Give us something to spend our money on FD

[Iskariot]

Upkeep costs were nerfed on request of the community, hangar costs are a no-go. Basically every cost leads to wails of 'OMG grind!', and every income buff is applauded.

Behold, the prophesized topic has cometh!

There is certainly truth to that, but it is also easier to get credits these days and perhaps therefore some costs should be revisited and new costs should be added..

• Fuel could become a little bit more expensive.
• Docking costs should definitely be added to the game, just like in the old Elite games. But this time these costs should be dynamic, based on the system state, the type of station, our allegiance etc. We might also be able to earn discounts for services rendered etc.
• I think the entire damage, tear and wear repair mechanic should become much more interesting and costs should be looked at. Now it is just pressing a button as an afterthought. I would like it to get a more mechanical, technical feel. This could partially be achieved by adding a new separate repair screen with more interesting graphics and mechanics.
• I want selling ships to become more interesting. If you sell a ship hull you should in general not get all your money back (perhaps a 5 to 10% loss), but this could depend on where you sell it, in some rare cases you might make a profit. You might even make a little bit of money if you sell a ship with some engineered core modules installed. You should get paid for all the trouble you went through to upgrade these modules.
• We should be able to pay for training our npc crew. This might be costly. On the other hand I think we should get a more mature NPC crew system and the option to send crew on leave if we do not use them (a more extensive proposal posted elsewhere).
• Let us get wounded crew back after our ship is destroyed by paying medical costs. Stop killing off crew by default. That makes no sense, and is discouraging. Give us choice.
• Make it possible to bribe the coppers and customs officials. There should be a certain risk to this. We had this in older Elite games too.

etc.

It is important to add more voluntary costs that offer advantages to the player. There will be no moaning if people can buy useful services/advantages for in-game credits, like for example the Interstellar Factors.

 

[RolloTreadway]

• Make it possible to bribe the coppers and customs officials. There should be a certain risk to this. We had this in older Elite games too.

This isn't the first time I've said this, but I've long been a bit disappointed by how little scope for crime there is now. It's always been an underlying theme in Elite games, that you can be the bad guy if you want, and sure you can still pirate and smuggle as you've always been able to, yet there's not been much development of those bare bones since the 16-bit days.

 

[Abigor]

I'd say the player, given that there is so much to do. It's like giving a kid a bunch of very different toys to play with, they show no interest in anything other than the lego, and then get upset when there aren't enough bricks - instead of playing with the other toys.

If someone comes to ED with no interest in anything other than making and spending money, and then gets annoyed when they reach the limits of that part of the game, then either they need to go back to the start and rethink their approach or just accept that it isn't the game for them.

Money in ED is a means to an end, that's all. A way to buy the ship(s) that you need in order to play the game you want.

No....you are just happy with what you have, i'm not. You don't want bigger and expensive ships? or buying stations or outposts, something else to spend your money on? "I WANT TO PLAY WITH OTHER TOYS NOT JUST LEGO"

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

I think the game now is more balanced for people like me:

1. I don't like grinding money to buy something expensive so when I need it I can spend few session doing repetitive tasks and I can achieve my target;
2. I can play the game as I like without focusing on the income (mission rewards);
3. I can fight other ships without being to much concerned with the rebuy cost.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Some great observations / fixes made here, for those of us with billions of credits they would be a reasonable 'sink' - but would be punishing for those still 'early' in game - there is no 'happy medium' that I can think of that would be fair among all players - probably why the dev's have not introduced them.

VO mining gave the opportunity for anyone who chose to do so to earn large sums relatively quickly, no problem as it is optional, but, like any other 'fast money' opportunity, there will be some who accrued a fortune doing so - then asked 'now what?' ED is an odd game, just because there is no 'story', it is an excellent concept reasonably well implemented, but the dev's cannot provide us with the imagination to go with this freedom, that is entirely up to us

 

[Maymo]

I think OP has a point...

It would be nice if there was other avenues I could spend credits on. Investing in research would be rather cool, S class modules!

And bigger more expensive ships are always fun. Sure, you’re just going to do the same activities in them, but it’s something to aim for...

I get a bit numb/bored once I’ve finished engineering one or two of the expensive ships. Maybe my imagination is lacking but it’s the credit grind that I always masochistically enjoyed the most about this game...becoming successful always meant more to me than being successful. (Just like in real life so I’m told)

Usually just end up clearing save and doing it all again.

I don’t like the fact that in order to enjoy the game like I used to I have to deliberately avoid all the new stuff (void opals, surface mapping). But then I feel a bit stupid for doing less profitable activities...

