"I still play every day" players, help me understand you

[TheSynopticVision]

Disclaimer: there is no hidden sarcasm here, I genuinely want to understand if I'm missing something. I will ignore any "can I haz ur stuff" troll.

Whenever I share my less-than-flattering opinions about the development and game design choices of this game I always get responses like "i don't know what your problem is, I still play every day and have a blast". Now, I want to put myself in doubt: maybe I'm the strange one. So help me out. What do you actually do that keeps you so entertained after hundreds or thousands of hours?

Before someone posts a link to Leth's infographic: yes, I know all the things that can be done in-game. I've done them all at least once.

Let me briefly describe my situation:

• I have all the ships I want: I don't have a Corvette or a Cutter because I am not interested in them. They don't do anything that other ships can do, they don't jump farther, they don't carry more cargo (well, marginally more but my T9 is plenty), and they're not the best PvP ships. Those I actually use (3 or 4 of them -- that's really all you need) are fully G5d. I'm not interested in a new ship just for the sake of it, just to see a slightly different cockpit.I think there's already hardly a difference between most of the existing ships, lacking specialized roles. I therefore have no incentive to buy/build new ones.
• I have all the money I need (around 400 milions). There are billionaires out there? Sure. But why? What exactly do you do with money? Lacking any kind of player-driven economy, above a certain threshold it is completely useless. I therefore have no incentive to earn more money.

[note: ships and money are the only objective "measures of progress" in this game, hence why they are the first two and most important points]

• I have explored a bit, but I find it pointless and boring. Jump for days in order to discover an unusual moon-ring-white dwarf combination with a different skybox behind. Take screenshot. Proceed. Why? Is there any incentive in discovering terraformable worlds? Will there be colony ships travelling to them? Do your discoveries have consequences that go beyond the "first discovered by" line of text? Not really. Can you discover genuinely unprecedented things? Not really. I've seen all the geological stuff, I've seen all the alien stuff, I've seen the floaty things. (Besides, you barely need to leave the bubble to see them all). Can you do something with them? Nah. Take screenshot.
• Trading? Why? I have all the money I need, and besides it's a spectacularly inefficient way to make money.
• BHing. Why? PvE fights are boring, I don't need the cash they offer, and I don't care about this or that faction winning their wars (wars that are nowhere to be seen, just text on a screen).
• Mining? It is fun, I will concede that. But for a while. Because again, why? I don't need money. I can't put my minerals to some kind of other use, it's just numbers on a screen being converted to other numbers on a screen.
• Xeno-hunting? Like PvE conflicts in general, I don't see the point. Thargoids are "invading"? Really? I see stations being attacked, they get repaired. No consequence either way. I see Non Human SS, I ignore them. No problem. The complete disconnect between lore and everyday gameplay makes the "lore reason" ("thargoids are bad, gotta save humanity") frankly too flimsy to care.
• BGS and Powerplay? I am not exactly a team player, I like to do my own things. And even if I was, the question is again: why? Why do we care if our faction controls 3 or 30 systems? Do we get consequences? Do we get more income from their economies? Do we get special treatment/perks at the stations controlled by us? Do we get to build new stations? Could our expansion trigger a large-scale war with another player faction (and I mean real war, not a "war" status). None of this. Once again, it's numbers and words on a screen, going up or down.
• PvP? I concede to PvPers that PvP is, in a way, the true endgame, the only part of the game where player agency can express itself, where there is some kind of emergent gameplay. But: 1) I am not very good at it, takes far too much time to master, 2) It's boring to fly around in SC waiting for someone to interedict you (for no reason) and then spend the next 5 to 10 minutes jousting. Most of the times I give up and self-destruct before I am dead. It just isn't fun. 3) again, WHY? Is there some kind of bubble-wide conflict? Are there compelling Powerplay reasons to fight other players? Am I defending something I care about? None of this. PvP is its own minigame, a CQC in the main game, with no other reason than besting other players and then roasting them on Discord. Yawn.

