I know right.. i spent a good while figuring out how to reply to his comment. in the end i just figured any effort would be a waste of time.
Requesting feedback regarding 'part time' players
- Thread starter hunterm101
- Start date
I know right.. i spent a good while figuring out how to reply to his comment. in the end i just figured any effort would be a waste of time.
'part time' player here. been playing since release. biggest ship i have is a python ...a nicely decked out python i might add. 
Anyway, I vote no. Don't want easy money or any fast track. I have yet to use any of the money exploits. Just don't see the point.
Someday I'll get my conda...or not. Either way I'll have fun playing in the meantime.
Anyway, I vote no. Don't want easy money or any fast track. I have yet to use any of the money exploits. Just don't see the point.
Someday I'll get my conda...or not. Either way I'll have fun playing in the meantime.
As if those betas were not balanced out. This is a common whine from some old guard who want to pretend they haven't benefited enormously -- and comparatively unfairly -- over those who are new and casual in Elite.
. You got them not because you chose that path, you got them because you stopped playing only one hour per week. You don't get any big 3 ship with one hour a week. I know, because I've been playing since launch and with job and family my biggest ship and proudest achievement in the game is an unengineered (ain't nobody got time for this ) Python.
I don't see anywhere about him even subtly suggesting using real money to buy his way to a goals I understood it as "hey I know you can't please everyone but quite a few of us players don't have the time to put in to get something in a somewhat reasonable time or simply rather not grind till I'm brain dead and go on the forums and say it wasn't to bad can the devs do something to help all players, the players who need the extra credits will be happy and those who oppose it why? It's more money"
I don't understand why people comment "you just want a cutter in an hour" or similar on all these threads nobody's asking for that they just want the grind to be not as mind numbing
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Ok, but how do they come up with that perfect balancing point?
Make money too easy to come by and there's no sense of progression.
Too difficult and it's a grind.
Everyone is going to have a different opinion on how much is just right.
I thought you were an "old guard" too, wasn't what you said? Changed the narrative already?
It's not a "whine", it is stating fact. If you were actually an early player like you claimed you were, you would know it perfectly well.
Please tell us more stories about how new players today have a "much harder time", compared to the game's launch when missions payed 20k on average, not 500k to several millions like today, bounties paid a small fraction of current bounties, and ship running costs were far, far higher. But please use facts, not mantras and slogans, and remember that many here are playing the game since launch and will know perfectly well if you're telling the truth. I'm curious to see how new players have such a hard time now, compared to 2.5 years ago.
there is no perfect balancing point. Don't make it too easy just anything to lessen the grind would be greatly appreciated, maybe more chain missions that pay more, or increases CG rewards there's a lot if little things to make it better. The issue seems to be that people don't get the reward for effort being put in, so they have to resort to exploits or mindless grinding then they complain that credits are just an annoyance maybe it's time for the devs to really start working to balance and spice up mission boards increasing the payout or make the missions more interesting but worth the effort put in
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After reading this thread I have come to the conclusion I have been playing this game wrong since it was released. I am probably the typical casual player, will binge on the game for a while, get bored or distracted by something else and end up taking a break from the cockpit.
But the thing is I really don't have any overwhelming urge or desire to have the best of everything. I quite enjoy doing my little bit of bounty hunting in my Vulture or cargo runs in my ASP Explorer, in fact I like the concept of being the 'working class' man in the scheme of things. I already know that owning one of the large ships won't actually change the way I play, or is a 'must have' to enjoy the game. Dammit I actually get some semblance of satisfaction when I take on a Anaconda or Python in my Vulture. Sometimes I lose, more than I can give myself credit for - I win. I make enough credits that I have the knowledge that if something does go wrong I can afford the insurance and still have ample left that if I see a new piece of kit for one of my craft I can buy it without breaking the bank.
But back on topic ......
I think too many here think the only way they can enjoy the game is if they have what everyone else has - or probably more to the point - more than everyone else has. But if everything was made easier to get (as per the OP's suggestion) would you feel any sense of accomplishment when you do get that big bright shiny ship, knowing you didn't put the same effort and work that others have done?
But the thing is I really don't have any overwhelming urge or desire to have the best of everything. I quite enjoy doing my little bit of bounty hunting in my Vulture or cargo runs in my ASP Explorer, in fact I like the concept of being the 'working class' man in the scheme of things. I already know that owning one of the large ships won't actually change the way I play, or is a 'must have' to enjoy the game. Dammit I actually get some semblance of satisfaction when I take on a Anaconda or Python in my Vulture. Sometimes I lose, more than I can give myself credit for - I win. I make enough credits that I have the knowledge that if something does go wrong I can afford the insurance and still have ample left that if I see a new piece of kit for one of my craft I can buy it without breaking the bank.
But back on topic ......
I think too many here think the only way they can enjoy the game is if they have what everyone else has - or probably more to the point - more than everyone else has. But if everything was made easier to get (as per the OP's suggestion) would you feel any sense of accomplishment when you do get that big bright shiny ship, knowing you didn't put the same effort and work that others have done?
