Void Opals have created amazing emergent gameplay

[FatFreddysCoat]

Miners can earn a decent living from them.

Pirates can earn a decent living from attacking and looting the miners.

Miners get into combat defending their ships.

Much fun can be had defending miners from pirates.

Pirates fight amongst each other for control of station systems that pay well as they know miners will come a-calling.

Cmdr’s fight the pirates at these systems.

All because of Void Opals.

I’m not sure if it was intentional or an unforeseen trickle-down due to void opals selling at high prices, but it’s an amazing shot in the arm for the game. Keep it up and DO NOT NERF IT!

 

[Tifu]

There has to be a sustainable ecology in order for true emergent gameplay to happen. The miner needs a substantial reward for the timesink and complexity of the new mining tools and mechanics. The pirate needs an incentive for the cost and effort of piracy to be worthwhile.

That's why killing for killing's sake in PvP is so sterile. It's a deadend for both victim and hunter

 

[Codger]

I guess you haven't seen this, then. The payouts are quite intentional.

Hello Commanders,

We wanted to address some concerns you may have regarding the high value of one of the new mining commodities, Void Opals.

Changes to the Background Simulation, which came with Beyond – Chapter Four, mean that there are now more elements that impact the value of a commodity than there were previously. In the instance at Viktorenko Holdings, these elements have lined up for a limited time in a way that allow the faction to be able to offer high prices on specific commodities.

To confirm, this does mean that, at this time, we are not planning to reduce the value of Void Opals.

In addition to this, the more motherlodes (containing Void Opals) that Commanders encounter and mine from (in a ring), the rarer they will become, driving an emergent and natural rush that will force intrepid miners into new horizons, seeking lucrative mining hotspots before they deplete. Ultimately, with the new mining changes, this is something we want to celebrate!

As we've mentioned previously, the Background Simulation is continually being monitored and we may still need to apply some further fine tuning to ensure that the Simulation is as interesting and dynamic as we intended when making these changes.

In the meantime, go for gold! Happy holidays!

 

[Armyofducks2569]

It would be if it wasn't for combat logging

 

[Strangepork]

Miners can earn a decent living from them.

Pirates can earn a decent living from attacking and looting the miners.

Miners get into combat defending their ships.

Much fun can be had defending miners from pirates.

Pirates fight amongst each other for control of station systems that pay well as they know miners will come a-calling.

Cmdr’s fight the pirates at these systems.

All because of Void Opals.

I’m not sure if it was intentional or an unforeseen trickle-down due to void opals selling at high prices, but it’s an amazing shot in the arm for the game. Keep it up and DO NOT NERF IT!

Don't they just combat log?

 

[lefty1117]

That's good to hear that BGS is driving these prices and not some crazy bug. That bodes well for other types of commodities too.

 

[Fenster]

Only problem is the gankers...flying into station slot with my krait, and don't know what the guys hit me with.. Dead before i could deploy hardpoints

I was playing in open hoping for some pirate rp, and would have ejected if caught, but nope

Then killed again as soon as I left slot

Sorry to say but this type of play will drive me to solo

Had the game since early beta, but took a 1.5 year "break" (career & school), are these high power weapons due to engineers?

 

[IndigoWyrd]

It would be if it wasn't for combat logging

They only do that to you.

 

[Mrat13]

Only problem is the gankers...flying into station slot with my krait, and don't know what the guys hit me with.. Dead before i could deploy hardpoints

I was playing in open hoping for some pirate rp, and would have ejected if caught, but nope

Then killed again as soon as I left slot

Sorry to say but this type of play will drive me to solo

Had the game since early beta, but took a 1.5 year "break" (career & school), are these high power weapons due to engineers?

What's your Krait build? You might need better shields. Also, were you clean at the time?

 

[Mengy]

That's good to hear that BGS is driving these prices and not some crazy bug. That bodes well for other types of commodities too.

Yeah, I'd love to see "gold rush" mechanics implemented for more than just mining too. I'd particularly love to see a gold rush for scavenging and search & rescue gameplay.

 

[CMDR Plexus Ironrot]

[Pirates Perspective]

make sure target abandons load.

get all the profit as mining but no work!

If jettisoned...they go boom yet still make a hefty profit

Pirate 1

Miner 3,856,092,463

We are catching up quickly....

 

[Zarbon]

Don't they just combat log?

