Am I the only one to enjoy Elite Dangerous more with small ships and small money ?

demauroy

D
Hi there,

In the game, you have a clear path to bigger and more powerful ships, let alone the fleet careers but I find personally that, the more money I get, the less fun the game becomes for me. This is maybe a reflection of real life where, very often, there is less fun at being at the top of organizations (say a general) than in a nice role at the bottom (say an army sniper or commando).

Many activities bringing small money are more fun (piracy, scavenging...), and they feel much more like an adventure. And when you do everything on a small scale, it feels less like grind. Not mentioning small ships are more fun to play (more agile...), fleeing bigger ships is nice too.

Still, regularly, I find myself with too much money and bigger ships, and so I reset the game to come back to the beginnings. I would love to know if you feel the same, and if you found a way to play the game for long while keeping the 'enthusiasm of the beginnings'.

I am interested also in any suggestion you may have to the dev team to make the game more fun for people who want to stay broke adventurers. Outposts being accessible only to small ships is a nice one, but maybe we should add more limits like that.
 

AkenBosch

AkenBosch
Totally the above, flying around in the starting freewinder with barely enough money to A-rate it or buy a new one is one of the greatest feelings for me. Mind you, I enjoy my fleet of engineered ships, exploring the galaxy and not having to worry about multiple multi-million rebuys, but playing the mostly harmless cmdr makes me think more about how I am actually playing and how to do things right to not die/go broke.
 

GunnerBill

GunnerBill
"the more money I get, the less fun the game becomes for me."

Maybe it's not the money but the fact that you're just putting more hours into the game and what was once new is now old.
In ED money just seems to increase in proportion to the amount of time you put into it. It's the "how fast" that's up to you.
 

Vardaugas

Vardaugas
I spend most of my time flying a Viper IV, either the exploration focused or the Odyssey focused. I have more fun in a ground CZ with my Commando Dominator than in a space CZ with a Corvette. I even have a Sidewinder set up that can do Odyssey content and planetary mining when I feel like it. Small ships are fun, even when you're a billionaire.
 

Cohen the Worrior

Cohen the Worrior
I call this the Oh boy, I can finally A-rate my FSD period. Everything is new and exciting.
You can extend it by following certain rules.

Adjust the price of the ships and equipment like this:
  • rebuy value x 20 = Cred the ED value of the equipped ship.
  • Cradj = sqrt(Cred) x 15,000
This way, you'll be flying the Sidey for several hours before being able to upgrade to a Hauler or Eagle.

Another rule, don't map planets that are already mapped. When exploring: just honk the system and move on when somebody already fss'd the system. Again, this will get you out of the trodden path.

Also when you die, don't take the rebuy but get the Sidey.

Have fun commanders.
 
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Dragsham

Dragsham
Engineering is what it is....the edge.!
More power more manoeuvrable, more firepower.
So no, l advocate having ships in what l term, their optimum setting, for the use I've designated them for.
Covert ops I use a pimped imp hammers (hehe) imp eagle. With a planetary hangar for the ground work.
Total war in a settlement - gotta be a pimped chieftain with a rake of g5 dumbfires.
For haz res farming its a all beams pve vette that has 2 size 7 banks and prismatics. The huge beams overcharged for the quick zap hehe.
And so on.... 2 lances for pvp another vette (all multicannons) for pirate assassinations. Leaves 4 pips in shields.
Fact is...Engineering paves the way for an easy life.
Exploration so on doesn't require Engineering to do, but it helps.
So no defo not I'm all for maximus.
But each to their own.
o7
 

VR micmacmoc

VR micmacmoc
Completely agree, I run my free epic account what I think you gamers call 'Iron man' so if I die I start right from the beginning again. Skipping the tutorial though!
Rare goods loop this time or mining? The universe is your oyster. Am considering doing this in open too...anyone else?
 

CMDR Decus Crux

CMDR Decus Crux
I have had a second commander for a while now with whom I consistently play in 'copper mode'. With Odyssey, I've restarted this Commander and I'm having more fun than I had since the early days when 'skill' meant something and credits were hard earned. Odyssey has created opportunities to customise my playstyle even more and since then I have only loaded my main character to manage my squadron in which my second commander is also active. And here are my rules;

1. No buyback costs. This means that lost ships are lost. The starter (loaned) Sidewinder can be repurchased, but must be cleared of all chargeable components when repurchased. This also means that modules cannot be upgraded, which makes engineering all the more important and really useful. And if I upgrade that ship and it get lost... well, then I have to take a new, loaened one.

2. Missions can only be accepted if the reputation is at least 1 above 'neutral'.

3. If the reputation is 1 above neutral, only 'green' missions can be accepted. If the reputation is 2 above Neutral, 'yellow' missions can also be accepted. Red' missions can only be accepted if reputation is 3 above Neutral.

4. Since my commander follows his own, personal 'Codex', he always takes the one with the lowest credit payout for the selectable reward.

5. The rating in the pilot federation plays a role in how many missions one can accept at the same time; 'Harmless' means 1 mission, with each level increase 1 is added. This means that you can't always accept the same type of mission, but you also have to venture out of your comfort zone once (fight, in my case), otherwise your rating will never go up.

6. No re-logging and / or mode- hopping.

With these six simple rules, I have achieved for myself that what I do also needs to be considered a little and that my decisions need to be at least a little thoughtful. The fact that I have to rely more on Apex due to the low jump range of my Sidewinder (which is naturally my main ship) not only gives a sensible reason for getting out of the ship on starports (I don't use the FSP- part of Odyssey that much), but also acts as a natural credit dump, as the costs for changing my action area are sometimes very high. For example, to change to the region of the current Community Goal, a good 100,000 is due - and that needs to be well thought out.
 

Codger

Codger
Why does flying small ships have to equate to having no credits? I have billions. I have a carrier. I own 30 ships. I still spend a lot of time in my small ships, and I can take them all with me wherever I go, pick and choose which to fly based on what I'm doing at the time.

Do what you enjoy in this game, always. What's the point otherwise?
 

Cmdr. Numa

Cmdr. Numa
Codger said:
Why does flying small ships have to equate to having no credits? I have billions. I have a carrier. I own 30 ships. I still spend a lot of time in my small ships, and I can take them all with me wherever I go, pick and choose which to fly based on what I'm doing at the time.

Do what you enjoy in this game, always. What's the point otherwise?
Click to expand...
So much this, all of it. I found it incredibly liberating when credits were no issue anymore. Do what I want, when I want, in whatever ship I want. Big or small does not matter, fit for the purpose at hand matters.
 
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