Please Preserve the Status of Elite

[UnkieSteve]

I do also feel that the rank progression rate has increased too far (at least in Trade and Exploration).

I've just hit Elite in Exploration but I've been working at it since the game launched with the little time I have to play. My total game time adds up to about 4 weeks, or round about 700 hours. It's taken a long time, but I'm glad it's taken a long time. It feels like a real sense of achievement, though the last rank and a half did shoot by very quickly. Fair to say I was on a 14,000ly round trip and scanning/mapping the hell out of the galaxy, so it was going to be a nice boost.

I also think that an extra rank for Mining might be a good call. There's plenty of people that have finished ranking, so adding an extra rank might be a welcome challenge to take on.

How about the ranks...

1. Oreless
2. Hewer (a coal face worker who digs coal, loosening the coal with a pick)
3. Dataller (paid on a daily basis for work done as required)
4. Ripper (those who remove the rock above the coal seam and set rings)
5. Shotfirer (a colliery underofficial qualified to detonate shots or explosive charges)
6. Overman (foreman or senior underground official)
7. Steward (see Agent - senior colliery manager/a trained mining engineer)
8. Charter Master (supervisory official)
9. Oolite (as a nod to the game)

Most of these ranks were gleaned from this list on Wikipedia. The order may need tweaking and there may be better 'ranks' to use instead of some, but it's a start...

Other nice titles: latcher, chainman - see Surveyor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_coal_mining_terminology

 

[hebi]

Seen as the ranks are a measure of grind not skill, who cares?

For me , That ^^

 

[Nadreck]

Merely increasing the amounts required is definitely NOT the answer. You'd end up with a situation in which only void opal miners get to be Trade Elite, only tour-bus drivers get to be Exploration Elite, and only Thargoid Scout bugswatters get to be Combat Elite.

 

[William J Smith]

Whatever way someone got elite is not a measure of their skill, it always has been a measure of how much time and effort someone is prepared to put into the game.

Saying that, I must admit it is funny watching someone who's just mined billions of void opels , struggle to get a 'conda through the slot at Jamison memorial......

Then its even funnier as they decide to be a bad pirate and interdict my lill' ol' AspX with the intent of blowing me to bits, then find its very hard to get an AspX out of the blind spot behind a 'conda when the pilot knows whats hes doing

Bill

"Pity I left the torpedo launchers at home..... could have blown his shields and his thrusters to teach him a lesson"

 

[JetsonRING]

Please increase the cost of ranking up in the pilots federation to balance the ease with which credits can now be earned or come up with a different mechanic to measure a pilots competence.

SUGGESTION: Require players to achieve COMBAT Elite status before allowing them access to Founder's World. Simple.

 

[Fake Newts]

SUGGESTION: Require players to achieve COMBAT Elite status before allowing them access to Founder's World. Simple.

What would this achieve? It doesn't take skill to reach combat Elite either as evidenced by the thousands of incompetent Elite pilots everywhere.

 

[TheMegaTurnip]

I get where you're coming from (Despite being much younger, 25 to be exact). Games used to be a slog, if you wanted to progress you had to put in effort to learn how to work game mechanics.

My biggest beef with the current iteration is that because of the easy cash flow (And therefore easy large ships), you have an enourmous group of incredibly green players knocking around in ships they have none of the skills to fly. Hell I've even been seeing harmless FDL's lately.

In and of itself I don't care who buys what, whatever they wanna do, it's thier game.

However, this is not a CoDlike shootemup where everything functions in a similar way, with varying degrees of power. It's a game where even the lowest tier "items" (Ships) are capable of hanging with late game unlocks provided you know what you are doing. The problem here is that things like DW bring large numbers of players to the game, who think it's great they can progress so fast, but then instantly turns a large portion of them away again because of the difficulty curves involved in the flight models.

I've seen a lot of people come and go by this point, it's sad to see people being led into a false sense of security, then seeing them leave because suddenly the game became incredibly difficult for them.

Number one thing that even the people I fly with do for new players, is give them the infomation, or just straight up runs missions for them, to get them into a conda.
Which is terrible, but some of these guys (good people i might add for those thinking all PvPers are lunatics), still think thats the best way to progress.


You can have all the engineering and ships in the world, but if you don't know how to work them, you don't get diddly squat.

I fully support new players being locked out of things that earn big bucks, as the players who did it with the long game, are FAR ahead of those who fast tracked.

 

[mrmauz]

I agree with OP, I don't have any problem with an easy way to make money (even a lot of them) BUT think that an ELITE ranking shouldn't be easily reached

 

[Fake Newts]

I agree with OP, I don't have any problem with an easy way to make money (even a lot of them) BUT think that an ELITE ranking shouldn't be easily reached

Define easy and difficult in this scenario. Masochistically long isn't the same as difficult, but it seems like the two are often conflated when discussing this particular game.

 

[House0fDerp]

No you are wrong. Rank progression is directly related to credits earned in trade, exploration or combat you, therefore, have to successfully participate in these disciplines to advance. When payouts were a lot lower than now days that was a lot of participation and consequently your competence in performing these tasks improved.

False. You could repeat the same mistakes endlessly so long as you manage to at some point gain credits in an activity even if the overall result was a loss. Thus it was always and is currently only a matter of time.

 

[CMDR Thorn]

I think that raising the bar to get Elite might be okay AS LONG AS the barrier to entry for the Founders World stayed the same. The way I see it, getting the Founders World Permit is like finishing school; some people do it, some don't. But at the end of the day you can celebrate and move on because all it is is a milestone, not a trophy to hold above others.

