Elite: Dangerous - a casual gamer's point of view

Cmdr Eagleboy

Cmdr Eagleboy
As someone who supports Elite: Dangerous I have little time to actually play game. I don't fret, I knew it was about to happen, as lot of things take priority in my life. So I don't try to force myself to rush towards certain goals - also it has never been a goal for me in neither ED, or other games. I want to enjoy and soak in.

So I did just regular station to station/system to system wandering around for few hours for first time in last two months, and ED just opened to me. I got pulled in. Dictatorship based faction were struggling with famine, and I provided them with means. First I shipped from nearby system, coming forth with famine data, and coming back with refugees and coffee/grain/fish and fruit and vegetables. I got attacked. I ran away. I fought pirates and people send after refugees. I decided I don't want to support dictators and turned for help for democrats.

While there are some cases when alternative offers appear in cases which does not make sense - like plea from refugees to protect them while arriving at station of destination - overall flow has been improved and it seems just to work. As someone who takes step back and take a look of PvE picture I enjoyed my time with ED quite a lot.

What's good is how well tuned ED is. Frame rate is always constant, planets looks very detailed from high above, there are very little visible jumps in LOD, NPCs does not jump out of place with their behaviour. And when ED moment-by-moment gameplay collides with it's internal logic to make very interest situation, game just shines. I got interdicted due of transporting refugees in my Cobra. I decided to take on attacker and started to strip down his shields and forcefully feed his ship hot lead. Almost as arranged suddenly my pirate target from another mission appeared and thus started dance of three. Thankfully for system security, I got rid of one and made pirate king run.

I know for most of regular players it feels casual, boring, etc. But this is where game's strength lies and that's why I am still enjoying ED. And as long as FD keeps adding and improving this part of game (NPC voices, comms, avatars, more fluid wrinkles, more interesting scenarios in USS and in space in general) I will be a happy backer.
 

Ben Sevil

Ben Sevil
I generally agree. There are a lot of obsessive types who play this game - myself included! - and we do get bored even in the midst of our obsession.

That being said, things are a bit of a mess right now. :)
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
Nice post ... couldn't quite see what you were "appealing" for tho (as per the title of your thread), you seem pretty happy with the game (as am I).
 

Cmdr Eagleboy

Cmdr Eagleboy
Alec Turner said:
Nice post ... couldn't quite see what you were "appealing" for tho (as per the title of your thread), you seem pretty happy with the game (as am I).
Click to expand...

Heh, my English got wrong turn there. What I meant actually is how enjoyable ED is for casual player at 2.4. I would have to say - quite a lot, due of majority of bugs seem to be taken care of and base being solid and reliable :)
 

hypervoodoo77

H
I think this is the aspect of the game I should start focusing on.
I also keep finding myself bored or disappointed in the meta game.
Anyone know any general areas in the bubble where bgs is interesting?
 
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lysan

lysan
I enjoy it too, still would like some improvements as in QoL but all in all I'm good and can play the game as I want to play it.
 

S3B4ST13N

S
Despite my recent negative criticism; I kind of feel the same way. I enjoy ED; I can sink several hours a day into it if I cared to.
There's just some things that..
i-am-going-to-strangle-you.jpg
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
I saw this thread and immediately thought "Player says they don't have time to play for long periods so they want everything to happen much quicker".

Good on the OP for proving me completely wrong. [up]

+rep.
 

lokvette

lokvette
Ive cut my game time in ED a lot, but this is due to playing other games and the fact Im way out in the black I can do say a 2k stretch then it's time to park up as there is only so much I can handle of ohh another M class sun with five or four ice balls around it. But I do scan every sun (more for EDSM than the cash or anything) and if it's a good system I scan it and if that takes up the time I have I then park up in the next system.

I still enjoy the game as much as I did when I was doing 8 or 9 hours at a time (I had a lot of free time and not much else to do just before last xmas...) I've never rushed to get anywhere or to get anything in ED and even if my game time for ED went to an hour a week Id still be playing and enjoying it. :)
 
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DaggerSnake

DaggerSnake
I play pretty casually also. Usually an hour before work while the family sleeps.

