FD seems to be fixated with pew-pew.
The game
is called
Elite Dangerous, not
Unrelated Space Game Dangerous. It's not a general fixation but it's an understandable one for a game with Elite in the name.
Comparing it to the previous games in the series there's considerably less emphasis on combat already. In the previous ones, you didn't have to have a combat focus as a player, but combat or the threat of it was a constant aspect throughout all forms of gameplay
Elite: you can bounty hunt, or you can trade. If you trade, or even if you don't, you're at constant threat of pirates on any trip to pretty much any station so you have to fight anyway. The game is named after its combat ranking.
FE2/FFE: as Elite, but you can also run missions. Most of the mission types are either directly combat-related (assassination, surface base attack/recon) or get assassins sent after you who you may have to fight to complete the mission (courier, passenger). In inhabited systems you similarly need to fight your way to the station every single time, with the exception of a few ultra-high-security systems. You can explore, sort of, and you'll sometimes get attacked by pirates while doing that, too.
Elite Dangerous: a substantial fraction of the missions either don't involve combat or have very optional combat. There are generally reliable ways to escape a fight (other than high-waking) or avoid it starting in the first place. System Authority ships, unlike in the previous games, are fast and numerous enough to intervene if you do get attacked, so you only need to defend rather than have the firepower to kill. The majority of systems even with cargo on board you can reach a station before anything has lined up to interdict you ... without cargo on board the chance of an interdiction is minimal and they'll let you go peacefully after a scan. Exploration exists as a profession and unless combined with cargo hauling can be entirely non-combat. Two non-combat Elite rankings are introduced.
It's great that they've introduced options that don't involve combat - and it can't be disputed that exploration needs more work on it - but it's an Elite game, of course it's going to have a significant focus on combat.
