A new players sad story

[Antigonos]

Three friends of mine started the game yesterday (They were the slow ones everyone else started in alpha/beta/gamma). Two of them just seemed to get on with the game, the third spend most of the night on vent complaining, being confused, unsure about the controls, unsure about everything having not read up on the game or watched/played the tutorials. I of course offered a lot of assistance but it was still a little frustrating to hear the demand for hand holding from someone who I know is an excellent gamer and a mature player in his 40's who usually does a lot of research. Now the funny thing was as the night progressed the complaining lessened and the excited giggles and story telling started. By the end of the night he was raving about the game more than the two friends who just got on with it.

Long story short, folks complain when confused but it doesn't mean they're not going to love the game once they get past the initial hump. Sometimes that hump can actually mean you like the game more because you feel you've mastered something you found hard before.

thats why this comunity gives so much explanation, even on negative toned threads. i think this really is a novum for some years, a game which actually needs some explanation. its like lots of people were on drugs with games handholding and spoiling them so much, now they kinda wake up and its hard for them to recover. and like with drugwithdrawal, anger and frustration are its symptoms

 

[dazman020177]

My mate keeps getting fines and becoming wanted by accidently shooting federals in nearly every fight. I'm just not seeing the problem. From my experience you get a big green box around friendlies that cut across your LOS and you simply stop shooting until they're out of the way. I've been in loads of bounty hunting scraps and haven't accidently hit a friendly yet. So I'm wondering is there some bug here where the friendly markers in the hud don't always show up for certain people?

 

[Hypermaniak]

It is bizarre and nonsensical, but the safest systems for bounty hunters and players in general are anarchy systems. You don't have to worry about getting fines or the fuzz jumping in on your kill. If you hang out at the nav beacon and kill warrant scan targets without any cargo of your own (that would attract pirates), you can pick your engagements most of the time. I am camping out in one until things are less screwed up with rep and trading and missions and navy rank and all that jazz. I only leave to collect the bounties and do upgrades.

You said it. That is exactly what I do. It's so broken - Anarchy systems I would expect to be really dangerous places to hang out. But doing both piracy and bounty hunting in them is the safest place to do that.

Trying to bounty hunt in non-Anarachy systems is a bit of a joke. A pirate less so - it should be somewhat dangerous to be a pirate in non-Anarchy space, but still...things are not working right at all.

 

[Renegade Roach]

Nonsense,

1) He got interdicted and fined for firing back at an attacking NPC, this is a standard bug, has happened to me many times. Very standard issue, literally loads of people, loads of people today even, are complaining about this. The only way you can disagree with the fact that this is a standard issue is if you either don't read the forums or have some sort of built-in reality editor. Either way neither changes the fact that you are totally, completely and utterly wrong on this.

2) He got fined for accidentally clipping an NPC in combat. Hard to see how this is not a bug, NPCs do not incur a fine when they clip you! Another standard issue, in fact I'm actually starting to question now whether you actually play the game at all? Have you seriously not encountered this!?!?

3) If imports are cheaper than they are in the system the imports them then why are they imports for goodness sake? This, again, is widely discussed on the forums here and generally accepted as yet another standard issue. Now, I don't trade, I'm a bounty hunter, so I don't know one way or the other, all I can see is that lots and lots of people are talking about... Which makes it... You guessed it, yet another standard issue you're pretending people aren't reporting.

4) No refuel at a station that says it has the refuel facility? How is this not a bug?

Some people on this forum really do want to pretend these serious bugs don't exist, almost as if they believe imagining they don't, they'll just go away or something. Really, really, really silly...

On point 1); He's not necessarily wrong actually. If you get interdicted and fired on by a clean ship you only have the right to return fire if the attacking ship hits you. Shoot it before that and you are the aggressor. Furthermore, once they've hit you it's necessary to make sure their status has fully updated from 'clean' to 'wanted' before you shoot (this might be buggy, not had it myself).

2) Clipping an NPC and getting fined is working as intended, what is bugged/changed is that npcs currently are not getting fined for doing the same.

 

[Eldan Cross]

yesterday i ran out of fuel 2km(2!!) from a station. i was watching the station while my oxygen depleted.
was my 1st time playing and i was feeling sooo lost.

well after that i made about 100k from bounties.
it must be very hard for a new player.(i am new aswell, but i really learn things fast) a random new player must have it tough.
There should definitily be something like a tutorial/starting story mission (other than the tut missions) to show you the ropes-help you start or make your first 10k. And i'm sure it will be added sometime in the future.

For all you new players, don't lose hope! learning curve is hard. but gets better!

 

[Renegade Roach]

You said it. That is exactly what I do. It's so broken - Anarchy systems I would expect to be really dangerous places to hang out. But doing both piracy and bounty hunting in them is the safest place to do that.