Because Of my limited time, I focus on a single ship, my Python and my progress and journey through the game is spent upgrading and engineering it. I'll spend weeks hunting for materials and unlocking engineers. I'll pick up missions that pay well or have mats I need. By playing the engineers, I vary my ingame activites and everything stays enjoyable.

There is no end game, at the end of the day the heart of the game is flying your spaceship. As long as that stays fun, anything else is window dressing.
 

Arthur Shappey

Arthur Shappey
Cmdr Eagleboy said:
As someone who supports Elite: Dangerous I have little time to actually play game...
Click to expand...

And yet you have Elite status on this forum and then some? Perhaps not such a casual poster?

But never-the-less, delighted it draws you in and you haven't found yourself in the cynical quandary where you spend all effort criticising and threatening to leave a game that you clearly have passion for.

ED: Lots of faults: I love it anyway!
 

Cmdr Eagleboy

Cmdr Eagleboy
Arthur Shappey said:
And yet you have Elite status on this forum and then some? Perhaps not such a casual poster?
Click to expand...

I am here from second week of Kickstarter. However I haven't played game that much due of other real lifes responsibilities and hobbies. I am not interested in specific achievements, however I enjoy short term goals in game now and then.

I am Elite status on forum because I like to chat a lot (also in real life) - too much for my own sake if I am honest. But we have each own weaknesses

But never-the-less, delighted it draws you in and you haven't found yourself in the cynical quandary where you spend all effort criticising and threatening to leave a game that you clearly have passion for.

ED: Lots of faults: I love it anyway!
Click to expand...

Well, yeah, my goal has always been is that Elite is just this awesome 'casual' space game which I can pick up, login, update and play around three or four hours, being immersed in space commander life. I fully understand there are very passionate gamers looking for more, but this has always been my jazz...if ED wouldn't work that way, it would be hard to express support. Nevertheless, it works...sans faults...that's why I enjoy it. I am still in Cobra - now nicely upgraded though. I don't use third party sites that often...only when there's curious case of something really rare.

I also report lot of bugs based of that POV.
 

PANTHER STARFORCE

PANTHER STARFORCE
This is a valuable topic. Thanks to the OP for starting it.

Personally I'm a bit of a hybrid demographic. I have a HARD-CORE interest and commitment to Elite, but only have "Casual" hours I can dedicate to it... This of course creates some frustration for me... but I've accepted it and I enjoy even simple activities like carving ice canyons and sight-seeing.

That said... I do have some friends who I've introduced to Elite, who have since stopped playing the game because they feel that the design is punitive, throttled, and seems to get more so with every update. They feel that the game requires too much tribal knowledge to get ahead and that with every update means by which to make money become more throttled without, said tribal knowledge, hunting for exploits or the latest stacking tricks, etc... on Youtube.

They've said they might come back to the game after a few more updates... but I think it's worth noting that of the 3 or 4 friends I've introduced to Elite, I am the only one still playing.

I don't mean for this to be a "the sky is falling" post... just an observation. I think that there are probably more people then ever playing Elite these days and I hope it can help foster more iterative updates and Fdevs ability to respond to player feedback.

-EJIRO
 

sollisb

Banned
S
Cmdr Eagleboy said:
As someone who supports Elite: Dangerous I have little time to actually play game. I don't fret, I knew it was about to happen, as lot of things take priority in my life. So I don't try to force myself to rush towards certain goals - also it has never been a goal for me in neither ED, or other games. I want to enjoy and soak in.

So I did just regular station to station/system to system wandering around for few hours for first time in last two months, and ED just opened to me. I got pulled in. Dictatorship based faction were struggling with famine, and I provided them with means. First I shipped from nearby system, coming forth with famine data, and coming back with refugees and coffee/grain/fish and fruit and vegetables. I got attacked. I ran away. I fought pirates and people send after refugees. I decided I don't want to support dictators and turned for help for democrats.

