Interesting article related to why I no longer play ED

gorsey

G
Not started to slate ED in anyway but first i've seen it discussed in a editorial

http://www.pcgamer.com/do-games-hav...el=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

One main reason I quit playing ED. With kids and minimal time, it felt like I was never going to get anywhere. So frustrating to spend a good hour jumping, getting half way through a mission to realize I'm out of time. Then wishing I was back at uni with, what seems like now, endless hours to spare :)

Made me wonder if some sort method could work with ED to allow people the option to speed up certain aspects. Does seem like there are two sides to the argument. 1. Spend and enjoy the length of the game or 2. speed through it to get the ship you desire to make combat "fair".

I would love to speed up the game and would it really effect the people who have the time to enjoy the length and time it takes?
 

wrmiller

W
I don't disagree, but I don't agree either.

I hear this from mostly younger folks who want to play golf, but "don't have the time" to play a full round. Fine, play 9 holes instead. If they can't afford 2 hours I strongly suggest they find something else to do.

This will get interesting, I'm sure. I'll go put on the popcorn. :)
 

Kaocraft

Kaocraft
gorsey said:
Not started to slate ED in anyway but first i've seen it discussed in a editorial

http://www.pcgamer.com/do-games-hav...el=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

One main reason I quit playing ED. With kids and minimal time, it felt like I was never going to get anywhere. So frustrating to spend a good hour jumping, getting half way through a mission to realize I'm out of time. Then wishing I was back at uni with, what seems like now, endless hours to spare :)

Made me wonder if some sort method could work with ED to allow people the option to speed up certain aspects. Does seem like there are two sides to the argument. 1. Spend and enjoy the length of the game or 2. speed through it to get the ship you desire to make combat "fair".

I would love to speed up the game and would it really effect the people who have the time to enjoy the length and time it takes?
Click to expand...


Problem is that the aspects which most waste your time are almost hard-coded into the game: Hyperspace transitions, supercruise drop-in/drop-out transitions, galmap and sysmap load times, etc.

Straight-up "progression" (i.e. rate of earning credits) is always getting easier and people will complain about it no matter what. It's also got nothing to do with whether the game is respectful of your time or not. If you could select a free Anaconda at the start of the game it would still not address the large issue is that there are too many stretches of gameplay where you are effectively doing "nothing" and your moment-to-moment decision making is irrelevant. Fix the moment-to-moment gameplay; fix the consequentiality of your decisions; make different choices *matter*; and I'll gladly fly in a sidewinder forever and it won't matter to me if the Anaconda is forever out of reach.
 

CMDR-AD

CMDR-AD
The point in that article is valid. I recognized this the first time I played one of those RPG style games, where I had to fight the same little battles over and over to "level up". My solution was to not play those types of games, period.

Elite has always seemed (been) a good deal different for me. The game has enough avenues of play that I never am forced to do something. I also tend not to feel any personal pressure to unlock/rank every progress bar a developer creates, which also works in Elite. I only have ever accessed 3 Engineers. The rest, I may never "unlock". Same with the "Elite" ranks, superpower ranks, and tons more. I am not forced to do any of this grind stuff, and it doesn't much get in the way of what I do enjoy doing.

Probably also helps that I began play back in v1.2 or something, before many of these newer unlocks were introduced. That stuff didn't exist back when I first began enjoying Elite, and the way I used to play still works, while ignoring that stuff.

I do understand how coming to Elite recently or as a completionist player could be different.
 

c00ky1970

c00ky1970
I have kids and minimal time,for me it's more about doing a mission, collecting some materials, chipping away at my Fed rank, chipping away at my Deadly rank etc.
 

duckofdeath

duckofdeath
This game is designed to give you a sense that you can travel around the entire Milky Way galaxy. Almost a hundred thousand light years from one side to the other. Had they taken away the "grindy" aspect that you have to spend a certain amount of time to get from one point to another then the whole idea of the game would have been lost. That "realism" of course has to be a part of the entire game, as the other big selling point of the game is that one second in the game is one second outside the game. If you'd be able to get everything with the click of a button, why even bother designing the whole thing to be begin with?
I'm sorry that you're upset that a game with the unique astronomical (literally) framework as Elite isn't what you wanted. Most who play it actually appreciate it for the vastness. There are thousands of games where you can pay to get to the end-game screen faster, why should this game also turn into that when you already have those options elsewhere?
 
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Komemiute

Komemiute
Not going to lie- married and with two kids I WISH I had more free time to play Elite.

That said I can still play enough to satisfy my needs, when I close Elite and shut down my PC.
At fragging four o'clock in the morning.