Trying to bounty hunt in non-Anarachy systems is a bit of a joke. A pirate less so - it should be somewhat dangerous to be a pirate in non-Anarchy space, but still...things are not working right at all.

Bounty hunting in non-Anarchy systems is doable as long as you check the faction of your target, if they're part of the controlling faction don't touch unless you want the law on your back. Needs to be fixed and thus far not heard anything out of the devs (other than that they claimed it was fixed a few patches back). Tried to ask Mike Evans about it in another thread but didn't get a reply

 

[wibbleboy]

Actually, maybe this is being read incorrectly:

"Checks map, jumps to a system that says it has a station with fuel....but it doesnt. SELF DESTRUCT'"

Perhaps he meant that the system didn't actually have a station, rather than the station not having fuel?

 

[Sanderson]

Sorry your buddy didn't like the game. That really is a shame, especially since I know how much it can mean to love a game and want your friends to also. However, ED is harsh, I guess, for those that are used to games where success is "built in" and there's not so many bugs but, tens of thousands of people are succeeding, despite missing features and bugs.

 

[Ulminati]

[Feds R Bad]

If you rmate doesn't want to share bounties, he can go the the right-hand console and toggle "report crimes against me" off. Then the feds won't show up. (Unless he's comitting the crime). When he's being attacked, you need to be sure you're done scanning the ship and it reads as "Wanted" before you open. fire. Sometimes it takes law enforcement a while to register the complaints.

 

[worldoflard]

The really sad thing here is that it sounds like he has already learned many of the hard lessons for Elite: Dangerous, and is throwing in the towel just at the point where he would start to "get" it.

 

[agent1138]

It's fine, is ok, I'm new but who cares, Sure I only made 20 credit profit trading Domestic goods ten light years. Sure I made 18 credits loss trying trade fuel cells. Hell half the time I can't even make it out of super-cruise in once piece , but damnit if people could do it with those graphics back in 1984 why shouldn't I.

 

[cmdr awesome]

It's possible to be a bit more upbeat and helpful...

1) Him....how can I tell how much fuel it will cost to jump from A to B to C
A) The first jump will show as a blue chunk on your fuel gauge when you target the star. If the jumps are similar sizes, expect to lose a similar chunk on jump 2. Experiment with targeting stars close to your max range to see the biggest chunk you'll lose in 1 hop. If you're plotting a long route on the galaxy map, it will show a yellow dashed line for jumps that you couldn't make without topping up.

2) How much fuel does supercruising use ?
A) It's displayed on your console. Supercruise and regular flight use tiny amounts of fuel, but when the narrow bar runs dry it will gobble a ton from your main tank.

3) How much fuel does local space flight/boosting etc use ?
A) See (2)

4) What happens if you run out of fuel then ? ! ?
A) Self destruct the ship. Don't worry - the starter ships are free. You'll soon get the hang of it. Perhaps get in the habit of filling up at every stop until you have a fuel scoop.


To be honest, losing some upgrades within the first couple of hours is a good lesson to learn when it's easy. We've heard of people buying Anacondas, loading them up and smearing them on the inside of the station without the insurance money to cover it. Back to a sidewinder they go....

 

[Deleted member 38366]

-- Deleted --

 

[xaccers]

Right, I'm now 90% sure you don't actually play the game, or at least have very limited experience, a NPC who accidentally hits you does not get a wanted status... Seriously, are you hoping to convince anyone of that? This is rather like the Ostrich technique of debate!

I've been clean and hit by a hostile Fed that has then turned wanted for hitting a clean ship (ie me). It's great because his buddies then turn on him. Docking usually turns into a light show because some will attack me, others will attack them, and most of the time they'll miss and hit the station causing it to attack the lot of them.
So yes, when you're clean and another ship hits you, they turn wanted, the game doesn't differentiate between a deliberate attack and flying into someone's shots. It's one of the features that keeps you on your toes rather than just letting you grip the trigger until your target dies. In a space battle with more than one other ship present you need the situational awareness to avoid shooting those you don't intend to. Easy with lasers, not so easy with kinetic weapons.
As others have mentioned, just being shot at isn't enough, it has to hit you in order for them to be wanted, and quite often NPCs miss. Consequently someone who doesn't check will end up shooting a clean NPC that is actually trying to kill them.

 

[Orffen]

Sorry your buddy didn't like the game. That really is a shame, especially since I know how much it can mean to love a game and want your friends to also. However, ED is harsh, I guess, for those that are used to games where success is "built in" and there's not so many bugs but, tens of thousands of people are succeeding, despite missing features and bugs.

He did like the game, his feedback was that it's unfinished. There's a cognitive disconnect on these forums that's perfectly highlighted here. I'm paraphrasing, but: "I guess he's used to games where success is 'built in'", but tens of thousands of people are succeeding despite missing features". I guess people used to games being released with working features should lower their expectations when coming to play Elite? What??