While there are some cases when alternative offers appear in cases which does not make sense - like plea from refugees to protect them while arriving at station of destination - overall flow has been improved and it seems just to work. As someone who takes step back and take a look of PvE picture I enjoyed my time with ED quite a lot.

What's good is how well tuned ED is. Frame rate is always constant, planets looks very detailed from high above, there are very little visible jumps in LOD, NPCs does not jump out of place with their behaviour. And when ED moment-by-moment gameplay collides with it's internal logic to make very interest situation, game just shines. I got interdicted due of transporting refugees in my Cobra. I decided to take on attacker and started to strip down his shields and forcefully feed his ship hot lead. Almost as arranged suddenly my pirate target from another mission appeared and thus started dance of three. Thankfully for system security, I got rid of one and made pirate king run.

I know for most of regular players it feels casual, boring, etc. But this is where game's strength lies and that's why I am still enjoying ED. And as long as FD keeps adding and improving this part of game (NPC voices, comms, avatars, more fluid wrinkles, more interesting scenarios in USS and in space in general) I will be a happy backer.
Click to expand...


For someone who doesnt play much you sure have a lot of opinions about how the rest of us should play it...
 

Eldragon

E
Elite's game systems are good, the foundation is very strong.

What it is sorely lacking is the quality of life and sense of accomplishment. e.g Its a massive grind and it's obtuse.

Recently I went back to Privateer; while that game is a sliver of what Elite is, Privateer does a much better job of having the player interact with the environment and rewarding the player. 1- Completing missions is straightforward. No guesswork, waiting around, or tricking the AI required. 2- A series of story missions that give the player a long term goal. 3- The NPCs actually interact with the player a bit, in the form of being able to communicate with them, and they communicate with you.

After playing privateer, a 20+ year old game, its kind of sad to see how Elite could be so much more user friendly and interactive. The Thargoids are attacking and I wouldn't even KNOW if I wasn't checking the forums. Elite desperately needs a User Experience overhaul.
 

verminstar

Banned
verminstar
I enjoy the game too, despite some the issues I have with it...I wouldnt be here at all if I didnt wanna see things improve. And despite several breaks from here, I am actually still playing every day as an explorer in the black...the very thing I complain the most about. The reason fer that should be obvious to anyone with more than one braincell...because I do genuinely care in me own way.

Exploration is my sole reason fer playing this game...I play other games to be sociable and make things go boom, I get those fixes in any one of a bakers dozen of games where I know fer a fact friends of mine can be found. Space games like this are my personal enigma because not one of my friends will touch it so when I describe meself as a lone wolf type player, it doesnt get more lone wolf than this.

Fer me thats a big part of the charm...I love the solitude that so many others appear not to and play this as a single player game only...because to me, thats exactly what its best at.

So while I can be quite vocal about issues I have sometimes...its because the forums are my only source of player to player communication I have. Somewhat by choice and somewhat by the game design itself ^
 

sollisb

Banned
S
Faded Glory said:
I don't think he's voicing any opinions about how others should play the game, just saying he's enjoying playing it the way he is.

Is it really necessary to wander into a pretty positive and friendly thread and post stuff like this?
Click to expand...

Well yes. Because he's spent the past week, espousing how great ED is and we should accept it as is, when in fact it's a buggy mess.

One example: He goes on about NPC behaviour and how great that is; Well here's my example over 2 passenger runs. NPC interdicts me at the jump in star, and I evade. I get to the destination 15 minutes of supercruise later, and the same NPC is waiting there to interdict me again! How did he get there ahead of me? Same thing happened in another mission. And here's the answer. When you evade an NPC, E.D. respawns the NPC at the destination. About as realistic as think Fdev might ever create a working joined up game.

Example Two: Planets look great from above. Half the bug board is awash with negativity about planets and their problems.

Example Three: Dropping into the game for a 'few hours' every 2 months, is not a casual-gamer by any stretch. It's a drop-in gamer. If I only played ED for a few hours a week never mind 2 months, I wouldn't dare prophecies to the rest of the real players.

For sure, he's entitled to his opinion. I'm entitled to laugh at it.
 
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