I don't even sleep anymore. I simply inject caffeine in my circulatory system.
After the first week the brain adapted. Sorta.
 

yodajedifishmaster

yodajedifishmaster
its only relevant to people born after the late 80s on. conditioned by globalised advertising to have short attentions spans, and no concept of whats value for money. the article is clearly from someone who wants all games to have poor offline campaigns and s pay to win microtransaction pvp as the only online mode, until the next identikit shooter game is released. cant even enjoy classic games that take hours of ENJOYABLE time to complete, without fast forward. probably the author skips through all the 'boring' plot set up in movies to get the action sequences and climaxes - basically just watches the trailers again.

im not legitimising too long grindy gameplay. but if you are not able to play a game for a few hours and NOT feel you need to skip bits and complete it you need to sort out your work life balance. because i have seen people destroyed by trying to do too much and not devoting enough time to R&R and the family. and they lost both their family and their health.
 

Alderius

Alderius
On one hand, you're simulating an entire galaxy, that's pretty grand scale. And there is no "win" or "endgame", it just goes on and on. I bought the game to play a space sim (or the closest to it). In sim's, there is no shortcut or fast forward, so if I have a short amount of time I make a quick delivery or spend only 20 minutes in a res or 15 minutes mining, and come back to it later and basically pick it up. It's about the playing, or gaming, or simming or fun, or whatever you wish to call it. Sure, it has some limitations, I don't do the "meet such and such at this location at this time" because I don't have a whole hour at a time, but there is a heck of a lot else that can be done. I can even peck away at CG's and make extra cash. It's all good.
 

urFOOLISHNESS

U
Game no good, but still engaging in forum of said game. I have never been on any forum for any of the hundreds of games I no longer play. But to be fair I only visit this one.
 

Privata

Privata
The speed of the game is what makes it special.
Nearly all the other games to me are ''shoot and forget'' I might play them once or twice but thats about it.

Unless something objectively better than ED comes I will not stop playing.
There is no end , just playing be it in a anaconda or a sidewinder is great.

You dont need the big ships , they are for the rich and not everyone can be the rich. that makes elite special.
I would argue the game is too fast , but that might just be me
 

playfuldreamer

playfuldreamer
Kaocraft said:
Problem is that the aspects which most waste your time are almost hard-coded into the game: Hyperspace transitions, supercruise drop-in/drop-out transitions, galmap and sysmap load times, etc.

Straight-up "progression" (i.e. rate of earning credits) is always getting easier and people will complain about it no matter what. It's also got nothing to do with whether the game is respectful of your time or not. If you could select a free Anaconda at the start of the game it would still not address the large issue is that there are too many stretches of gameplay where you are effectively doing "nothing" and your moment-to-moment decision making is irrelevant. Fix the moment-to-moment gameplay; fix the consequentiality of your decisions; make different choices *matter*; and I'll gladly fly in a sidewinder forever and it won't matter to me if the Anaconda is forever out of reach.
Click to expand...

I wish I could rep this post, so here's a virtual +1!
 

Privata

Privata
yodajedifishmaster said:
its only relevant to people born after the late 80s on. conditioned by globalised advertising to have short attentions spans, and no concept of whats value for money. the article is clearly from someone who wants all games to have poor offline campaigns and s pay to win microtransaction pvp as the only online mode, until the next identikit shooter game is released. cant even enjoy classic games that take hours of ENJOYABLE time to complete, without fast forward. probably the author skips through all the 'boring' plot set up in movies to get the action sequences and climaxes - basically just watches the trailers again.

im not legitimising too long grindy gameplay. but if you are not able to play a game for a few hours and NOT feel you need to skip bits and complete it you need to sort out your work life balance. because i have seen people destroyed by trying to do too much and not devoting enough time to R&R and the family. and they lost both their family and their health.
Click to expand...
I dont think its a generational thing.
The new generations get talked down upon , just like the ones before me did. its pointless.

We like to display the worst parts of the new.

I simply think the short burst , no patience thing is due to the mainstreamification of games.
They are less ''nerd'' games now.

Even if the nerd roots are still present they take a back seat. and thats a shame.

Games IMO should be slow , deep and hard to master.
But many get upset the second a game gets too hard , too complex or too long.
Another thing I miss is options...

What ever happened to options?
 

VerticalBlank

VerticalBlank
Privata said:
The speed of the game is what makes it special.
Nearly all the other games to me are ''shoot and forget'' I might play them once or twice but thats about it.

Unless something objectively better than ED comes I will not stop playing.
There is no end , just playing be it in a anaconda or a sidewinder is great.

You dont need the big ships , they are for the rich and not everyone can be the rich. that makes elite special.
I would argue the game is too fast , but that might just be me
Click to expand...

Can't rep this enough <3
 
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Spacecat

Spacecat
I actually don't think the base game is that bad. Sometimes, I've logged in just to run a couple transport missions or bounty hunt for a few minutes. Sometimes I play for hours. I do think engineers broke things a bit. Reducing some of the grind and RNG would be nice (although it is better than what is was). Making upgrades more consistent in results would kill the 100 rolls for a god roll requirement and balance things better from a PVP standpoint. I recently read an article where the makers of Diablo 3 realized that the extreme amount of RNG was actually hurting the game. I think there's an important lesson to learn there.
 
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