A change in persepctive: I don't know what to say, but I'm saddened by my own progress

Boff'in

Boff'in
I remember my early days of elite dangerous.

I started in the Aiakibo system, and I remember vividly Chemaku, Fu city at Ross 210, Hui-mines. When every jump scared the bejesus out of me as coming so close to a star terrified me.

I had a route a number of jumps away where I fell inlove with my Adder, and worked my way up to my cobra, lifting tea and tobacco to one station grabbing some silver.
The rush of mining and upgrading to mining lazer class 2 (this is back in the scooping days, before the prospector/collection limpets).

And now with Trading Data comming into the main game.
I thought I'd go back to my starter system.
I flew in, thought I'd take a python so I could max out that trade data on all those little stations I used to cling to for dear life.

So i just hit a random hi-tech on the way in, which thankfully had a Python, but no only that, a-rated the systems for everything, (that I didn't have an engineered module for)
And flew on into the starter base, kicked up the map, and couldn't find a single system I remember.

My jump range (fully ladened) outclassed all my starter ships.
What would take multiple jumps, was done in one.

Even putting the navigation into Economical routes, only a couple of system names popped up with woefully short distances.

and there I was thinking 12 ly was amazing jump range in my sidewinder ;)

20-something LY in my adder with it's A-class, OMG!!
I could visit SOL within my life-time, AND come back.

The epic trip out to Yembo the first CG.

That was 10-20 jumps. Such an ordeal, but I was so very proud of myself.

So much of how I play and experience this game (for better or for worse) with everything I've learned, and skill's /money/fleet of ships I've developed of the years as well as new additions to the game, has somehow dulled and sullied those original niave impressions.

Oh, woe the melancholy of outgrowing your starter system.
 

Deleted member 38366

D
That's the problem with all those memorable "Starter Experiences".
Cherish them, because there's no way to get them back. That's just how it is and no Clear Save can change anything about it. Can't wipe out your knowledge you've gained already after all.
 

Nick Sticks

Nick Sticks
The new start experience is so much better these days as far as in game messages and missions are concerned but it does seem easier to earn money.
When I originally started I think it was the trading for small profits that slowly built up that I enjoyed a lot, flying to a few systems that I had a route to and felt safe in.
 

GraXXoR

GraXXoR
OP repped. I joined at the Asp end of the alpha. There were only a few dozen systems at first, expanded to a 200 LY long “Pill”

I remember trading fish and tea and finally getting that a rated FSD for my Sidewinder for double digit jump range. Missions when they were introduced paid several thousand, which was more than the profit I could make form the 4T cargo in my Sidey (the current sidewinder was given an extra Class 2 cargo slot for Horizons (SRV).

Chango Dock
Aulin
I Bootis.
Dahan Gateway
Wyrd
Morgor


Hell there was even a meme “One does not simply hyperspace into Morgor”

images



I remember looking out across the map at SOL, written in Capitals, impossibly far outside of the the “Pill”

Even back then, there was a website that would help you record trade data in the 200 systems available.

Remember that in 2014, the whole game was revolutionary and exciting.
 
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Drelthar

Drelthar
Yeah, I remember it taking me ages to get from my sidey into a cobra mk3.

I did it mostly by smuggling slaves from anarchies into federal space. Was great fun.

I recently started again, and it took me a couple of missions to get a Cobra, then a few more for a Keelback.

Probably because of knowledge but.... I think it also has to do with the now massive payouts for missions in comparison. I was super happy if I got something over 50k, for a slave smuggling mission.
 

Boff'in

Boff'in
It’s also really weird to see this sandbox, alter not only by its own weight, but our acclimatization of it.
When was the last time I played a game and it was literally months if not years I swung by a familiar location from the early days.
I’ve been playing games for 30+ years Elite being one of my ealiest memories.
Just to swing by aikibo some years later, and like a child all grown up, thinks the place was smaller, less threatening or grand. That in itself is a new experience I’ve never had in a game, and ED gave this experience to me , one I didn’t count upon.
 
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Red Anders

Red Anders
If FDev ever give us a second commander slot I'll probably start an ironman game and stick to small and medium ships. No doubt there's a lot of fun in the game at the start.

Enough for me to either lose my 2.5 year old Commander, or pay twice for the game and every expansion if I want to have two accounts? No idea but I won't be finding out. I still think it's really off that console players can make multiple accounts whilst PC players have to shell out.
 

Kitfox

Kitfox
Boff'in said:
I had a route a number of jumps away where I fell inlove with my Adder,
Click to expand...