The result is: i occasionally log in. I stare at the screen while I am docked somewhere. I look at my balance: that's OK. I consider going out hunting for PvP encounters. I realise that it will take time to find them, and that there will be no consequence apart from me (likely) exploding and having to rebuy. I log out. Another month goes by.

Now, certainly I will get some "well, you have to roleplay, imagine a purpose!". I respect those of you who manage that. But if I play a videogame, I want to see that purpose (for as purposeful a videogame can be...), to have some kind of gratification, and not having to do narrative work on top of it. I can do that sitting on a chair with a piece of paper.

How do you "I have 3000 hours logged in and still have a blast" manage to actually find a reason to log in? What compels you so badly that you still play every day? (Apart from VR people: I know that VR people just like to be there. Well, not an option for me)

 

[Juanxlink]

No need to explain anything, we still like to log and play.

You need to realize that it all has periods, your time in elite might be over, also, tastes change, people changes.

If you cant find something do pull you to the game, no one will be able to help you, and our reasons are unimportant...

 

[Robert Maynard]

In some cases "it's the game not me" and in some cases "it's not the game, it's me".

The game cannot hope to be all things to all players - and players have diverse opinions as to what "needs" to be changed or added.

I log in (to one of my accounts) pretty much every day - with a plan as to what I want to do, even if it is just a few passenger delivery or tourist missions.

 

[starman]

The issue is when you are mobile. What the minimum spec the laptop needs? Connection solo is the way apparently tether.

Also how do we know some player are not employing people to play for them? We know some buy credits with cash or rather goldfarms. Yes we know.

There are other games and stuff to do. Once you done the Hutton run once the second time isn't the same.

 

[Crank Larson]

I don't play every day. But I've played regularly since the game was released. When I want to fly a spaceship, I play. When I want to do something else, I don't. If a game doesn't provide fun, I don't play it. And a game will only provide fun when you are in the right mood to enjoy it (as well as it being a game you like, of course).

 

[babelfisch]

I guess the reason why I am still playing is because I never played the game every day. Maybe 3-4 hours each week and it has been that way since release (sometimes more, sometimes less).

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I play regularly, mainly to mess around, like with odd ball builds, doing ridiculous things, like this;

Source: https://youtu.be/gSGwDZ9FxTk


Which was so funny to me, I still keep chuckling to myself.

And canyon running, often bouncing off things and blowing myself up.

I also have 1 PvP ship fully engineered, and 3 more on the go, 2 of which are almost done. And I'm getting more and more in to PvP, which is fun, once you've got the ship!

I'm also playing Pokémon with the PowerPlay modules, just about to unlock prismatics (again), then on to something else! Admittedly, due to PowerPlay's stupid design, it actually encourages you to not play for 3 weeks. Lol

Thargoids?
They're a really good challenge, harder than PvP IMHO, but the pay is pants, so I'm still about 50m credits in the red as far as profits from AX go... Lol and I don't like most of the weapons. Most of my new PvP ships are ex-AX ships.

I do like to make odd exploration trips occasionally, usually once or twice a year, for 10-20kly.

And I love core mining. I need to do some more in order to afford all the prismatics I need, but it's good fun, and profitable non the less.

All in all, plenty to keep me busy.
So much in fact, I often forget to do some things, or forget why I'm in a certain place. Lol

 

[TheSynopticVision]

In some cases "it's the game not me" and in some cases "it's not the game, its me".

The game cannot hope to be all things to all players - and players have diverse opinions as to what "needs" to be changed or added.

I log in (to one of my accounts) pretty much every day - with a plan as to what I want to do, even if it is just a few passenger delivery or tourist missions.

Yeah, but that's my question: why do you deliver passengers or tourists? For the cash? For BGS? For the pure pleasure of flying from A to B?

 

[Deleted member 38366]

I think it all boils down to this :

- can you make up your own Agenda, make plans and then fly/work/fight/explore/whatever for it? Alone or in a Team, doesn't matter.

If the answer is NO , then you indeed have no reason to log into the Game until maybe another Patch adds something you could take interest in to check out.
If the answer is YES, then you've just discovered one amongst many possible reasons why other Players are logging in and doing their thing

 

[Robert Maynard]

Yeah, but that's my question: why do you deliver passengers or tourists? For the cash? For BGS? For the pure pleasure of flying from A to B?