Really? You think so?? Just hanging around these forums says otherwise.
There is no perfect balancing point. You'll always have some complaining it's too little while others are complaining it's too much.
Plus, as has been mentioned, the credit rewards have increased significantly since release. Yet here we are, it's still not enough, and likely never will be.
No, I started when Elite came out of beta. An early adopter of the game. Not the old guard whining about the distance and feet of snow on their way to school. If you have been playing these last 2.5 years you had access to a range of donation, massacre, long-haul, trade, and smuggle missions that the new and casual players don't. So while you and I made credits and progressed, they cannot at nearly the same rate. For casuals, not at all.
To deny this is to simply lie through your teeth. Citing the cost about this or that early on is cherry picking and disingenuous.
Now it is true that many flock to the latest credit making scheme, usually the result of Frontier's poor design choices. Well, who can blame them given the cost of owning and operating a tier 3 ship, and the likelihood of a nerf to one of the remaining credit making opportunities. This is especially crucial for casuals as they will be forever stuck in 1st and 2nd tier ships if they do not.
No one is saying that a should be in a FDL in a day, much less an Anaconda. We should have long-term development. That we don't is not the players fault, but that of Frontier for not adequately balancing and designing Elite's economy, professions, and progression.
As for your smart mouth and dismissal of casual's concerns, it brings you no credit.
Zing!!!
In terms of size, definitely. Though in terms of what the cobra and keelback can actually do in game - personally I feel the cobra is a better comparison.
Some people do. Others equate it to one of the Asps, either Scout or Explorer, because they're the closest to a "round" pancake ship. But in terms of function and purpose... eh.. I don't have to convince anyone anything. Everybody's Pretend is perfectly fine for them, and nobody can be wrong.
But in the Star Wars universe, there is only one ship for me... the Kuat Systems Firespray-31.
My this is some thread. I won't touch on the generalized opinions of the OP, but rather a few thoughts after reading the whole thing.
-Yes it was harder early on than now, by a lot. I started in early 2015 and just started an alt recently. Someone posted a mention of Sept. 2015, and yes that's around when the first real cashcows began. Prior to that, with a few temporary exceptions 15mil/hr even in an Anaconda, the largest ship at the time, was essentially impossible. Now that's easily doable by a number of means - whether or not any given player is aware of all/any of them. I can't think of an activity - the intended activities that is, not the one-off cashcows - that pays less than in 1.2, and most max out a whole lot higher.
-If the goal is making money, then some flexibility must be allowed for. Someone's comment "making 1.4mil/run trading in my Python..." fella, it's because you're trading, and that has well known limits especially based on scale. If you're fixed on one activity then you're fixed on that activity's limitations.
-While obviously some people are just abrasive, and many got their millions/billions within days of starting, I wouldn't paint every 'moneybags' player with the same brush. Some of us just learned over time where the money is in the 'regular' game, outside the recurring unintended/exploity bits. It helps if you're in some community, Discord or otherwise, as you'll find out through the grapevine and be able to discuss the wheres and hows in a more fluid and immediate way than sifting through the forum. Most things you might want to learn in detail in this game you'll only learn from other players.
A few examples then, toward your goal:
-Missions are rep-based availability. That means if you stay in one place and take the time - yes I know that part can be tedious - to build your rep with multiple factions (faction, not superpower, rep lasts forever if you don't do anything to harm it), you'll find yourself offered an awful lot of individual missions with rewards well into the millions of credits. Even in something like an Asp, not even stacking to the gills, you can turn that into perhaps 15mil/hour just about anywhere, though it's quite variable. I have several systems where I'm allied with everyone from trading early on, and at no point since 2.1 have those systems failed to offer me multiple missions for millions of credits. Even in 2.3, with lower rewards than now, my brand-new alt in a Hauler was getting 1mil credit passenger delivery (i.e. named but one-way VIP) missions - a few of those in you're in an AspX (or a cheaper T6, if you choose). A few more and you're in an a-spec AspX, which opens the door, provided you've built the rep, to the 15mil/hr gameplay mentioned above, and seemingly passenger fitted quite a lot more post-2.4 (and yes, still a great deal more than 2.3 after the nerf of 2.4.02).
-Exploration can be done just fine in a Hauler (this isn't about your choice of ship), better ships just make it faster and/or allow you to carry more stuff. Advanced DS and Detailed SS are all you need for credits. Following one of the Earth-like lists you can find, in the course of say, a week of your playtime, you can scan enough Earth-likes to get something over 100 million. Using those credits to get something better (e.g. the aforementioned AspX), you can do it faster, and in a short period be in one of the Big 3, namely the Anaconda.
-The Cutter (or Vette) specifically...no workaround there. It's a tremendous grind meant as a gate for everyone. I think many games have such things for which there's no shortcut to unlock and these are just Elite's. It'll likely be changed once the current explicit-placeholder state of superpower ranking is fleshed out, but for now time is the only currency you can pay to get these.
