First Impressions (Not Good)

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So as a fan of the genre I finally caved and decided to get myself into beta today. First of all, the fact that there is no in game anything given to people who play-test your game for you is kind of insulting and a significant reason why more people haven't been giving you money and buying your game / access (Poll taken from a dozen people). Anyways, let me move on and talk about the game.

The download was pretty quick and I was able to get into the game relatively quickly which was good. But that is where anything good ended for me.

Next thing I know, I am dumped into the game with a giant floating borg sphere looking object in the distance. After fiddling with the controls for roughly an hour due to the fact that there is no tutorial in place was disheartening. I got a friend who I know plays to log on and give me some pointers.

So, I fly to azeban station or whatever it was called. Due to the terrible communication interface I was unable to find my friend. It took us a while till we realized that we were probably on different instances. Next thing, we created a group and decided to setup a private play session so that I could learn this game without interference from other players.

About 30 minutes later we were able to group at the station. Apparently the best way to get into some action while making money is to fly around aimlessly looking for random things in space (I should not have to give a reason why this is flawed). So we try to fly around to find something... We get seperated... cant find each other and then decide to fly back to the station. So, at this point I had the GREAT joy of learning how this jump system works in regards to stopping. After Stopping short and overshooting the station multiple times I was finally able to get back to the station where my friend was waiting for me. At this point I am feeling very frustrated and wondering why these humans who have conquered space travel on a galactic scale do not have auto pilots that take them to major infrastructure destinations. Oh well, I guess the Devs just didn't get the memo on how computers are more efficient that humans for space travel.

Moving on, we decide to try again but travel at the same speed to keep within eyesight of each other... Next thing I know, I get pulled out due to an interdiction. I have no idea what is happening at this point. All I see is several craft flying straight toward me so in self defense I open fire... Get a bounty on my head and then the fight ensues. After a frustrating dog fight due to unrealistic flight parameters and incredibly slow yaw / turning the enemy craft rams me head on. I die and have to respawn.

Needless to say, it was the most frustrating 3 hours of my life in the history of playing video games. There was not one thing that I thought was positive during this time. The 2 biggest issues I have with this game in its current state is one, there is no way to play the game with a friend. Apparently this is a single player game on servers currently which even for a game in beta is incredibly disappointing. Secondly, the space travel for this game is inherently flawed. There is no way for me to travel at light speed with a friend currently. Which means, no CO OP play. I don't understand why these people in this universe have galactic space flight but haven't figured out how to have a computer fly you to a destination... It just makes absolutely no sense.

To add insult to injury, your company won't accept refunds [redacted]

I really want to like this game but unless these inherent flaws get fixed, I and the group that I play with won't be playing this game. Since a refund is not allowed (I feel robbed), I will come back and try this game later on down the road and hope that very basic and fundamental features have been implemented.
 
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I have a friend that has also jumped on the Beta, I spent 2 hours with him going over all the functions, so far he thinks this game is everything he expected it to be and loves it.
 
Player to Player communications were just implemented in SB, so there are definitely lots of improvements to come.

Grouping is not implemented yet the way it should as this is the first implementation as well.

Interdiction is purely your problem as you should have noticed the message from the interdicting ships. Reading this message you should have understood the reason of the interdiction, whether it is the act of piracy or security.
 
Player to Player communications were just implemented in SB, so there are definitely lots of improvements to come.

Grouping is not implemented yet the way it should as this is the first implementation as well.

Interdiction is purely your problem as you should have noticed the message from the interdicting ships. Reading this message you should have understood the reason of the interdiction, whether it is the act of piracy or security.

With you on the first two points, but with interdictions you don't always get a message. It's still quite easy to work out what's what if you know what to look for, but a new player might be taken by surprise.
 
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, it would be nice if there was a tutorial in the game for new players to get used to controls and a bit of an understanding of what to do, this is coming from what I understand, but not implemented yet. The learning curve for this game is steep, and expected to be steep even with a tutorial in place, but believe me if you stick with it you can very much enjoy this game.

As for flying around looking for stuff to make money, yes that is one way to make money, but far from the only way, there is trading, bounty hunting, mercenary missions, pirating, and eventually there will be even more ways.