 

[RolloTreadway]

No....you are just happy with what you have, i'm not. You don't want bigger and expensive ships? or buying stations or outposts, something else to spend your money on? "I WANT TO PLAY WITH OTHER TOYS NOT JUST LEGO"

Well, I'm happy playing this game rather than a completely different one, if that's what you mean.

But if you just want more ships and stuff, what happens when you've bought that? If all you're interested in is spending money, then you're always going to run out of things to spend it on. And if you're not going to look for anything to do with those ships you've bought, perhaps this isn't the game for you.

 

[Junky Juke]

The problem here is that today's mentality is all about: overpower, grind (money, xp, whatever), competition, meta building. I often hear things like "it's not worth it", like they are doing a real job or family economics. On The Division 2 a fellow clan mate stated that "playing at the highest difficulty is not worth the effort as the drop chances are the same of lower difficulties". That says all to where the majority of players are. The grind is the new god. Loot is more important than having fun. Content only means more ways to stack currency. Lore and immersion are boring. Of course everyone is free to do what they most like, but they can't pretend that every game in the world has to be grindy, looty and overpower...y

 

[Rupert Pupnick]

How about a graduated fee or cost structure that depends on your credit balance? Or possibly your net worth since it’s very easy to turn credits into non-depreciating assets.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

if you turn this video game into a job, a lot of players will quit because tney already have jobs.

 

[EUS]

Or just introduce an economic crisis and a few months of high inflation. That would be fun. NPCs could become harder, in the way that some criminal gangs will always benefit from a crash, maybe some players could use their ingenuity to find a way to take advantage of it too, and in the end, we'd be back to working hard for a living.

As someone with under 300M in the bank: NO.

 

[Alpenniless]

A new income tax dept. (newbies are exempted) in the contacts tab

Failure to pay will have you wanted even if you're clean. Else ...

 

[Rat Catcher]

A new income tax dept. (newbies are exempted) in the contacts tab

Failure to pay will have you wanted even if you're clean. Else ...

But will the losses to AXCZ / PvP /PvE be tax deductable?

 

[Alpenniless]

But will the losses to AXCZ / PvP /PvE be tax deductable?

Insurance covered that already right ? There must be some mechanism .. black market trade not included maybe,,

 

[Rat Catcher]

Insurance covered that already right ? There must be some mechanism .. black market trade not included maybe,,

I like the idea, it's different from most

But being one who squeaks when they walk, I'd naturally be angling along the lines of "make a loss this week to cover the gains from last, heck - maybe I can even get a refund!" - A whole new system to exploit... bring it on!

 

[B1rdy]

The problem here is that today's mentality is all about: overpower, grind (money, xp, whatever), competition, meta building. I often hear things like "it's not worth it", like they are doing a real job or family economics. On The Division 2 a fellow clan mate stated that "playing at the highest difficulty is not worth the effort as the drop chances are the same of lower difficulties". That says all to where the majority of players are. The grind is the new god. Loot is more important than having fun. Content only means more ways to stack currency. Lore and immersion are boring. Of course everyone is free to do what they most like, but they can't pretend that every game in the world has to be grindy, looty and overpower...y

While player mentality has certainly shifted to a certain degree, you cannot denie that ED is created on the basis on its predecessor. Which all, AFAIK, were grindy. Players in general always have and always will find efficient ways to play video games. Good designed games encourage that and provide several ways for players to play the way the want (within the confines of the game's rules). It caters to human nature, we feel good if we find solutions like that.
Therefore don't try and move the blame to the players, if the game itself has some serious design flaws.

 

[Iskariot]

This isn't the first time I've said this, but I've long been a bit disappointed by how little scope for crime there is now. It's always been an underlying theme in Elite games, that you can be the bad guy if you want, and sure you can still pirate and smuggle as you've always been able to, yet there's not been much development of those bare bones since the 16-bit days.

I agree.
I hope that FDev will find the time to improve on these things like they have done with mining and exploration.
Piracy, smuggling and also bounty hunting deserve to get a bit more depth as they are an important part of the game.

 

[Crook]

Why not just give money away to deserving cmdrs?

 

[EUS]

Why not just give money away to deserving cmdrs?

Good point, if I was a bored billionaire, I'd take my VOs, and randomly drop them outside a busy beginner system's station, like LHS-whatever.
I'd drop them constantly like bunny poop.

 

[Crank Larson]

Are you run out of imagination? So many players have billions and nothing to buy....new expensive ships and i mean EXPENSIVE SHIPS "over 500 millions credits" or building and running my own outpost. People are sitting on billions of credits and there is NOTHING to buy.

So, your enjoyment of the game comes only from spending credits? Interesting.

I'm sat on a lot of credits, and have every ship that I want in game (not to say I won't get more depending upon my mood). I've never enjoyed the game so much. As far as I am aware, this isn't a shopping game - it's for flying spaceships. That works for me.