Yes.

 

[Dommarraa]

I'm only still about because I bought the expensive lep, and there is nothing I hate worse than wasting money.
It is a real effort to find things to do, as when I get into one of the end game activities, FD come along and ruin it.

A planetary circumnavigation kept me busy for a month, and now I am trying some codex exploration, but when that runs dry, I will be back wondering what I can do to keep interest up.

 

[TheSynopticVision]

Yes.

Spectacularly helpful reply.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Yes.

Proper English answer there.

 

[Arkadi]

There has not been that game yet for me I could play ervery day, that does not become only "a program" after some time. Even boardgames...

 

[Robert Maynard]

Spectacularly helpful reply.

To a question that could be answered simply yes or no.

I'll expand:

1) sometimes this;
2) sometimes this;
3) sometimes this.

.... which adds up to a simple "yes" in terms of the answer to any of the three questions being "yes".

 

[Morbad]

Do your discoveries have consequences that go beyond the "first discovered by" line of text? Not really. Can you discover genuinely unprecedented things? Not really.

I find interesting new places to drive or fly through all the time. No two are ever exactly the same.

wars that are nowhere to be seen, just text on a screen

The whole game is something on a screen. If you can't apply a little imagination and/or put yourself in your CMDR's shoes, just a bit, nothing anyone says about their motivations is going to make much sense.

BGS and Powerplay? I am not exactly a team player, I like to do my own things. And even if I was, the question is again: why? Why do we care if our faction controls 3 or 30 systems? Do we get consequences? Do we get more income from their economies? Do we get special treatment/perks at the stations controlled by us? Do we get to build new stations? Could our expansion trigger a large-scale war with another player faction (and I mean real war, not a "war" status). None of this. Once again, it's numbers and words on a screen, going up or down.

My CMDR cares. Even in the early game, credits weren't the sole motivation for my CMDR's support of various groups and causes. So, he fights to see some of his prior efforts preserved and to defend those groups that have aided him in the past.

PvP? I concede to PvPers that PvP is, in a way, the true endgame, the only part of the game where player agency can express itself, where there is some kind of emergent gameplay. But: 1) I am not very good at it, takes far too much time to master, 2) It's boring to fly around in SC waiting for someone to interedict you (for no reason) and then spend the next 5 to 10 minutes jousting. Most of the times I give up and self-destruct before I am dead. It just isn't fun. 3) again, WHY? Is there some kind of bubble-wide conflict? Are there compelling Powerplay reasons to fight other players? Am I defending something I care about? None of this. PvP is its own minigame, a CQC in the main game, with no other reason than besting other players and then roasting them on Discord. Yawn.

Despite it's myriad flaws, I enjoy the flight and combat systems of the game. Combat against other CMDRs is also the only way to face dynamic foes that can learn, adapt, and surprise me more than once.

Combat against CMDRs is also a means to an end. My CMDR rarely goes looking for trouble, but he frequently finds himself drawn into it. It's an intrinsic part of the game experience to me, and though I could avoid it, this would be contrary to the purpose of the game for me. These hostile CMDRs are an important part of the environment and setting, even if a few of them behave incongruously.

to have some kind of gratification, and not having to do narrative work on top of it. I can do that sitting on a chair with a piece of paper.

Constraints define and inspire art.

I could certainly just write a narrative for my character, but I find it more fun, and more of a challenge, to see if I can live it by a set of rules I am not in control of...to have some objective criteria as a lens through which to experience things.

How do you "I have 3000 hours logged in and still have a blast" manage to actually find a reason to log in?

More like 6500 hours for me, and because my CMDR still has so much to do.[/QUOTE]

 

[Viajero]

Disclaimer: there is no hidden sarcasm here, I genuinely want to understand if I'm missing something. I will ignore any "can I haz ur stuff" troll.

Whenever I share my less-than-flattering opinions about the development and game design choices of this game I always get responses like "i don't know what your problem is, I still play every day and have a blast". Now, I want to put myself in doubt: maybe I'm the strange one. So help me out. What do you actually do that keeps you so entertained after hundreds or thousands of hours?

