Bored of the game already

[Antenociti]

Can noone really see the lack of guidance in the game?
Put aside all your knowledge you gathered through the forums, just take the GalNet-News, how on earth could any newcomer understand what to do?.

On the whole, the alpha and beta players who post on these forums, seem incapable of realising how blank the game is when you enter it.

That is not atypical of alpha and beta gamers from any other MMO though: they usually represent a hardcore of loyalists who immerse themselves in every bit of law or gameplay they can, and then cant stop using that knowledge to blind themselves to how it looks to newcomers. This game does appear to have a typical set who have become so emotionally attached to "How it is" that they dont seen very capable of seeing "How it might appear to others". This is usually more true of persistent alpha/beta testers, as those who didnt like the direction generally leave before, or at, or soon after, release.

It is generally pointless trying to argue such around to the fact that their impression is almost totally invalid for the majority of newcomers.

So, to answer your first question: no, many of them cant.

That said,: the directionless feeling is symptomatic of practically every sandbox game ever built, so why is it such a big surprise?

 

[Muthax]

Why would i?
Why would ANY player seeing this freshly advertised game look into the Kickstarter pledge?
This game is released. There is a crowd arriving that doesn't care how it was funded.
They will go with what is advertised and judge the game by being accessible.

So you don't say things that have no attinence with facts?

 

[Mack Winston]

We had lack of guidance in 84 when the BBC model B version launched but we managed to play just fine, maybe gamers were made of stronger stuff back then?

The Beeb version had a thick manual and a novella in the box. (Thick manual relatively speaking - most games of the era had nothing but the J-card in the tape box with what keys to press, the Elite manual was A5 sized and about 60 odd pages long).

Elite Dangerous needs the manual and novella. OK, so we do digital distribution now, but the manual should be linked PROMINENTLY from the game launcher, along with a link to the official fiction from the Kickstarter days. The manual and novella were incredibly important in setting the scene for the Beeb version, and today's equivalent are just as important but people have to go searching them down, they aren't "in the box" as such. Adding them to the box for a digital download is easy, just put it in the launcher.

 

[Muthax]

On the whole, the alpha and beta players who post on these forums, seem incapable of realising how blank the game is when you enter it.

That is not atypical of alpha and beta gamers from any other MMO though: they usually represent a hardcore of loyalists who immerse themselves in every bit of law or gameplay they can, and then cant stop using that knowledge to blind themselves to how it looks to newcomers. This game does appear to have a typical set who have become so emotionally attached to "How it is" that they dont seen very capable of seeing "How it might appear to others". This is usually more true of persistent alpha/beta testers, as those who didnt like the direction generally leave before, or at, or soon after, release.

It is generally pointless trying to argue such around to the fact that their impression is almost totally invalid for the majority of newcomers.

So, to answer your first question: no, many of them cant.

That said,: the directionless feeling is symptomatic of practically every sandbox game ever built, so why is it such a big surprise?

I approve of this post completely, with one small caveat:this game was made possible by fans that shared the same vision as Braben, not zealous 'fanbois'

 

[Ericlas]

So you don't say things that have no attinence with facts?

As english is not my mothertongue, i don't understand what you are trying to say. Could you rephrase that sentence a little?

 

[Muthax]

As english is not my mothertongue, i don't understand what you are trying to say. Could you rephrase that sentence a little?

Tell me your mother tongue and I probably speak it or can googletranslate it well enough

LOL actually I just realised I 'latinised' a bit that phrase
I meant so at least you don't talk about things you don't know or haven't gone the way you suppose

Voilá

 

[Viking84]

To those who disagree with the OP here, and clearly have issue with what I am writing in my responses: after learning the basic mechanics during the first few hours, what aspects besides combat currently present a skill based challenge to the player? If I have missed something I am all ears.

Edit: I see that came off a bit sarcasticly - I am actually genuinely hoping I have missed some key aspect of this game as I really want it to be more than I am currently seeing.

 

[Shepard]

When people played original Elite in 80s they were younger and it was one of the most unique games. Unfortunately Elite Damgerous doesn't stand very far from game mechanics of original Elite. It has modern graphics but as far as gameplay mechanics go FD didn't implement anything modern yet. Everything there is in game right now is based on on grind, but that is a curse of pretty much any online game today.

FD could make the game a bit more alive though to break the routine of this graind. Unfortunately the game is what it is. Its a very niche game. Game for people who love to scribble in their notebooks while flying from planet to planet. But I agree with OP, pretty much everything in ED requires grind either you change activities or not. Modern game with old gameplay mechanics. Game for original Elite refugees who are quite old these days and a lot of them can't tolerate grind as they used to. Like I sad before this game eventually will have a core of a few thousand devoted elite fans.