The amount of posts here that are attacking his approach to the game are ridiculous. Why does a large part of the community consider it OK for an NPC to attack a player and for the player to then be punished for responding in kind? Self defense is unacceptable now? That system is clearly broken, yet people here defend it like it's working as intended and perfectly acceptable.

There's a post here saying he should have expected a hard time when choosing bounty hunting because it's the hardest playstyle. I don't know how somebody coming new to the game is meant to deduce that from the marketing, the trailer and the in-game tutorials. Combat is not hard in the game; bounty hunting is because the systems around it are flawed or not working as they should be. I don't see what's so horrible about pointing that out and why the broken gameplay has to be defended like it's a personal attack on the developers or those having fun working around the wanted system.

The experience outlined in OP's post is exactly the kind of feedback we want after the release of the game. OP's not talking about changing mechanics or making things easier, he's just highlighting that there are a number of systems that may need to be reviewed as they don't appear to be working as they should.

 

[MikeB]

There are some steep learning curves in this game, just like FFE, Frontier and Elite before it, it can be a frustrating experience at times when you're starting out. So please, please, please let's not make it even more difficult and frustrating by pretending that very well known and widely discussed bugs are actually design decisions, or worse by accusing new players of making these problems up—especially when numerous experienced players are experiencing the exact same issues and have discussed them here ad nauseum. Frankly, I am utterly dumbstruck when members of the forum sink to the lowest depths of fanboyism in order to do the above, apparently and astonishingly ignorant of this rather glaringly obvious principle—convincing new players that these bugs are not bugs or accusing them of lying about genuine experiences actually drives them away from the game, thereby minimising its chances of being successful and endangering the longevity of the project. It does not help Elite Dangerous or Frontier in any conceivable way, shape or form, rather, it does the exact opposite. Be under no illusions, the real supporters of the game are those who continue to play and who discuss the bugs here, the real enemies of the game are the fanboys. That these fanboys cannot see this, and that they persist in this blatantly stupid behaviour, is really indicative of their deluded and sycophantic nature. They are in other words, beyond redemption. They should not be welcomed or entertained by anyone who wishes this project to be a success.

 

[Venkman]

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Three friends of mine started the game yesterday (They were the slow ones everyone else started in alpha/beta/gamma). Two of them just seemed to get on with the game, the third spend most of the night on vent complaining, being confused, unsure about the controls, unsure about everything having not read up on the game or watched/played the tutorials. I of course offered a lot of assistance but it was still a little frustrating to hear the demand for hand holding from someone who I know is an excellent gamer and a mature player in his 40's who usually does a lot of research. Now the funny thing was as the night progressed the complaining lessened and the excited giggles and story telling started. By the end of the night he was raving about the game more than the two friends who just got on with it.

Long story short, folks complain when confused but it doesn't mean they're not going to love the game once they get past the initial hump. Sometimes that hump can actually mean you like the game more because you feel you've mastered something you found hard before.

My story exactly

 

[korsobar]

Be under no illusions, the real supporters of the game are those who continue to play and who discuss the bugs here, the real enemies of the game are the fanboys. That these fanboys cannot see this, and that they persist in this blatantly stupid behaviour, is really indicative of their deluded and sycophantic nature. They are in other words, beyond redemption. They should not be welcomed or entertained by anyone who wishes this project to be a success.

I vote for this post to be stickied to the top of the forums.

 

[Antigonos]

I've been clean and hit by a hostile Fed that has then turned wanted for hitting a clean ship (ie me). It's great because his buddies then turn on him. Docking usually turns into a light show because some will attack me, others will attack them, and most of the time they'll miss and hit the station causing it to attack the lot of them.
So yes, when you're clean and another ship hits you, they turn wanted, the game doesn't differentiate between a deliberate attack and flying into someone's shots. It's one of the features that keeps you on your toes rather than just letting you grip the trigger until your target dies. In a space battle with more than one other ship present you need the situational awareness to avoid shooting those you don't intend to. Easy with lasers, not so easy with kinetic weapons.
As others have mentioned, just being shot at isn't enough, it has to hit you in order for them to be wanted, and quite often NPCs miss. Consequently someone who doesn't check will end up shooting a clean NPC that is actually trying to kill them.

exactly this.

 

[Ac1dCl0ud]

It would be good to have separate Support headings for different types of problems, eg:

- Software Problems - eg cant downlod upgrade or cant join game
- Hardware Problems - eg problem with controller or graphics card
- Internet Problems - eg lagging
- In game bugs - like the ones people are talking about here

It would be much clearer to devs and users what the status and impact of problems are, and what progress to resolve is being made,
also it would allow devs to mark bugs as game features eg clipping police units and becoming wanted .