Not enjoying SOME of the content =/= not enjoying "the content"
Nobody is here asking for radical changes, and being able to buy engineering mats from other players most definetly does not "skip nearly every activity in the game"
You've been playing at least since 2017, trying to say the ability to buy mats skips content makes no sense, engineering just gives you to the ability to more efficiently engage in those activities.
You get materials from basically every activity - you don't have to do All the Things™ to get materials, you just have to... play... Hence, being able to just purchase them allows one to not... play... Therefore, your insistence that being able to buy them is the only "solution" makes no sense. And when you say that engineering just gives you the ability to more efficiently engage in those activities that all yield engineering materials, it kinda sounds like you've made a great case that those materials aren't even needed - therefore, the ability to purchase them in order to skip all activities that yield them, also isn't even needed.
Dodging the question because you dont have an answer.
No, pointing out one of many flawed assumptions upon which your entire argument is based, in order to highlight how flawed the very foundation of your argument is. I'm not sure how many more ways I can point out that adding a shortcut to skip over the content would fundamentally change the game, or how unnecessary it is, because if you skip the game, why play at all?
Focusing on the wrong things, I didnt say everyone, I said more often than not this is how people are playing the game in regards to engineering. Otherwise why would Hawkes, DTEA, and yamik guides be so popular.
You also asserted that "more often than not" people will farm the materials in bulk - you're focusing solely on how YOU play, as if your way is the most common way. You have no data to back that up - the popularity of farming guides shows that there are players like you, but there is no comparison to establish whether they outnumber the rest of us. I'm simply asserting that they're approaching a massive sandbox as if there is only one small corner that anyone would find worth playing in, which is narrow-minded.
All i would want to see is players trading engineering materials with eachother at minimum, and trading engineered parts and credits at most. This wouldnt fundamentally change the game, again reiterating that you wouldnt have to participate, and therefore nobody that doesnt want to participate wouldnt be affected. We have an MMO game, that has been missing core MMO mechanics for nearly a decade. Elite not being a single-player experience is exactly the problem when you consider mostly everything there is to do, is mechanically single player.
If I can hop onto a new account and never once touch a single activity that yields engineering materials, I'd call that a pretty fundamental change, given that basically every activity in game can yield engineering materials...
If you want to skip that much of the game, perhaps you're looking for a different game entirely - what you're arguing for would be like wanting The Witcher to be changed into a standalone Gwent game for everyone because you're not interested in the story
This ive already covered, ALOT of people want to avoid one aspect of the game, and get to the parts they do like. So again Not enjoying SOME of the content =/= not enjoying "the content"
They can already do that - you keep acting like material traders don't exist. The path does exist. And again, every activity in the game can yield engineering materials, which can be traded for other materials, so it is already entirely possible to avoid the content you're less fond of while still getting all the materials you need. That's not what this is about; you just want it to be faster - trying to speedrun through a game with no end, no matter how it impacts the shared universe for everyone else.
You keep saying "fundamental" but i dont think you really know what it means, and not changing the way you play is exactly the point. Players being able to trade materials once again wouldnt have any effect on you.
People are "pushing" to alter small parts of the sandbox to incentivize more player interaction and expand the gameplay loops already within the game. None of these are radical changes that warrant trying to say we want to "alter the entire sandbox" so im wondering what exactly you mean when you say my apparently "specific" and "limited" playstyle.
Fundamental (adj):
1. Of or relating to the foundation or base; elementary.
2. Forming or serving as an essential component of a system or structure; central.
3. Of great significance or entailing major change.
I'm not sure how enabling players to not play any of the content in order to build up their commander couldn't be significant - the content is the game. You're supposed to have to play some part of the game in order to get there, not just have your friends donate credits that you use to purchase materials in order to have a fully kitted out character on day one. Now, if you still had to earn those credits, you might have a leg to stand on, but what you're asking for, without other significant changes to prevent players from giving each other credits, would significantly alter the game loop by allowing players to skip all of it. There should be no such path - if the entire game is tedious and boring, why play at all? Don't try to change the game so significantly to suit yourself, find a game that is a better fit. Or come up with a better idea that doesn't simply allow a new account to reach "end game" right away