 

[M00ka]

Personally, I would prefer it if there was only one Elite rank progression, with all other activities combining to that rank in their own rank/progression streams. Each of those rank streams would have a major and minor requirements:

Trade - Major: The number of tons traded, Minor: the profit a player makes via trading
Mining - Major: The number of tons mined and sold, Minor: the profit a player makes via selling the refined ore
Exploration - Major: The number of LY's travelled and the number of First Discoveries, Minor: the profit a player makes selling the exploration data
Combat - Major: The number of ships destroyed and their rankings, Minor: the profit a player makes on bounties and bonds.
Criminal (Pirate and Smuggler) - Major: The amount of goods 'acquired' and or smuggled, Minor: the profit a player makes via the black market

This system will negate the gold rush, instant promotion syndrome that many don't like. And when you do see someone with an Elite badge, you will know that they are at least competent in all facets of the game, not just one.

 

[JetsonRING]

What would this achieve? It doesn't take skill to reach combat Elite either as evidenced by the thousands of incompetent Elite pilots everywhere.

Maybe, but it is the most difficult and time-consuming of the three Elites to achieve.

 

[JetsonRING]

My biggest beef with the current iteration is that because of the easy cash flow (And therefore easy large ships), you have an enourmous group of incredibly green players knocking around in ships they have none of the skills to fly. Hell I've even been seeing harmless FDL's lately.

I have no problem with HARMLESS players flying FerDLs and Corvettes. I see that as a dinner-bell but, be careful. Some of those "harmless" players are 2nd and 3rd account holders with a nasty surprise waiting.

 

[mrmauz]

Define easy and difficult in this scenario. Masochistically long isn't the same as difficult, but it seems like the two are often conflated when discussing this particular game.

Easy = Making a billion Cr in a week 'cos of the new minerals added thus reaching a goal that took what looked like ages for older player
Difficult = actually playing the game as it is and not whining because it too hard

I.M.H.O. ED is one of a kind game: there is no deep story to follow, no predefined path to roam, no "end" to reach and so on, there are some goals though that, if you like, you can aim to: travelling to Sag A, unlocking all of the engineers, possessing all type of ships... you got the line i think!
having a triple Elite is one of this goals and i think that making it too easy will break the game in the end, but that's, obviously, only my opinion

 

[TheMegaTurnip]

I have no problem with HARMLESS players flying FerDLs and Corvettes. I see that as a dinner-bell but, be careful. Some of those "harmless" players are 2nd and 3rd account holders with a nasty surprise waiting.

Well yeah obviously it rings the dinner bell. But it's also annoying being pulled by noobs constantly who last all of 5 seconds even against my Vipers.

Really. I'll believe it when I get killed by one of these harmless folks, until then, i'll retain my sceptisisim. Though if by nasty surprise you mean combat log. Yeah I get a lot of it.

 

[Fake Newts]

Easy = Making a billion Cr in a week [...] Difficult = actually playing the game as it is and not whining because it too hard

So, yes, it seems like you are defining difficulty purely in terms of time spent. This idea is a constant on these forums, for whatever reason. Elite can be a difficult game, it's just "time spent accruing credits" is not difficulty. "Hours waited in supercruise" is not difficulty. "Number of data delivery missions turned in" is not difficulty. Mastering the flight mechanics, outfitting, combat and BGS is difficult and as a result of being difficult it takes time, not the other way around.

I'd accept that there's a stage of the early game in which the sense of wonder and discovery is important, being in a small ship, not knowing what you're doing - it'd be a shame to miss out on at least a bit of that as you learn the ropes. However, the new mining payouts aren't bypassing this, people still have to get up to at least Cobra stage before they can really start doing this in earnest. On top of that, the people you're actually seeing hanging out on reddit reading guides and fast-tracking it to Jameson are the sorts of people who'd probably otherwise be running the robigo loop... in which case a) it's much better, surely, that they're engaging in a legitimate, involved and interesting mechanic they enjoy rather than spamming boring missions. b) if people want to make money fast let them, what actual difference does it make to anyone beyond this imagined "sanctity of the Elite rank" idea (which is really just some weird attitude from older players).

Everyone I know who's stuck with the game long-term have been people who've made it over the initial grindy hump and are able to subsequently sink their teeth into any aspect of it they want. If anything, the issue with nu-mining is that all other professions need a bump up. Combat is the most challenging and high-stakes aspect of the game and it currently pays peanuts unless you're stacking wing massacre missions.

 

[Crimson Echo]

In 'And Here the Wheel' one of the characters mentions being double combat elite. Maybe a similar concept could work in Elite itself.

Combat:
1st Elite: Unchanged.
2nd Elite: Only Dangerous or above Kills count toward the threshold.
3rd Elite: Only Elite Kills count toward the threshold. (possible ship restrictions too?)
Optional: Thargoid Combat Commendation.?
Optional: Bounty Hunter Commendation? etc

Trade:
1st Elite: Unchanged.
2nd Elite: Mining does not count. No Piracy either.
3rd Elite: Only Trading profit counts. No Mission Profits, no Piracy and no mining.

Exploration:
1st Elite: Unchanged.
2nd Elite: Only systems/data beyond say 10000 ly count
3rd Elite: Only undiscovered systems count. (No using Road to Riches)

It rewards players who want to do things the hard way with what is essentially an achievement that is somewhat more skill based than the base Elite rank is at the moment.

 

[deleteduser]

Maybe split 'Combat Elite' in to 2 separate elements:

1 - Kill x NPCs of y rank or higher = Seal Clubber Elite

2 - Kill x CMDRs of y rank or higher = Combat Elite

 

[Brrokk]

Any Elite rank just means you play a lot, as it did in the 1980s.