The majority of what you do in Elite: Dangerous in 1 picture

BigBANGtheory [VR]

BigBANGtheory [VR]
You have to consciously stop yourself from doing serial 'bread crumb trail' gameplay that you've been used to for the past 20yrs.

There is grind in ED but whether you experience a small or a large amount depends on how you play. ED is imho closer to the 2001:A Space Odyssey experience/pacing of space sims not Star Wars and if you approach it like Star Wars you'll fly straight into the grind trap.
 

Thelan

Thelan
pyramid2.jpg


Going places and making stupid spaceship selfies.
 

-VR- Max Factor

-VR- Max Factor
KR4K40 said:
The GRIND is not so much about progression but about maintaining your wealth.

You'll get it once you get to the end game big ships. All of a sudden you notice that those big ships have nothing special and you need to grind a     eload of money to insure them and be able to do idiotic, fun stuff with them. AND those big ships don't make much more money than mid tier ships like the AspX or the Python (with the exception of bulk trading I guess which is still pay dirt.) For example, you might as well bounty hunt in a FDL or even a Python because that Corvette is not gonna do the job any better.

The rebuy on a corvette without military alloys? 25M. Add alloys and boom, 50M. I currently have 1.2B in assets and 130M in the bank and struggle to get above that.

It's all really sad. I'd like to be able to go chainboosting my corvette meters from the ground on a high G world or go take on famous PVPers with it but I can't because a handful of rebuys later I'd be broke with no real way of making it back.
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None of the big ships are end game. There is no endgame or the endgame is whatever you make it. Why the need to grind to get the big ships is beyond me. I have been playing since Beta/Gamma over two years ago and I have no big ships and far less credits. But I have likely had far more fun getting to my point then the people who grind.

The corvette for instance. If I had one, there would be no way I would go bounty hunting in it, for me it would be either an armed trader or a combat zone only ship.

The corvette is not the type of ship to go chain boosting a few metre above the ground, use an appropriate ship like an Imperial Courier or Eagle, or some other small ship. Much more fun then the corvette, and then you don't need to worry about the insurance either.
 

KR4K40

KR4K40
Max Factor said:
None of the big ships are end game. There is no endgame or the endgame is whatever you make it. Why the need to grind to get the big ships is beyond me. I have been playing since Beta/Gamma over two years ago and I have no big ships and far less credits. But I have likely had far more fun getting to my point then the people who grind.

The corvette for instance. If I had one, there would be no way I would go bounty hunting in it, for me it would be either an armed trader or a combat zone only ship.

The corvette is not the type of ship to go chain boosting a few metre above the ground, use an appropriate ship like an Imperial Courier or Eagle, or some other small ship. Much more fun then the corvette, and then you don't need to worry about the insurance either.
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I was using the term "endgame" to show that those ships are supposed to be the biggest, baddest motherduckers available to players, and juxtaposed that term with the reality of the situation.

You're limiting yourself to your own POV. "The corvette is not a ship to do X with" is your own opinion. I got the game on the premise of being able to "blaze my own trail" in a "multiplayer space game with MMO features". I'm not making anything up, merely quoting what was on the steam page at the time. The reality is far from that.

You imagined yourself bringing your hypothetical corvette to a CZ, but the corvette is far from the best option to bring in a CZ because it costs a buttload to rebuy, it's slow as sin (can't escape when masslocked by several other corvettes and cutters) and the profits to be made in CZs are slim at best unless you stack massacre missions. Add that to the fact that AI will prioritize players over NPCs (especially when using a big ship) and you got a recipe for catastrophe unless you go there with a wingmate. If you don't it would be a case of making 5M, losing 50 potentially and so on. You're better off bringing the smaller, faster, more agile, just as tanky and cheaper to rebuy FDL; or the tankier and faster "LOL can't be masslocked" Imperial Cutter.

My point is: big ships are almost useless and the game severely limits what you can do with them through various means but mainly because MONEY.

I also did not grind, merely played for about a year at the leisurely pace varying between 10 to 100M per week thanks to bounty farming, high value piracy, smuggling and mission stacking.
 
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-VR- Max Factor

-VR- Max Factor
KR4K40 said:
I was using the term "endgame" to show that those ships are supposed to be the biggest, baddest motherduckers available to players, and juxtaposed that term with the reality of the situation.

You're limiting yourself to your own POV. "The corvette is not a ship to do X with" is your own opinion. I got the game on the premise of being able to "blaze my own trail" in a "multiplayer space game with MMO features". I'm not making anything up, merely quoting what was on the steam page at the time. The reality is far from that.

