Actually this was the best part for me. Unlocking engineers was tedious... Actually unlocking engineers is the worst part of the game. I am OK with the rest. FDev dropped the ball here...
Only 48 units of Lavian Brandy available. I need 50!
- Thread starter CmdrLordValcar
- Start date
I did it in the same way. I just purchased 50 tons of poop. It was great fun to sell sh** to stations
This is what I meant by arbitrary though.If you've done no trading at all before suddenly deciding you need to unlock that particular engineer, the task sure seems grind(ish).
Extremely repetitive? Hardly. Pretty tedious if done the with the "instagib me all NAO" mindset? Sure.
Again we get to the point that all mission/combat/mining earnings are so ridiculously high from the get go, that the organic gameplay which was natural to any previous Elite incarnations players, doesn't happen. New players hardly pooter around the bubble trading small amounts of commodities everywhere, while figuring out what and how to do in the game and same time maybe getting their credit balance slowly up for more equipment and new ship(s). That way the 50 markets requirement would happen many times over without even trying.
This is a petition I would sign.
When engineers came out, most players had done a ton of trading. It was a couple years after release and for all of that time ABA trading was the meta. I actually think that's probably why fdev set it to 50, you know? Why set it to 10? Everyone would have unlocked it already.
I had done lots of trading by then. I think I needed to top off 10 or 15 markets.
Still. Felt. Tedious.
But now? From a new player perspective?
ABA trading is so far from the best method, I'd be surprised if any new player would come close to 50 before they thought about engineers. Engineers isn't "end game". You can do it from the very first day. But I imagine most new players will think about it long before they've spent months grinding out 50 markets "by accident" like I had.
Doing so and then reaching Lei Cheung is always going to pull the new player up sharp. It's either don't do it at all, do it later when you've just happened to trade enough or game it.
I just think it's obvious this target is outdated now.
As I said, and it's good we agree on this, I'd prefer these tasks not be static busy work. I'd rather they be fun like guardian ruins. But it's way too late for that now. So...
I've done the 50 markets three times now. I'll never do it again but I still think 15 would be ample (I'd actually suggest just asking for a few million credits profit would be more challenging and less tedious for a new player). I still think the rare run engineers would be great if they only needed a few tons instead of 50.
That there are three of them all wanting the same task is lazy and dull but if that's never going to change then I see no benefit in extending the busy work beyond the minimum.
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Nice try... Aren't you filthy rich because you steal everything that is not welded to the station??
Not steal.... more transfer ownership...Nice try... Aren't you filthy rich because you steal everything that is not welded to the station??
There's a kind of progression around engineers tho' isn't there? Razz around for one, suddenly you have traded at 50 markets, for example, and unlock another.
But my style isn't too focused, I just play and shizzle sort of happens - like with Imperial ranks..............
But my style isn't too focused, I just play and shizzle sort of happens - like with Imperial ranks..............
The problem is that side quest can actually be fun, engineer unlocks are never anything but tedious.
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I'm trying to remember which engineer wanted 50 of something and the station only sold 24 at once, so it was going to be 3 trips regardless... with 2 of the 3 providing free mats along the way for me
I'm trying to remember which engineer wanted 50 of something and the station only sold 24 at once, so it was going to be 3 trips regardless... with 2 of the 3 providing free mats along the way for me
That's still not bad. I seem to remember allocations as low as four or six tons.
Ouch!
Risky, better to just park 2 in space far enough from the station then go and pick up an extra 2.48 is unusual, it's normally about 14
You could try jettisoning the 48 outside the station, going in to buy 2 more and then returning to scoop up the 48. I think you get a few minutes.
Remember to wait 10 minutes for the station to reset before dropping and beware of search and rescue craft tidying up your dropped items.
The thing that's puzzling me is, if someone thinks three trips there and back with about three jumps each way is tedious, why do they want to play ED at all? Every activity in the game requires multiple jumps, sometimes many more than three. Basically, you have to like flying a spaceship to enjoy ED.
Working as designed, thousands of player have gone down that street, and thousands more will eventually do the same.
Does not change the fact that unlocking engineers is tedious and simply unnecessary boring...
It's not the jumps though. It's what you do either side.
Guardian ruins are several jumps away but it remains a highlight of my experiences in the game. The 5 Black markets the dweller requires is pretty decent because it's short enough and the act of smuggling is pretty fun enough.
It's a case of wanting less repetition. If the repetition added to the fun then I'd be cool with it but I can't see how that can be objectively stated in this case. If you love rares runs there's ample opportunity to do it in the game. As a requirement to unlock something though, is it objectively better to force repetition?
I'd say even the guardian tech brokers process isn't enhanced by forcing repetition. Even though it's a really immersive experience initially, that isn't enhanced by needing to do it multiple times. I mind that repetition less because it's a fun activity but every time I do it, I'm not feeling it get more fun and actually I feel it started to detract from the experience.
Perhaps you disagree and that's fine. Subjectively, it's OK to say you like repetition. Obviously some tasks will end up requiring some repetition. ABA trading is by definition a repetitive activity but some enjoy it. Mining has repetition as does combat. But I think that it's possible to objectively concede that mining and combat are involved enough to be fun for those who love it despite the repetition. I love combat and happily repeat the activity but I find there's enough variation to keep me going for hours.
And that neatly segues me into another engineers unlock that I think is absolutely fine. Todd's 100k bounty requirement involves almost no objective repetition. It can actually be done with a single ship kill these days. I'm sure those of us who dislike combat probably dislike having to do this but compare that to 50 markets for Lei Cheung?
I just think it's sensible to be open to the idea that these tasks could be done better but given that'll unlikely happen, isn't it fair enough to consider that there's a benefit to shortening some of them so they're less repetitive?
Would it lessen the quality of the game to do it? Because it's probably a lower hanging fruit than a lot of the recent balance patches fdev did recently.
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This is an interesting observation, for me.
On my first account I'd exceeded 50 markets traded in even before learning what engineers were about (honestly!) just because I was buying and selling in a bunch of systems while doing carry missions. (I hadn't used any external references for the game before getting stuck around 8 months in trying to find one commodity)
Trading in 5 black markets likewise because of cargo picked up fron USS'
The exploration 'unlocks' were also complete before I discovered engineers (including the 5k).
The combat ones I had to deliberately do (which was fun when I did) as I'd had no 'need' to do more than blow up the odd pirate during my travels, but could never understand why Lori only wanted to associate with 'Dangerous' combat ratings as her 'upgrades' are certainly not 'combat focussed'!
Coming into the game fuelled only by the memory of the 1984 BBC game was awesome for me and the 'sandbox' nature of the game perfectly suited to my expectations - which probably explains why I didn't use internet resources for so long after starting to play.
We all differ in our perception of what the 'game is' I imagine, the one I play suits me well
Not a really rare occurrence.