If you feel that the very recently released beta does not contain enough for you then wait about a month and come back, I am sure there will be more features released that will help you along.
 
The download was pretty quick and I was able to get into the game relatively quickly which was good. But that is where anything good ended for me.

Next thing I know, I am dumped into the game with a giant floating borg sphere looking object in the distance. After fiddling with the controls for roughly an hour due to the fact that there is no tutorial

Aha! so you took no time to understand the game, everything you say makes sense.

So next time take some time to read this forum or look on you tube for some beta tester HOW TO Videos.

Sigh :rolleyes: how many more...
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Sorry you had a frustrating time with it. As others have said, though, it's just beta and a lot of the grouping & communication tools have yet to be fully fleshed out.

I'm afraid I cannot agree about the auto pilot stuff. Sure, computers are better at that kind of thing. If we want to be totally honest there would be no reason why you'd ever find yourself piloting a single seat 'fighter craft' in the future at all shuttling a few cans of grain between systems while dodging space pirates. At some point you have to chalk up this stuff to it being a game and just suspend your disbelief.

Interdictions: Well, you did open fire first, so of course you'll get in trouble if you shot up, say, the police who were doing a cargo scan. If you look at your comms panel there will be a message about the intent of the stop, whether it's the police or pirate. Wait for that before you decide to open fire. (And even if it's a pirate, right now you'll get a bounty unless they fire upon you first. I agree that needs to change).

Take break and come back when it's more full featured in the final release.
 
What, like the single player missions? ;)

Lol, not exactly but I know what you mean. If the game launched you right into a mission and popped up what keys to press to do what it would go a long way for new players to get used to the controls. Have to remember that some players may play this game with no other space sim experience..
 
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, it would be nice if there was a tutorial in the game for new players to get used to controls and a bit of an understanding of what to do, this is coming from what I understand, but not implemented yet. The learning curve for this game is steep, and expected to be steep even with a tutorial in place, but believe me if you stick with it you can very much enjoy this game.

As for flying around looking for stuff to make money, yes that is one way to make money, but far from the only way, there is trading, bounty hunting, mercenary missions, pirating, and eventually there will be even more ways.

If you feel that the very recently released beta does not contain enough for you then wait about a month and come back, I am sure there will be more features released that will help you along.

Thanks for being optimistic.

I am simply trying to convey my experience playing the game. I consider myself an experienced pcgamer and am just sharing my experience in hopes that certain problems will be improved.

When co op is implemented I will come back and try the game again.
 
My advice to the OP is to play through the single player missions, or as far as they can get, first. Let it show you how some of the controls work and learn there. Then move to the online portion of the game.


Thanks, when I revisit the game I will try that
 

Minti2

Deadly, But very fluffy...
The OP has every right to his opinion as the rest of you, but please keep it constructive thankyou.
 

Tiggo

Banned
Thanks for being optimistic.

I am simply trying to convey my experience playing the game. I consider myself an experienced pcgamer and am just sharing my experience in hopes that certain problems will be improved.

When co op is implemented I will come back and try the game again.

when you need an hour to figure out controlls, when i got the controlls right in like 5 minutes, you cant be to experienced im sorry ^^

all those postings come down to one thing: if you dont have the patience to fiddle around with a game and find out things for yourself: DONT BUY INTO A BETA. simple ...

just wait for the released game (you bough that too btw!) where you have a nice manual, tutorials, etc. etc.
 
Hi, I did zero research before buying the game.
I started playing without reading any of the several helpfull posts on this forum.
Then I watched none of the dozens of instructive youtube videos.

Now I feel robbed.

How on earth is it possible that people buy a BETA version of a game, do zero research, complain on the forums and expect...what really? Sympathy maybe?
 
It would be pointless to create an in-game tutorial for a game while it's unfinished. I'm sure the devs have one planned for when everything's nailed down.

Having said that, none of the other versions of Elite had a tutorial - they all expected the player to refer to the manual: Sidewinder Owners Manual
 
wow toxic community is toxic.


Just simply stating my impressions of the game. Relax fanboys. I am giving the devs feedback on my experience to help them improve.
 
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