Before someone posts a link to Leth's infographic: yes, I know all the things that can be done in-game. I've done them all at least once.

Let me briefly describe my situation:

• I have all the ships I want: I don't have a Corvette or a Cutter because I am not interested in them. They don't do anything that other ships can do, they don't jump farther, they don't carry more cargo (well, marginally more but my T9 is plenty), and they're not the best PvP ships. Those I actually use (3 or 4 of them -- that's really all you need) are fully G5d. I'm not interested in a new ship just for the sake of it, just to see a slightly different cockpit.I think there's already hardly a difference between most of the existing ships, lacking specialized roles. I therefore have no incentive to buy/build new ones.
• I have all the money I need (around 400 milions). There are billionaires out there? Sure. But why? What exactly do you do with money? Lacking any kind of player-driven economy, above a certain threshold it is completely useless. I therefore have no incentive to earn more money.

[note: ships and money are the only objective "measures of progress" in this game, hence why they are the first two and most important points]

• I have explored a bit, but I find it pointless and boring. Jump for days in order to discover an unusual moon-ring-white dwarf combination with a different skybox behind. Take screenshot. Proceed. Why? Is there any incentive in discovering terraformable worlds? Will there be colony ships travelling to them? Do your discoveries have consequences that go beyond the "first discovered by" line of text? Not really. Can you discover genuinely unprecedented things? Not really. I've seen all the geological stuff, I've seen all the alien stuff, I've seen the floaty things. (Besides, you barely need to leave the bubble to see them all). Can you do something with them? Nah. Take screenshot.
• Trading? Why? I have all the money I need, and besides it's a spectacularly inefficient way to make money.
• BHing. Why? PvE fights are boring, I don't need the cash they offer, and I don't care about this or that faction winning their wars (wars that are nowhere to be seen, just text on a screen).
• Mining? It is fun, I will concede that. But for a while. Because again, why? I don't need money. I can't put my minerals to some kind of other use, it's just numbers on a screen being converted to other numbers on a screen.
• Xeno-hunting? Like PvE conflicts in general, I don't see the point. Thargoids are "invading"? Really? I see stations being attacked, they get repaired. No consequence either way. I see Non Human SS, I ignore them. No problem. The complete disconnect between lore and everyday gameplay makes the "lore reason" ("thargoids are bad, gotta save humanity") frankly too flimsy to care.
• BGS and Powerplay? I am not exactly a team player, I like to do my own things. And even if I was, the question is again: why? Why do we care if our faction controls 3 or 30 systems? Do we get consequences? Do we get more income from their economies? Do we get special treatment/perks at the stations controlled by us? Do we get to build new stations? Could our expansion trigger a large-scale war with another player faction (and I mean real war, not a "war" status). None of this. Once again, it's numbers and words on a screen, going up or down.
• PvP? I concede to PvPers that PvP is, in a way, the true endgame, the only part of the game where player agency can express itself, where there is some kind of emergent gameplay. But: 1) I am not very good at it, takes far too much time to master, 2) It's boring to fly around in SC waiting for someone to interedict you (for no reason) and then spend the next 5 to 10 minutes jousting. Most of the times I give up and self-destruct before I am dead. It just isn't fun. 3) again, WHY? Is there some kind of bubble-wide conflict? Are there compelling Powerplay reasons to fight other players? Am I defending something I care about? None of this. PvP is its own minigame, a CQC in the main game, with no other reason than besting other players and then roasting them on Discord. Yawn.

The result is: i occasionally log in. I stare at the screen while I am docked somewhere. I look at my balance: that's OK. I consider going out hunting for PvP encounters. I realise that it will take time to find them, and that there will be no consequence apart from me (likely) exploding and having to rebuy. I log out. Another month goes by.

Now, certainly I will get some "well, you have to roleplay, imagine a purpose!". I respect those of you who manage that. But if I play a videogame, I want to see that purpose (for as purposeful a videogame can be...), to have some kind of gratification, and not having to do narrative work on top of it. I can do that sitting on a chair with a piece of paper.