Yes, I've heard that long periods out in the black can cause a fellow to seek solace in, and intimacy with, the most strangest of things.

But I know what you're talking about with your OP.
I still have my old Adder from the early days. Which did all kinds of work, from smuggling tobacco out of Eravate into Vega, through exploring and running rares, to getting onto the Empire's most wanted list after a huge running battle with their security after a misunderstanding over some stolen palladium.
 

GammaZ

G
Actually yes... scooping up ore fragments in adder, thinking that gold is surely valuable and wondering how to remember which asteroids were already mined in asteroid belt...

Sadly, restarting does not help here, first experience is always the best one.
Restarting is actually very... unsatisfying right now, since you can get from sidey into cobra by doing single mission.
 

GraXXoR

GraXXoR
GammaZ said:
Actually yes... scooping up ore fragments in adder, thinking that gold is surely valuable and wondering how to remember which asteroids were already mined in asteroid belt...

Sadly, restarting does not help here, first experience is always the best one.
Restarting is actually very... unsatisfying right now, since you can get from sidey into cobra by doing single mission.
Click to expand...

And therein lies the problem. The scaling just doesn’t work in this game. I started with Rick Sanchez in his Sidewinder (pictured below) and noticed the end of a CG was nearing. Lacking cash and an FSD to get there I ran data missions for an hour and managed a fire hairy bounties on the way. I amassed about 200kCr in cash and bounty. I managed to upgrade a few systems to A grade including my FSD and had enough spare for some Pd. So I dropped off one (1) barrel of Palladium and about two hours later when it finished, I went and claimed 600,000 Cr. Basically I earned 1MCr in a single session.

I know I know there are people who would splutter indignantly something like .... but but you didn’t HAVE to go to the CG. You didn’t have to rely on data missions.

They don’t get the point.
 
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Boff'in

Boff'in
Scale is the true issue of the game.
Both with the scale of the space in systems, distance between systems (the size of the galaxy) and making that playable.
Then you go to scale the appropriate credits per hour per ship type vs commander experience vs local faction status vs super ower status vs what the BGS is generating.

Just the procedural generation of the star systems and the relationship of the BGS causes glitches where the fringe system literally and figuratively cause edge cases, generation super lucrative runs.

Then you have data runs where mass is not a consequence, as mass was the great leveler (disrupting both agility and jump range).

Planet based Missions that require just the srv (ergo just the sidewinder) and not so much skill, (scanning easy datapoint) can land you millions without trying.

It’s a fine balance between the rare jackpots and exploitable runs.

As much as I respect, want and believe we should have The BGS, I sometimes wonder if a smaller scale systems would have benefitted the gam more or a personal director AI (like left 4 dead) could generate the lows and highs more consistently per player (or teams of players). And instead of progress being measured (presumably) in cargo shifted or bad guys killed, successful completion generates a positive or negative ticket for the local faction. So rewards can be assigned more dynamically / fairly per player to generate high/lows and not trying to create a magic algorithm that covers all players.

But conversly, people complained about the grind at the time, when there was ONLY credits.
Then there was a tax on high-profit merchant runs to stop the credit accumulation.
The python was nerferd in the speed department for being the best ship ever built.
And here we are reminiscing OVER that grind.
 
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zarrazee

zarrazee
OP. Anything gets smaller/less daunting with familiarity and experience.

I remember being overwhelmed by the size of WoW's map, but after 4 years of playing it, it was no longer intimidating. It was the same with Skyrim. I've not got there with Witcher 3 (yet).
 

Weps

Weps
Red Anders said:
If FDev ever give us a second commander slot I'll probably start an ironman game and stick to small and medium ships. No doubt there's a lot of fun in the game at the start.

Enough for me to either lose my 2.5 year old Commander, or pay twice for the game and every expansion if I want to have two accounts? No idea but I won't be finding out. I still think it's really off that console players can make multiple accounts whilst PC players have to shell out.
Click to expand...

Thinking the exact same way. No chance in Hell* I'm gonna pay for a second account, not with the way I feel about FDEV now. But I would give a new career a spin with a second commander slot, and maybe that would be enough to start praising the game again instead of badmouthing it.

I'd actually prefer it if the second commander slot would be Ironman mode only, under the rules established and advertised by FDEV. Not looking to end up with several billionaire commanders, just looking for a new take on the game, a new way to play it.


*Hell Port is conveniently located in the Seagull Sector DL-Y D3
 
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