It will eventually disappear from the news, tabloids etc and will be just a game in the huge market of many other games today. It's up to FD though to either allow this game to become forgotten or make it one of a kind space sim by expanding game features adding dynamic events, expand mining with additional tools, add events and special operations for dogfighting, make trading a bit more fun etc etc. ED has potential, FD just have to figure out how to realize that potential before everyone but a few thousand people forget about it and move on to SC in 10-12 months or something else.

I personally want this game to grow and become one of the best space sims. But that may require FD to rethink the type of content they put in. If they just keep adding missions and ships it will get nowhere and we will never see atmo flight, planetary landing, interactive ship interiors etc. because there will be little interest to the game and few thousand people who already bought the game can't provide enough foundation to sponsors to commit even more money for a game that so many people have abandoned due to grind and boredom.

So yeah, everything is in FD hands.

 

[Xorr]

All this is normal.
We are in the "sort out" phase between people who knew exactly why they came to play Elite Dangerous, others who came by without knowing anything and others who have thought that it would be World of Spaceships or Eve Online with driving ships. This has been imho also induced by the misunderstanding about the "MMO" used by Frontier and by trailers like the last one. The ones who came with wrong expectations are of course disappointed and will probably move on to something else.
In three months from now it will be settled ...

+1 Nail on head.

 

[Ericlas]

Tell me your mother tongue and I probably speak it or can googletranslate it well enough

It's german. And i just can't translate the word "attinence".

And please, don't get the rwong idea behind my comments.
I am very well aware of the vision and idea behind this game.
I bought into early beta after seeing some awesome youtube videos.

But from my earlier experiences in other games, like EvE or even WoW, it can be a struggle sometimes to get the idea what to do.
And right now, there are only official video guides and a quickstarter guide linked for new players.
I.e. try to find any word how to do mining or bountyhunting in those guides...there is none.

My emphasis is only to make it more enjoyable to start this game and to know what to do.
I even started a collection of tips and tricks, that was well appreciated and supported by other CMDRs.
( https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67281)
And feedback to threads like this show that there is a struggle for newcomers.

 

[Icarus1]

I set out the goal of upgrading a Cobra as much as it's possible. With that in mind, I won't start a grinding of flying between 2 stations, but instead, using Slopey's trading tool, I go and trade something to each station while picking up another. Then I trade that to another station, that I haven't visited yet. Meanwhile I'm scanning the star systems, other times I let myself interdicted and kill whoever wants to kill me. Other times I stop by a nav beacon and hunt down 2-3 wanted persons.
Trust me, it's not boring, when I get a canopy breach and I got 5 min to land before my air runs out. I got plenty money for insurance, but i try to avoid that.
Once I'm done upgrading the Cobra, I'll park it, then I'll buy another ship and fit it out with the best stuff. I keep going like that, while my rep is keep rising with the Federation and my ranks are increasing in all 3 categories.
On the other hand, I play it casually. 2-3 hours, then I stop, do something else. As more content to arrive with the passing weeks, this way I won't get bored of the game.

 

[Ishkur]

If you're bored, then it's time to turn to the dark side.

 

[Muthax]

It's german. And i just can't translate the word "attinence".

And please, don't get the rwong idea behind my comments.
I am very well aware of the vision and idea behind this game.
I bought into early beta after seeing some awesome youtube videos.

But from my earlier experiences in other games, like EvE or even WoW, it can be a struggle sometimes to get the idea what to do.
And right now, there are only official video guides and a quickstarter guide linked for new players.
I.e. try to find any word how to do mining or bountyhunting in those guides...there is none.

My emphasis is only to make it more enjoyable to start this game and to know what to do.
I even started a collection of tips and tricks, that was well appreciated and supported by other CMDRs.
( https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67281)
And feedback to threads like this show that there is a struggle for newcomers.

Oh ok. I didn't mean disrespect either. I thought you meant the game should go more in a hand holding,'modern' direction. I have nothing against giving newbs some introduction and presenting better documentation, but I am sure that's just consequence of the forced launch and resources being directed elsewhere right now.
Good job on the tips thread

No one is jumping on anyone's throat here, especially new players. Unless they start calling people 'delusional fanboi' for trying to explain them how the game works

 

[JimmySav]

I too have this problem with games like the OP!

I played Forza and after a while realised I was just driving about in cars!
Then I played Battlefield, and I was just shooting things with a gun!
Now Elite, and all I do is fly about in a space ship!

I thought it was video-games, so I went outside and played some football, but realised that was just kicking a ball, and then Tennis, but that was just hitting a ball over a net.

OMG! When will I find something good.... 8(

 

[Muthax]

i too have this problem with games like the op!

I played forza and after a while realised i was just driving about in cars!
Then i played battlefield, and i was just shooting things with a gun!
Now elite, and all i do is fly about in a space ship!

