them in one run, and then come to the fun part. Now I search 10 systems to find one that gives me one single mission. After having done that one mission, I don't get a second one. This kicks me out of the game over night, extremely frustrating as I was having a bunch of fun with it until recent.

conceit,

If you truly want to do what I'd call "vagabond missions," my recommendation would be to choose one of the major factions, and stick with them. Minor factions that are part of a major faction, while personally neutral to you at the start, default to their major faction's status. If you are cordial with the Federation, for example, you'd be treated as cordial to every Federation minor faction, until you start earning (or losing) Rep with them.

My play style is BGS oriented, so I maintain good relations with the Federation, for example, because it allows me to take missions for the minor Federation faction in control of a system I'm operating in, so I can betray that mission and the Federation's governor can lose influence, or take missions that result in negative states. It's a lot easier to change the standings of factions in the system if you can both help the faction you're supporting AND hurt the opposing factions.

My little experiment last night yielded mixed results, primarily because I didn't have much exploration data to turn in to the independent station I eventually found. I did see plenty of missions for the local Federation factions, though.

 

[crushdepth]

When you're flying small or midsize crafts (I fly Vulture for bounty hunting and Cobra Mk3 for Multi Purpose things), 2.2 does not seem add fun to the game. The ship launched fighters are not available for you and slow down your progress even more as your bounty targets got a lot tougher now. The tourist missions.. Well, I didn't find any mental access to it. Bought a 1st class cabin for the Cobra, took a VIP.. Wanted to give me lousy 270k for two destinations, one of which was 35 hops away... ok, took it. Got attacked after 15 hops (the tourist was declared prone to attacks), got some scratches, he wants to leave at the next station.

Really, for 270k? For this tiny bit of rep with a minor faction that ist 35 hops away? Don't get it. Can someone explain me what this is all about?

Be selective about the missions, there are plenty of short hop million+. And don't carry whiny/difficult passengers.

 

[conceit]

conceit,
If you truly want to do what I'd call "vagabond missions," my recommendation would be to choose one of the major factions, and stick with them. Minor factions that are part of a major faction, while personally neutral to you at the start, default to their major faction's status. If you are cordial with the Federation, for example, you'd be treated as cordial to every Federation minor faction, until you start earning (or losing) Rep with them.

I cannot confirm that. Just tried. My reputation with the Feds dropped to "allied" right now. Well, shouldn't have shot some sherrifs. But I didn't shoot the deputy!! My local rep to a fed minor faction is "neutral" in a new system - just flew over to somewhere just to check this. AFAIK, a high fed rep gives you a bonus rep with fed minors when you file in missions and stuff, but seemingly doesn't give you a good reputation right from the start. Anyhow, doesn't hurt to boost up my fed reputation a bit.

 

[noldunar]

I cannot confirm that. Just tried. My reputation with the Feds dropped to "allied" right now. Well, shouldn't have shot some sherrifs. But I didn't shoot the deputy!! My local rep to a fed minor faction is "neutral" in a new system - just flew over to somewhere just to check this. AFAIK, a high fed rep gives you a bonus rep with fed minors when you file in missions and stuff, but seemingly doesn't give you a good reputation right from the start. Anyhow, doesn't hurt to boost up my fed reputation a bit.

You are correct, your reputation with a superpower has no influence on your initial standing with a minor faction in a system you visit for the first time. However, being allied to a superpower that the minor faction is also allied with causes your reputation with that minor faction to increase faster and to decay slower.

Regarding your initial problem, I can't confirm that. I have just set up camp in a new system I haven't been before. A high tech system in Arissa LD territory (for the 20% passive bounty payout bonus). I have two ships there, a multi-purpose Cobra III and a Viper III (for combat obviously). At the moment I am almost friendly with two factions and cordial with others. Started out neutral as normal. I think the key is to have a ship that can do a wide variety of things and then do everything you are offered, even though the pay might not be good. My Millenium Falcon build Cobra has one size 4 business class cabin and 20t cargo space so I can do cargo missions and passenger missions. Works well. Sometimes I see missions now for 800k or 900k to transport one guy to the next door system. I actually enjoy the process of setting up a new home base.
And one visit to a nearby HazRES in my Viper nets me around 1.5 million. I have a KWS fitted to get the bounties of the minor factions in the area which I then turn in, this also helps your rep.

 

[conceit]

You are correct, your reputation with a superpower has no influence on your initial standing with a minor faction in a system you visit for the first time. However, being allied to a superpower that the minor faction is also allied with causes your reputation with that minor faction to increase faster and to decay slower.

Regarding your initial problem, I can't confirm that. I have just set up camp in a new system I haven't been before. A high tech system in Arissa LD territory (for the 20% passive bounty payout bonus). I have two ships there, a multi-purpose Cobra III and a Viper III (for combat obviously). At the moment I am almost friendly with two factions and cordial with others. Started out neutral as normal. I think the key is to have a ship that can do a wide variety of things and then do everything you are offered, even though the pay might not be good. My Millenium Falcon build Cobra has one size 4 business class cabin and 20t cargo space so I can do cargo missions and passenger missions. Works well. Sometimes I see missions now for 800k or 900k to transport one guy to the next door system. I actually enjoy the process of setting up a new home base.
And one visit to a nearby HazRES in my Viper nets me around 1.5 million. I have a KWS fitted to get the bounties of the minor factions in the area which I then turn in, this also helps your rep.

Thanks for your report, Commander. In the meanwhile I have found a new place for myself as well. Obviously, I either had bad luck with the sector I was roaming, or there are acutually (a few?) stations where you can rep easier as missions are available, and most other stations have become sort of snobs. And indeed, it's a boom state faction that offered these neutral missions to me now. I didn't notice that before 2.2 - ok, there were few stations that had no missions, but now it seems to me there are only few stations where neutral missions are offered at all. But maybe it's just an incidence with the region I'm currently in.

 

[Darkfyre99]

You are correct, your reputation with a superpower has no influence on your initial standing with a minor faction in a system you visit for the first time. However, being allied to a superpower that the minor faction is also allied with causes your reputation with that minor faction to increase faster and to decay slower.

While you are correct that your faction rep will always start at Neutral, in my experience the reputation system is a bit more nuanced than that with minor factions allied with major factions. It kind of has to be, because my playstyle relies on it.

In my experience, you have an effective reputation, based primarily on your personal rep with a minor faction, which is then affected by your rep with its allied major faction (if any). Good relations with a major faction causes allied minor factions to give you the "benefit of the doubt" when you arrive... Unlike independent systems who never trust you until you've proven yourself.

I imagine my "Federation Rating" looks something like this.

Inga Stevenson: 3.7/5 stars (most system names made up)

LHC-447 ****
HVX-7463 ****
Sol - ***** (A joy to work with, whenever sh passes through the system)
Lugh - no stars (We were kicked out of the system after she set up base here!)

and so on

 

[digitalscream]

Hang on, the OP has a Vulture and doesn't think 2.2 is great?

Does. Not. Compute.

Go get a pair of grade 5 rapid-fire pulse lasers (preferably with Scramble Spectrum on both) and then get back to us. Spoiler: it's hella fun

Combined with a grade 3 charge-enhanced distributor (or above), you can stick in combat for a lot longer than before, all the while doing a lot more damage.

Sure, it's not a headline feature, but the Vulture was never going to be the intended target for passengers or fighters. Go get yourself an ASP (Explorer or Scout) if you want to run passengers about.