Edit: Oh, combining efforts would be a good idea. Building rep somewhere and using that for your credit goals? If going for a Cutter, do it in an Empire system with multiple Empire factions, and every mission you do for them will keep pushing your rank up. 2 birds, one stone, you get it. I'd recommend somewhere with multiple starports and a bunch of Empire-aligned factions, say Cemiess off the top of my head. Very high-population which can't hurt. Each starport has it's own board, if the one isn't giving you anything worthwhile.
Before this gets too long:
I know plenty of heavy RP guys who stick to their characters' career (trading, mining, scavenging, whatever) strictly and that's fine, but the income-limitations of that career must be considered. If your goal is to progress credit-wise, look outside your activity "box" and you'll likely find a better avenue. You can always go back to your path once you're at the level you wish to be.
Far too many assume an avenue to riches doesn't exist when it's only that they haven't learned enough yet.
-Yes it was harder early on than now, by a lot. I started in early 2015 and just started an alt recently. Someone posted a mention of Sept. 2015, and yes that's around when the first real cashcows began. Prior to that, with a few temporary exceptions 15mil/hr even in an Anaconda, the largest ship at the time, was essentially impossible. Now that's easily doable by a number of means - whether or not any given player is aware of all/any of them. I can't think of an activity - the intended activities that is, not the one-off cashcows - that pays less than in 1.2, and most max out a whole lot higher.
-If the goal is making money, then some flexibility must be allowed for. Someone's comment "making 1.4mil/run trading in my Python..." fella, it's because you're trading, and that has well known limits especially based on scale. If you're fixed on one activity then you're fixed on that activity's limitations.
-While obviously some people are just abrasive, and many got their millions/billions within days of starting, I wouldn't paint every 'moneybags' player with the same brush. Some of us just learned over time where the money is in the 'regular' game, outside the recurring unintended/exploity bits. It helps if you're in some community, Discord or otherwise, as you'll find out through the grapevine and be able to discuss the wheres and hows in a more fluid and immediate way than sifting through the forum. Most things you might want to learn in detail in this game you'll only learn from other players.
A few examples then, toward your goal:
-Missions are rep-based availability. That means if you stay in one place and take the time - yes I know that part can be tedious - to build your rep with multiple factions (faction, not superpower, rep lasts forever if you don't do anything to harm it), you'll find yourself offered an awful lot of individual missions with rewards well into the millions of credits. Even in something like an Asp, not even stacking to the gills, you can turn that into perhaps 15mil/hour just about anywhere, though it's quite variable. I have several systems where I'm allied with everyone from trading early on, and at no point since 2.1 have those systems failed to offer me multiple missions for millions of credits. Even in 2.3, with lower rewards than now, my brand-new alt in a Hauler was getting 1mil credit passenger delivery (i.e. named but one-way VIP) missions - a few of those in you're in an AspX (or a cheaper T6, if you choose). A few more and you're in an a-spec AspX, which opens the door, provided you've built the rep, to the 15mil/hr gameplay mentioned above, and seemingly passenger fitted quite a lot more post-2.4 (and yes, still a great deal more than 2.3 after the nerf of 2.4.02).
-Exploration can be done just fine in a Hauler (this isn't about your choice of ship), better ships just make it faster and/or allow you to carry more stuff. Advanced DS and Detailed SS are all you need for credits. Following one of the Earth-like lists you can find, in the course of say, a week of your playtime, you can scan enough Earth-likes to get something over 100 million. Using those credits to get something better (e.g. the aforementioned AspX), you can do it faster, and in a short period be in one of the Big 3, namely the Anaconda.
-The Cutter (or Vette) specifically...no workaround there. It's a tremendous grind meant as a gate for everyone. I think many games have such things for which there's no shortcut to unlock and these are just Elite's. It'll likely be changed once the current explicit-placeholder state of superpower ranking is fleshed out, but for now time is the only currency you can pay to get these.
Edit: Oh, combining efforts would be a good idea. Building rep somewhere and using that for your credit goals? If going for a Cutter, do it in an Empire system with multiple Empire factions, and every mission you do for them will keep pushing your rank up. 2 birds, one stone, you get it. I'd recommend somewhere with multiple starports and a bunch of Empire-aligned factions, say Cemiess off the top of my head. Very high-population which can't hurt. Each starport has it's own board, if the one isn't giving you anything worthwhile.
Before this gets too long:
I know plenty of heavy RP guys who stick to their characters' career (trading, mining, scavenging, whatever) strictly and that's fine, but the income-limitations of that career must be considered. If your goal is to progress credit-wise, look outside your activity "box" and you'll likely find a better avenue. You can always go back to your path once you're at the level you wish to be.
Far too many assume an avenue to riches doesn't exist when it's only that they haven't learned enough yet.
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Eventually all threads turn into Dawsons Creek