I thought it was video-games, so i went outside and played some football, but realised that was just kicking a ball, and then tennis, but that was just hitting a ball over a net.

Omg! When will i find something good.... 8(

never! Never! We all gonna dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeohmygod!

 

[ascendence]

Am I doing something wrong?

I was enjoying the game and everything, but right after buying a cobra, it hit me that I'm just grinding over and over...
There really isn't much to do in the game other than trading, bounty hunting and exploration, which are really just doing the same thing over and over.
I've seen a few players in game on my radar, but that's it. No chat, no interaction at all.

Is the game really this shallow?
Please tell me what do you guys do to enjoy this game...

thats pretty much the game right now yes. sorry mang.

I too have this problem with games like the OP!

I played Forza and after a while realised I was just driving about in cars!
Then I played Battlefield, and I was just shooting things with a gun!
Now Elite, and all I do is fly about in a space ship!

I thought it was video-games, so I went outside and played some football, but realised that was just kicking a ball, and then Tennis, but that was just hitting a ball over a net.

OMG! When will I find something good.... 8(

muh muh HYPERBOLE

i played diablo and was just clicking and clicking and was just on a grind for better gear but it somehow was one of the best games made and it was fun
get out with your flawed logic, you probably backed the game with serval hundred dollars and now you gotta guilt trip yourself into liking this empty game

 

[Ishkur]

All this is normal.
We are in the "sort out" phase between people who knew exactly why they came to play Elite Dangerous, others who came by without knowing anything and others who have thought that it would be World of Spaceships or Eve Online with driving ships. This has been imho also induced by the misunderstanding about the "MMO" used by Frontier and by trailers like the last one. The ones who came with wrong expectations are of course disappointed and will probably move on to something else.
In three months from now it will be settled ...

World of spaceships, that sounds truly terrifying. Ironically they added AWSD controls to Eve now, but without chasing cam it's pretty much a gimmick.

 

[Shepard]

Elite Dangerous is not a game for people who like to be told what to do, go here do this, shoot that. It requires imagination, and is really meant for those type of people who like to micro manage to the nth degree, and for those of us who like making lists. If you want to save the universe then this game is not for you. There will be additional content but this may be a long way off such as planetary landings.

+1 Nail on head.

Guys, don't treat your game like its a swing in your backyard, or your dog, or your chair or anything like that. FD wants this game to sell to wide audience that's why they create catchy videos with fast paced fun combat. They don't tell anyone that you have to scribble in the notebook if you want to trade or that your brain may explode because you have to run missions day and night. People usually don't just buy a game to fly around and enjoy space or to sit at a station and watch the orbital patterns of a binary star. It's very obvious why people complain. FD sold this game through faulty impressions given to some people thrihgh hype and fake vids. Not everyone is tolerant to obtuse grind and obvious lack of content.

I am Becker since KS and I like the game currently because I haven't burnt myself out on playing multiple betas and alphas until my eyes bled. But I also understand people who say that game is boring and full of grind. Expecting that people will take interest in something you personally take interest in is quite odd. People come to play space sims to have action and good experience. I like ED but I can also see that game is on a shallow side and requires a lot more content to be really fun. A few weeks will go buy and majority of people who had wrong impression will leave the game.

I have enough to see that I personally won't last in the game if I'll play it like I played Dragon Age Inquisiton spent 100 hours in it and played every day. ED is a casual niche game but unfortunately it is focused on grind while it should be very casual friendly. And by casual I don't mean flying around and enjoying the scenery. Unless of course ED is developed with that in mind. I really hope FD adds more stuff in to make mining more interesting, trading more engaging, dogfighting more exciting, make the Galaxy fill alive, things REALLY happen in inhabited star systems and not just by giving impression of that through text in static missions in stations...

 

[ascendence]

thank you

 

[Coppermine]

Maybe it is a bit of a grind. But, I haven't let that discourage me. I started out in the middle of no where. I've never landed at a station and found more than 5 other ships have visited it in the last 24 hours. Unusually, I am the only one. I started doing a few missions and some sightseeing. It wasn't long before I was friendly to a minor faction. That is where the story and fun really started for me. I discovered that one of the neighboring systems doesn't particularly like my new found friend and were willing to pay me to betray them. I decided not to. But found it interesting enough to find out who else they don't like and become friends with them. Soon, I was taking missions that would affect that factions grip on their home system. I have worked hard and have managed to lower their influence several percent. I find that satisfying. It has let me build a story of my own in the galaxy. This game is a true sandbox. The tools are there. You just have to provide your own motivation to use them. If it feels like a grind then it's a grind. If you do the same things but with a purpose (a goal) then it feels much more like an adventure. I don't consider my ship it upgrades to it as progression.

Excellent post. This is the attitude needed for playing this great game.