You imagined yourself bringing your hypothetical corvette to a CZ, but the corvette is far from the best option to bring in a CZ because it costs a buttload to rebuy, it's slow as sin (can't escape when masslocked by several other corvettes and cutters) and the profits to be made in CZs are slim at best unless you stack massacre missions. Add that to the fact that AI will prioritize players over NPCs (especially when using a big ship) and you got a recipe for catastrophe unless you go there with a wingmate. If you don't it would be a case of making 5M, losing 50 potentially and so on. You're better off bringing the smaller, faster, more agile, just as tanky and cheaper to rebuy FDL; or the tankier and faster "LOL can't be masslocked" Imperial Cutter.

My point is: big ships are almost useless and the game severely limits what you can do with them through various means but mainly because MONEY.

I also did not grind, merely played for about a year at the leisurely pace varying between 10 to 100M per week thanks to bounty farming, high value piracy, smuggling and mission stacking.
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Of course you can blaze your own trail, but it has to be in the confines and limitations of the game world like any sand box game. If a corvette isn't good for certain tasks as it isn't designed for them, then get a ship that is. A corevette/Annaconda/Cutter isn't meant to be the best ship you can buy, it's menat to be one of the best ships for certain tasks.

I have never flown a corvette in a CZ, so I can't really say, but it just seems to fit and be the correct kind of ship for that environment. My most powerfull combat ship is my Vulture and I don't see myself getting anything else as I love flying the ship, but I only take her out for certain combat related stuff. I may get a FGS though for the SLF, as I tried that in the Beta and that was great fun.

I will have a go at using a corvette at the next beta (I currently do not have the credits or rep) in a CZ to see how it goes and then I will right up a review on it.
 

KR4K40

KR4K40
Max Factor said:
Of course you can blaze your own trail, but it has to be in the confines and limitations of the game world like any sand box game. If a corvette isn't good for certain tasks as it isn't designed for them, then get a ship that is. A corevette/Annaconda/Cutter isn't meant to be the best ship you can buy, it's menat to be one of the best ships for certain tasks.
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Where did I say a ship had to be the best at everything?

The Conda is the best multirole ship and best explorer in the game thanks to its low hull mass and large internals. The corvette is supposed to be the best combat ship. The Cutter is the best trader and arguably the actual best combat ship thanks to its speed allowing it to dictate how engagements go (against big ships); having the highest masslock factor and its huge internals enabling it to fit the biggest shields in the game, coupled with a great shield multiplier.

There is progression in the game. Big ships will have the advantage in terms of capability (or at least are supposed to) but are severely held back by poor scaling of earnings.

Just look at the PVP scene: FDLs everywhere. Cutters are much rarer and Corvettes are few and far between. Even in PVE the corvette is not that great because of the pricetag and the risk it implies compared to the pitiful rewards: the limitations you speak of are far too great. Of course they need to be there, can't go exploring in a combat ship (or you can if you're a madman)!
 
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Tiamat

Tiamat
Kill 50 rats to level up - not a grind.

Repeat laps until achieving x time - not a grind.

Achieve 50 head shots for a new weapon skin - not a grind.

Play Elite: Dangerous - OMG, TEH GRIND!!!!!!

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Deadspin

Deadspin
Tiamat said:
Kill 50 rats to level up - not a grind.

Repeat laps until achieving x time - not a grind.

Achieve 50 head shots for a new weapon skin - not a grind.

Play Elite: Dangerous - OMG, TEH GRIND!!!!!!
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Lets put this into better perspective.

COD: Make 50 headshots with a weapon to get a better skin. Time required, 30-45 minutes tops.

Elite Dangerous: Spend 3 hours scouring USS', POIs and Mission boards for the 3 commodities you need to roll an upgrade on an engineer you've already spent 3 days pushing to rank 5, only to get a deplorable roll from the random success generator. Now go spend 3-4 more hours digging up said commodities.

Fallout: Kill 50 raiders to level up. Time requirement? An hour, maybe 90 minutes, simply because you'll have to find them all.

Elite Dangerous: Find Fed system, find repetitive missions with a federally aligned minor-faction. Repeat/stack whatever missions you can find from said faction(s). Do this for hours on end. Gain 10% of total required for jump from Recruit to Cadet. Continue to do this for days on end until you've amassed 100% of the rep needed to advance from Recruit to Cadet. Now scour mission boards for Fed rank ascension mission, profit once you've found it.

Frontier has yet to find the balance between grind and reward. Right now the game is incredibly grind heavy.

I completed 36 missions for two fed aligned minor-factions last night and my rank progress from CPO to CWO was all of 8%. The only time I encounter long-term mechanics like that is in P2W/P2Advance games like Heroes & Generals / War Thunder, etc.
 
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