How do you "I have 3000 hours logged in and still have a blast" manage to actually find a reason to log in? What compels you so badly that you still play every day? (Apart from VR people: I know that VR people just like to be there. Well, not an option for me)

There is really no need, or point, to try and force oneself into it or to find a reason. After thousands of hours played it is perfectly ok to feel the need for a break or to wait for new content.

 

[Jukelo]

I don't play every day, but I play regularly, every week.

Now I'd like to stress that you have listed a lot of good reasons to play the game already, or at least a lot of reasons why we play it, and then affixed your opinion that "it's " or "it's boring" or "but why?". At this point, a lot of it is going to boil down to just a disagreement on what one finds fun.

Still, if we move past the baseline "it's just fun to do" justification, you are right that a lot of activities lack purpose and long term consequences, and Frontier's decision to axe progression for the purpose of attracting short-term customers hasn't helped goal-oriented players with the issue of long term interest in the game... but at its core, for me Elite remains a game about flying a spaceship in a 1:1 galaxy for the sake of it, and all the activities are good excuses to do that. I would like it if Frontier did address a lot of the issues you pointed out, but in the meantime I have enough to do to keep me entertained, doing all those inconsequential things because I enjoy them, until I'm temporarily bored and rotate on to another activity, and think of reasons why my character would do that as roleplay is a big thing for me.

 

[d8veh]

There's no such thing as boring activities. Everything is interesting if you're interested in it. There is such a thing as a boring person, who doesn't have sufficient imagination or intellect to make an activity interesting. I can remember years ago when on holiday up an Austrian mountain, there was a toddler and his family staying in the caravan next to us. his mum gave him a packet of miniature paper flags. He spent the whole afternoon playing with those flags, carefully sticking them in the ground, placing certain ones together and moving them around, while making general war and cheering noises.

All PC games are simply pressing keys and buttons while looking at a screen. It's only the user that can make that into a virtual reality.

 

[TheSynopticVision]

I find interesting new places to drive or fly through all the time. No two are ever exactly the same.



The whole game is something on a screen. If you can't apply a little imagination and/or put yourself in your CMDR's shoes, just a bit, nothing anyone says about their motivations is going to make much sense.



My CMDR cares. Even in the early game, credits weren't the sole motivation for my CMDR's support of various groups and causes. So, he fights to see some of his prior efforts preserved and to defend those groups that have aided him in the past.



Despite it's myriad flaws, I enjoy the flight and combat systems of the game. Combat against other CMDRs is also the only way to face dynamic foes that can learn, adapt, and surprise me more than once.

Combat against CMDRs is also a means to an end. My CMDR rarely goes looking for trouble, but he frequently finds himself drawn into it. It's an intrinsic part of the game experience to me, and though I could avoid it, this would be contrary to the purpose of the game for me. These hostile CMDRs are an important part of the environment and setting, even if a few of them behave incongruously.



Constraints define and inspire art.

I could certainly just write a narrative for my character, but I find it more fun, and more of a challenge, to see if I can live it by a set of rules I am not in control of...to have some objective criteria as a lens through which to experience things.



More like 6500 hours for me, and because my CMDR still has so much to do.

[/QUOTE]

So essentially you're saying "you have to roleplay". Which is fine, but I object to the narrative that it's a somehow superior form of entertainment. It's not. It's using one's imagination to patch a hole, something that lacks. I envy those who can get pleasure out of it, but I don't really think it's something so obvious or taken for granted.

You say "The whole game is something on a screen. If you can't apply a little imagination and/or put yourself in your CMDR's shoes, just a bit, nothing anyone says about their motivations is going to make much sense."

Of course every videogame is something on a screen. But there could be on-screen consequences that go beyond the change of a line of text. There could be "real" wars, involving fleets of spaceships piloted by real people. There could be "real" permanent modifications of the environment, for ex. a warring faction manages to destroy a spaceport, and that is gone forever, for everyone. There could be "real" motivations that go beyond abstract allegiance: for ex, if we conquer that system we get access to resource X which allows us to build weapon Y that can only be built with that.