How long have you spent in Elite Dangerous in VR?

VR Mr Teatime · Dec 5, 2016

Having had the Rift for a few weeks now I can safely say that my Elite Dangerous play time has increased a lot (that and my cockpit project still continues to improve). I'm finding that as long as I "go with the flow" and do various things rather than a single task type, I can spend hours in there and think my average session is now around 3 hours (real life permitting).

The longest I have managed in the Rift was 5.5 hours with no breaks and spent a good proportion of the time in a combat zone dog-fighting. Whilst my eyes were a little "dry", by far the worst effects were my knees aching from constant rudder pedal usage, so not VR induced directly.

What's your longest session to date and what if any side effects have you experienced?

PS. For context, I hit half a century old next year and don't have incredibly bad eyesight but do wear glasses.

PPS. I'd make a poll but no idea how...

Harmoniser · Dec 5, 2016

5.5 hours! wow.

I find around the hour mark the headset digs into my head so I have to take a break, or I'm incredibly sweaty. I'd welcome any tips on how to keep the heat down.

CATPAIN KIRK · Dec 5, 2016

Without taking it off I'd estimate 8-10 hours. With taking it off for bio-breaks etc... 16 hours (~2500 hours total playtime in ED, all of it in VR).

Side effects? Had a little ulcer on my nasal ridge using the DK2 when I had a week off and did long sessions every day, none in the Vive.

vic · Dec 5, 2016

CATPAIN KIRK said:
Without taking it off I'd estimate 8-10 hours. With taking it off for bio-breaks etc... 16 hours (~2500 hours total playtime in ED, all of it in VR).

Side effects? Had a little ulcer on my nasal ridge using the DK2 when I had a week off and did long sessions every day, none in the Vive.

That is so weird, I too developed a lesion on bridge of my nose. Which I had to surgically remove. My doc says it had nothing to do with the headset, but the lesion started growing exactly couple weeks after using my DK2. Never had any lesion on my face before. Though I must say I don't exactly have a little nose!

blastard · Dec 5, 2016

I regularly do 6-8hr stints in my rift usually every other day if I've no bike projects on the go. I'm lucky, I work part-time so Tues/Thurs are dedicated play days if I want.
On the odd occasion - and if I'm 'in the groove' (and its raining), 10hrs+ in a single sitting (save quick breaks for a slash). About 1300hrs total rift time so far.
No bad effects whatsoever physical or mental - 'tho my other half would question the latter. Ah, I also hit the big 5-oh back in May so I'm officially young at heart.
If I'm honest, I sometimes find that my sight is a little sharper after an extended EDVR sesh. I notice this as I usually wear glasses when watching tv afterwards but sometimes find I don't need to. That never happened before I got VR.

Hope you enjoy your rift Commander! - Its the future (which I waited 32yrs for)
CMDR Blastard

Darkfyre99 · Dec 5, 2016

My longest continuous session was about 4 hours. Frequently it's shorter than that, about 1-2 hours, not due to fatigue, but because there's lots of demands on my time, even on my days off.

Hell Razor5543 · Dec 5, 2016

Er, too much time and not enough (due to having to play another game called "Life in the 21^st Century", the best selling sequel to the game "Life in the 20^th Century"!).

CATPAIN KIRK · Dec 5, 2016

vic said:
That is so weird, I too developed a lesion on bridge of my nose. Which I had to surgically remove. My doc says it had nothing to do with the headset, but the lesion started growing exactly couple weeks after using my DK2. Never had any lesion on my face before. Though I must say I don't exactly have a little nose!

Well - in my case it was just because of the constant pressure. The DK2 had a wide nose-gap, but I have huge nose. It healed within a couple of days after I had less time to play due to work. The Vive still exerts pressure on my nose, but it's formed smoother and thus distributes it better.

Oh - and since it's mentioned in the OP: In my forties, no glasses and no visual impairment after the longest sessions or since using VR.

rdizz · Dec 5, 2016

Harmoniser said:
5.5 hours! wow.

I find around the hour mark the headset digs into my head so I have to take a break, or I'm incredibly sweaty. I'd welcome any tips on how to keep the heat down.

Check out vrcover.com

[HJ]-RedRaven · Dec 6, 2016

Wow - 8-10 hours Kirk? :O

Wish I had that much time spare

My best is about 4 hours so far on one night the wife went to bed early (I was in the doghouse for something probably, I don't remember). 2 small kids (5 and 6), hoping I can train them to be my wingboy and wingirl later on.

I don't suffer any issue apart from a very slight rift-face impression which is gone in 5 minutes.
I have a ceiling fan right over me so having that on low gives a gentle breeze - even on warm nights I don't have heat issues but you do get a bit sticky.

44 here (jeez), but still 20 on the inside! My eyesight is crap (detached retinas, blood etc, cataracts ad nauseum) but I ended up a little long-sighted, so thankfully I don't have to wear glasses in the Rift (although the screen-door effect is plain as day). Like Darkfyre99/Inga, I'm used to the slightly reduced FoV having worn glasses for most of my life.

Evil_Merlin · Dec 6, 2016

Only few hours total.

I'm used to a 4k monitor so the Vive is a weird step for me.

The good thing is, as a pilot in real life, the flying in VR seems to be better, even with TrackIR things were... iffy... for head tracking. With the Vive. They are right on the money.

I enjoy it, but the Vive's resolution limitation and the fact I have a large face so the Vive doesn't fit me very well are a bit of things that cause issues.

As for longest time at one go? Probably an hour. E

for me, is all about the pew-pew, so I really don't do all that much.

shadragon · Dec 6, 2016

Mr Teatime said:
The longest I have managed in the Rift was 5.5 hours with no breaks and spent a good proportion of the time in a combat zone dog-fighting.

Something, a subtle clue, tells me you are single.

I can only manage 2 hours before feeling a tap on my shoulder.

Major Klutz · Dec 6, 2016

I too am at the half-century mark and have a heavy astigmatism so I have to wear glasses for near and far.

I have a Vive and I have to remove the nose guard since I wear glasses and I found that the wings on the nose guard were hitting my glasses and leaving big greasy smudges on inside bottom of both lenses.
Besides, with the nose guard removed, I can look down my nose to see my keyboard if I need to on rare occasions.
The gap around my nose is small so I don't find the light leak distracting at all and I think it helps with ventilation and heat.

That said, I've only ever spent a couple of hours in VR at one time. I often play longer session of 4 hours or more without VR using TrackIR instead so I can tab out or get up and do other things between jumps.

shreddog · Dec 6, 2016

Longest session, somewhere between 1-2 hours, probably closer to 1

[HJ]-RedRaven · Dec 7, 2016

shadragon said:
Something, a subtle clue, tells me you are single.

I can only manage 2 hours before feeling a tap on my shoulder.

I'm lucky if I only get a poke in the ribs!

I have 2-3 hours on most evenings to myself though while the other half watches soaps/decorating/house reno/flip etc.

dogbite · Dec 9, 2016

I suppose I did quite a few hours without coming up for air, when I tripped to the core. The tough part is staying in once the beer kicks in. You find yourself wishing for a spacesuit to pee in.