Gameplay to unlock Lei Cheung

[bitstorm]

To be allowed to start grinding engineering materials so I can upgrade my shields I have to first unlock this Engineer.

To unlock them I have to trade in 50 markets.

I have only traded in 5.

So I have bought 45 hydrogen, the task I have to do to gain access consists of :

1) Jump to a new system
2) Fly to station
3) Dock
4) Sell 1 hydrogen
5) Undock
6) Jump to a new system
7) Fly to station
8) Dock
9) Sell 1 hydrogen
10) Undock
11) Jump to a new system
12) Fly to station
13) Dock
14) Sell 1 hydrogen
15) Undock
16) Jump to a new system
17) Fly to station
18) Dock
19) Sell 1 hydrogen
20) Undock
21) And so on and so on and so <expletive> on

I did 5 on Sunday, another 5 on Monday, and couldn't face it last night.

Maybe I'll do another 5 tonight (or find something else to do that's actually fun)

Imagine a game implementing a gate where where to earn something you have to walk back and forth for 4 hours doing nothing.

Monotonous, dull, repetitive and to be honestly utterly utterly pointless.

Oh well only 35 more to go, this is so fun.

 

[tafkabb]

In early days, when smuggling was a thing - 1.5 or something - I'd fill my Cobra III with missions, deliver them all, picking up smuggling missions in every station I visited. I'd follow the entire trail until the missions ran out, I could be flying for five hours at a time.
So when Lei Chung turned up I was already waaay over the 50 system requirement.
I really miss local smuggling missions. The Robigo nerf killed those

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

Lei Chung was incidental for me too.
I never thought about it even though I was actively unlocking the engineers.

 

[bitstorm]

Aye my main has (checks) 162 markets traded.

Early on (on release) my main way of making money was trading, usually between two stations once I'd found a good route deep in Empire space or whatever. I don't think trading is as important for new players as it was though.

This is for an alt, my main doesn't shoot Thargoids, I'm just trying to build an alt for some Thargoid killing because I feel I'm missing all the content. So I needing to up the shields, but Jesus this is not fun. I struggle to see any angle where it would be fun.

Like for example for many it auto-unlocks, great, so what's the point.

For others who haven't traded much it's just another grind, and a particularly onerous one at that, so again what's the point.

You've traded in 50 stations, you are special! You are now permitted to grind for shields!

 

[CMDR Redcrest]

Do trade missions counts for this?
If it does I'd take a trade mission to one port, then another to elsewhere and so on. I may even make some money while doing it.
But by the time engineers launched I'd done that stuff without knowing.

 

[Brrokk]

Just do delivery missions. You might as well get paid for it and gain rep.

 

[Ethaidan]

Boo. Hoo.

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

You are grinding for an alt account.
That is your choice to do.

 

[EUS]

I have a similar issue for selene, mining literally puts me to sleep, she might forever remain locked.

 

[bitstorm]

You are grinding for an alt account.
That is your choice to do.

It is Frontier's choice to implement this high quality gameplay.

 

[Zynniah]

Perhaps instead of selling 1 hydrogen at a time try this.

Fly to a dock,
1) sell everything you have.
2) Check EDDB for a trade route to a nearby system.
3) Buy said items
4) Fly to the system you chose in EDDB and go to step 1.

This might be a tad more interesting and definitely more profitable than selling a single hydrogen container.

 

[bitstorm]

Perhaps instead of selling 1 hydrogen at a time try this.

Fly to a dock,
1) sell everything you have.
2) Check EDDB for a trade route to a nearby system.
3) Buy said items
4) Fly to the system you chose in EDDB and go to step 1.

This might be a tad more interesting and definitely more profitable than selling a single hydrogen container.

Aye cheers maybe.

Just want to get it over with tbh.

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

It is Frontier's choice to implement this high quality gameplay.

You are deciding to play that way.

 

[RymdLazer]

LoL. If playing organically it seems highly unlikely that one even thinks of engineering with that few market deals.
Silly complaint.

Edit: Ok, sure. I'll give you that it must be tiresome if powerplaying an alt. But still, propably wasn't designed for that.

 

[FNLWA]

As far as I know you also have to be selling with a profit for it to count. The eddb trade route plotter is the way to go.

 

[nanite2000]

It is Frontier's choice to implement this high quality gameplay.

I think this is an unfair statement to make.

Trade is a major aspect of ED. It's almost impossible to play the game without engaging in some kind of trade between 2 systems, and you are almost never in a situation where you will be trading only between a few markets.

Lei Cheung is one of the engineers you would gain access to through standard gameplay. Gaining access to him is a bonus for playing the game as intended - it is not supposed to be the *only* thing you do in-game.

You've been around for long enough to have done some trading. I find it hard to believe you've been actively avoiding this aspect of the game for so long.

Even if this were the case, as Bob Lighthouse said - you are choosing to play the game in this limited way. ED isn't forcing you.

 

[House0fDerp]

LoL. If playing organically it seems highly unlikely that one even thinks of engineering with that few market deals.
Silly complaint.

Respectfully, that's some bull. It's a matter of gameplay focus. Playing "organically" is a cop out that ignores those who don't particularly like trade but do play according to their styles.

That makes this step doubly annoying.

I think this is an unfair statement to make.

Trade is a major aspect of ED. It's almost impossible to play the game without engaging in some kind of trade between 2 systems, and you are almost never in a situation where you will be trading only between a few markets.

Lei Cheung is one of the engineers you would gain access to through standard gameplay. Gaining access to him is a bonus for playing the game as intended - it is not supposed to be the *only* thing you do in-game.

This is half true, trade is a cor mechanic of the game but outside of a few arbitrary requirements like this there is no mandate to participate in any gameplay mechanic beyond the choosing of the player.

You've been around for long enough to have done some trading. I find it hard to believe you've been actively avoiding this aspect of the game for so long.

I have actively avoided it, or inactively rather as it's not been a mandate or something one needs to actively avoid. It's a choice one has to specifically engage with and while op isn't in this boat, there are those who would rather not.

Even if this were the case, as Bob Lighthouse said - you are choosing to play the game in this limited way. ED isn't forcing you.

No, it's not forcing you, just holding something useful hostage against the parts of the game you'd rather be playing.

 

[PhanttoM]

As far as I know you also have to be selling with a profit for it to count. The eddb trade route plotter is the way to go.

This is not true. I have unlocked Lei Cheung 3-4 times before (alt accounts + savegame delete), and you can do it with a loss in your statistics. I once had 50 market network with a negative value of a few thousand and still managed to unlock him.

Here's what I did as a combat pilot;
- Have a least 1 cargo space
- Whenever docked at a station you haven't visited before, buy ANY cargo and sell it back to the station at a loss.
- Unlock Lei Cheung eventually.

After a recent savegame restart, I still haven't unlocked him as I'm not actively grinding him. I move around the bubble fighting in conflict zones, so I simply do a buy/sell of a single item, whenever I visit a new station.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

Respectfully, that's some bull. It's a matter of gameplay focus. Playing "organically" is a cop out that ignores those who don't particularly like trade but do play according to their styles.

1. Run missions that you like
2. Take commodity rewards
3. Sell commodities

You don't need to actively trade to unlock
My market size is >600

 

[tafkabb]

I appreciate the OP's frustration, but there are worse unlocks. Far worse. Although being worse than awful doesn't make the awful one any easier