Grind isn't a bad thing in itself. In moderation. Some of the early grind forces players to try game play they wouldn't otherwise have tried. To unlock the early engineers you need to try your hand at mining, smuggling, combat and various other activities. This is not in itself a bad thing. Problem is that FDev are over-reliant on grind and the reason for this is probably because it's an easy way to control game balance. After all, ED is often referred to as having huge potential, while in reality this has never really been exploited, because it would involve more complex game balance, and as a result this has been largely introduced through simple means, grind and end-game money sinks (a.k.a. carriers). Combine this with a closed money system and you limit the variables, making controlling game play much easier.
Honestly, I think the best solution would be to introduce a player economy. This would allow players to keep to the game play they prefer, and buy that which would otherwise have to be grinded (ground?) for. ED is probably the only MMO I've ever come across with absolutely no economics at a player level. You can't sell assets, let alone craft and sell them. You can't even transfer money from one player to another. Does anyone know of any other MMO like that?
It wouldn't need to be at a level of complexity like Eve Online, but an economy, with craftable goods and services, would keep people playing, and give them the freedom to choose which game play they prefer, some would prefer bug hunting, some becoming industrialists. Can't see it happening though. It would require far too much effort, which given the lack of imagination and complexity introduced in EDO, I suspect simply is not to be found in FDev, or if it is, it's not in a position to influence game development.
Anyway, just a thought.
![[VR] James Constantine](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/275/275309.jpg?1622437385){kind=avatar}
![Ed [FCOC]](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/144/144754.jpg?1583440657){kind=avatar}