I just tried to kill a wanted pirate attacking commanders in the LHS 5287 system and they just kept running then logged out. criminals are cowards. they will gladly attack defenseless mining ships but run like scaredy cats when the law comes poking around.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I just tried to kill a wanted pirate attacking commanders in the LHS 5287 system and they just kept running then logged out. criminals are cowards. they will gladly attack defenseless mining ships but run like scaredy cats when the law comes poking around.

I don't log, because that's against the rules, but hell yeah I run away from bounty hunters. You do understand that a pirate ship is just a glorified trade ship, right? Bounty hunters don't need cargo racks. Pirates do.

Besides I play to live and get rich. Running is a key part of achieving that goal.

 

[Threeofseven]

I just tried to kill a wanted pirate attacking commanders in the LHS 5287 system and they just kept running then logged out. criminals are cowards. they will gladly attack defenseless mining ships but run like scaredy cats when the law comes poking around.

A pirates main objective is to turn a profit so sometimes running is the most sensible options. Combat logging OTOH is absolutely unacceptable and is a major violation of the Pirate code.

 

[Tarman]

I don't log, because that's against the rules, but hell yeah I run away from bounty hunters. You do understand that a pirate ship is just a glorified trade ship, right? Bounty hunters don't need cargo racks. Pirates do.

Besides I play to live and get rich. Running is a key part of achieving that goal.

It's like people didn't even watch Star Wars. Han Solo wasn't a pirate per se, but he was the master of running away; he just always looked cool when doing it so it's easy to forget.

 

[Xious]

can't we all just get along...

 

[Zaite12]

They are ludicrously over valued in my opinion. I didn't get involved in Void Opals until this week and in a day I earned over 800m CR. Totally overpowered.

There isn't any emergent gameplay, an NPC spawns on rails when you drop, you outrun it until it despawns and you never see another for the remainder of the session.

I understand why everybody is defending Void Opals, it's faceroll money.

 

[Bigmaec]

While I agree that it is too much money (cutting it by 25-50% is still good money), the fun thing is there is a real gameplay loop behind. You go find the ring, you find the spot, you find the core, you blast the core, you collect the stuff, you "abrase" more stuff, collect even more stuff and then bring the stuff to a port for sweet money. It's never "Netflix on second monitor" gameplay like Rhea/Upsilon Aquarii, you have the feeling you do something for your moneystuffz. And that is great. And it's great that it's rewarded accordingly. And even greater is it revived piracy.

 

[Tiili]

They are ludicrously over valued in my opinion. I didn't get involved in Void Opals until this week and in a day I earned over 800m CR. Totally overpowered.

There isn't any emergent gameplay, an NPC spawns on rails when you drop, you outrun it until it despawns and you never see another for the remainder of the session.

I understand why everybody is defending Void Opals, it's faceroll money.

This thread is about PVP piracy tho, not NPCs There's plenty of emergent gameplay happening right now, personally provided piracy encounters to at least 200 people by now, and it's pretty cool as the void opal selling systems don't lure in gankers like CGs do.

"Emergent gameplay refers to complex situations in video games, board games, or table top role-playing games that emerge from the interaction of relatively simple game mechanics."

 

[Feros-da-Grundig]

They are ludicrously over valued in my opinion. I didn't get involved in Void Opals until this week and in a day I earned over 800m CR. Totally overpowered.

There isn't any emergent gameplay, an NPC spawns on rails when you drop, you outrun it until it despawns and you never see another for the remainder of the session.

I understand why everybody is defending Void Opals, it's faceroll money.

It's more than that: https://old.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/ac3wir/money_is_everywhere_and_i_think_thats_good/

The tl;dr is

- already could make nearly as much money, and more G5 mats, with boring grindy VIP passenger

- encourages player interaction and roleplay

- money is not the actually rare currency in ED for most well established players. Materials are much more rare and hard to acquire, and mining does not provide this. (The true currency in ED is time)

- unlike any other money grind the actual dynamic encourages and rewards skilled piloting (although admittedly can be done slowly by a less skilled pilot)

- if you continue to use thrust and circlestrafe asteroids while using abrasion on surface deposits, it's kind of like practicing with a rail/plasma accelerator combo due to its firing dynamic (if you just stand still and shoot them it's easy and no practice required). i personally find this fun, unlike the old mining lazers which could not have been more simple