I have zero sympathy for anyone who complains of "grind" or material gathering - this is one of the easiest games I have ever played in which to gather and trade resources.
Because it's really tedious.
No, like, really, really tedious.
The new(ish) exploration mechanic is much better than the old fly-round-in-circles-till-you-run-over-them one but the spawn-rates are tweaked waAAAay too low.
I mean I've been looking for Imp Components now for about 45 minutes going from one (of the very few) civil unrest system to another and I've hit only a single HGE spawn, and it was in the wrong state.
And that wouldn't be too bad if you could do something else while you're looking, if it was possible to just find them along the way - but no, if you're looking for level 5 mats like that you pretty much have to find the right HGE spawns (reports of getting them as mission rewards are just fake news as far as I can see).
So I'm writing this basically to pass the time and that's an hour now and still nada.
Frontier, this is NOT your customer base:
Two words: MATERIAL TRADER.
With this I agree wholeheartedly. I think it was a big mistake for Frontier to go with a material system, for a variety of reasons. It makes way more sense in a game like ESO where I can choose to roleplay a craftsman who hunts animals to make his leather armor, but I don't know any mechanic who goes to the gravel pit and smashes rocks to get materials to soup up the engine in his car.Sorry but you seem to have misunderstood. "Grind" has nothing to do with difficulty and everything to do with how arbitrarily boring, asinine and repetitive it is.
Is the mat trader a bandaide patch for bad farming mechanics though? Is it by design that I farm imp shielding and trade down and across? I used to go where I needed for pharm isos and imp components, the current iteration is no where near as reliable. I used to do base data beacon runs for mef and crack, and that seems off now. I used to go famine for wakes, and that is now dead. The new generation RNGs don't seem to conform to in game descriptions of sources. It's not impossible to get mats, it just isn't internally consistent with the game documentation.
I don't sweat it.
I currently have 5 ships - all engineered
It makes way more sense in a game like ESO where I can choose to roleplay a craftsman who hunts animals to make his leather armor
Depending on one's degree of "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" aka "OCD". There is no such thing as grinding.
If you keep repeating same thing over and over it's a given you will get bored with it after a while. And If you keep doing it despite hating it and then complain about the grind... Well, I have no sympathy for you whatsoever, because you're the only one to blame here. Not the game.
Sure, there are grindy parts in Elite for sure, but materials hunting is not one of them, if you do it the way I described above. You can definitely turn it into a grind, but - again - that's your own doing.
I think it's vaguely offensive - but right. ED is my leisure activity. I don't have to play it; other games are available; other hobbies are available; even in ED I can choose what I do. I take full responsibility for what I do in the game. If I'm not enjoying it, that's down to me and within my control to change - I change it. I value my leisure time and make the most of it: I will never "grind" a computer game. The many hours I've spent in ED have therefore not contained any "grind".This is a snappy soundbite but unfortunately it's wrong (and also vaguely offensive). When a large portion of a game's progression mechanics require (yes, require, for some playstyles G5 ships are mandatory) vast swathes of players to depart from the activities they enjoy in order to do repetitive and skill-less activities they enjoy less it's a problem... regardless of any mental health issues individual players may or may not struggle with.
I think it's vaguely offensive - but right. ED is my leisure activity. I don't have to play it; other games are available; other hobbies are available; even in ED I can choose what I do. I take full responsibility for what I do in the game. If I'm not enjoying it, that's down to me and within my control to change - I change it. I value my leisure time and make the most of it: I will never "grind" a computer game. The many hours I've spent in ED have therefore not contained any "grind".
It's naive to think you can lay the blame soley at the feet of individual players
for some playstyles G5 ships are mandatory
People will always look for the shortest path towards their goal - that's player behavior 101. A game designer has to anticipate this and design accordingly.
The fact that phrases like "it's only a grind if you make it one" get thrown around here so regularly should be indication enough that maybe things aren't quite perfect and it's not just the players who are to blame.
You've basically just repeated what others were saying, without engaging with what's actually being said in the previous several posts.
...
Engineering is for the most part a difficulty slider.
to use their other skills (tenacity etc)
you should be prepared to put the time & effort into that
Yes. Because it's true.
I once read a news item about prisoners in a Chinese jail who were kept awake all night by the guards and forced to play WoW so that the guards could make a profit from the credits they gained. Those guys could justifiably complain about "grind". You and I only play ED because we want to. I take responsibility for my own actions, do you?
Yes. Because it's true.
I once read a news item about prisoners in a Chinese jail who were kept awake all night by the guards and forced to play WoW so that the guards could make a profit from the credits they gained. Those guys could justifiably complain about "grind". You and I only play ED because we want to. I take responsibility for my own actions, do you?