Bounty Hunters are no match for any other career...

[forger]

i celebrated my first death in gamma by killing 100 wanted NPC ships, here are the results:
KILLS: 100
TIME: 320 minutes (most time was spent searching for wanted ships)
Repair and Ammo: 77 000 credits
Bounties Earned: 437 696 credits
Profit: ~360 000 credits
Profit per hour: 67 500 Credits

Let's compare profit per hour in Cobra doing
Mining: ~500 000 credits
Trading: ~600 000 credits (60 t cargo)

watch video

so my question stands when this will be balanced because now is already gamma?
or i am missing something - bounty hunters are risking their ships, spending money on ammo/repairs and bounties are now even lower than in beta 3.9, why?

 

[Shoklar]

The thing with this per hour thing, is why make it a day job. To enslave yourself in 'I need to make this much'. The game is there to be enjoyed. To lose yourself in the immersion and forget time while having fun. I don't want credits handed to me on a plate. I want it to be hard, and I want it to have meaning. Lest not forget, if you never used ammo and had less repairs, your profit would be better than mining.

Shok.

 

[RobinsonUK]

You can make 600K an hour trading? 500K an hour mining? How long does it take you to find that trade route or those rocks? You'll burn out your trade route and have to find another. You'll mine out the rocks and have to find new, valuable ones. So you need to factor that into your time as well.

 

[AndersonDG]

That could just be the luck of the draw for bounty hunters, I'm fine with it. Mining for example, is pretty much a constant. Once you find that prime mining spot you can use it without end, the same thing goes for trading although with a bit more leeway.

You aren't guaranteed to find high bounties every time you go out looking unlike with mining or trading if you have a good spot. You could just have a few bad runs and only run into low bountied Sidewinders and trading ships. It also doesn't cost anything to fire your mining laser but does cost money to repair and rearm your ship.

However, it seems like bounty payouts have definitely been reduced across the board from what they were in Beta 3. We'll have to wait and see if they rise again with release or not. It would also be interesting for multiplayer bounty hunters if there were missions generated by the game that tasked you with hunting down the most wanted of each star system with some way of tracking them once their bounty got to a certain amount.

 

[forger]

The thing with this per hour thing, is why make it a day job. To enslave yourself in 'I need to make this much'. The game is there to be enjoyed. To lose yourself in the immersion and forget time while having fun. I don't want credits handed to me on a plate. I want it to be hard, and I want it to have meaning. Lest not forget, if you never used ammo and had less repairs, your profit would be better than mining.

Shok.

and point for your post is? devs told us all career paths will be balanced, i see different story and want to know why.
my point is that it's not balanced and riskier than any other career, your point is that it's more fun?

 

[SuBSynk]

i celebrated my first death in gamma by killing 100 wanted NPC ships, here are the results:
KILLS: 100
TIME: 320 minutes (most time was spent searching for wanted ships)
Repair and Ammo: 77 000 credits
Bounties Earned: 437 696 credits
Profit: ~360 000 credits
Profit per hour: 67 500 Credits

Let's compare profit per hour in Cobra doing
Mining: ~500 000 credits
Trading: ~600 000 credits (60 t cargo)

watch video

so my question stands when this will be balanced because now is already gamma?
or i am missing something - bounty hunters are risking their ships, spending money on ammo/repairs and bounties are now even lower than in beta 3.9, why?

You should target NPC cargo hatches and they will always drop cargo if you even get them down to 75%, also for better profit don't take ammo dependent weapons

Trading should be higher profit as its far more boring, same with mining but id say the profit is close factoring in the lack of need to search for bounties (Nav points etc) and the fact you took so much damage ( not sure what % of 77 000 credits was damage)

 

[Shoklar]

and point for your post is? devs told us all career paths will be balanced, i see different story and want to know why.
my point is that it's not balanced and riskier than any other career, your point is that it's more fun?

According to the traders, the interdictions make it harder and they lose more. Same can be said for miners, they can be pirated. At least when combat fitted you do stand a better chance at survival, and yes, I personally find it more fun. Though, I do enjoy playing from 100cr start also. A bit of small scale trading, courier and combat in one. I've wiped my save countless times so far in order to try all the different starts out and have fun while doing so. Not once did I bog myself down with per hour mentality, or what role makes more.

Shok.

 

[forger]

You should target NPC cargo hatches and they will always drop cargo if you even get them down to 75%, also for better profit don't take ammo dependent weapons

Trading should be higher profit as its far more boring, same with mining but id say the profit is close factoring in the lack of need to search for bounties (Nav points etc) and the fact you took so much damage ( not sure what % of 77 000 credits was damage)

damage? using interdictor module causes damage to your ship every time target is not submitting, this is annoying as each time you get 1-2% hull damage before fight begins, from fight i was damaged only once

 

[Toxic_Waster]

You did not include in your digits "fun per hour" category and also how much this category will be different from mining. The approach on credits per hour is the same as the approach to dollars per hour to our daily life. How much dollars per hour did you receive playing Elite comparing to how much dollars per hour you could get digging a hole on the construction yard?

 

[Cat_Astrophe]

You can make 600K an hour trading? 500K an hour mining? How long does it take you to find that trade route or those rocks? You'll burn out your trade route and have to find another. You'll mine out the rocks and have to find new, valuable ones. So you need to factor that into your time as well.

Entirely true!
>
Also, your estimate on mining is probably double what I have been able to make on average. You see, I don't have any pristine platinum locations and mine what I find in my journeys, nor would I stop my travel more than temporarily if I found one. People who do are gonna get really bored out of their skulls. And those hi grade pristine areas aren't on every street corner either. And yeah, what about all the search time? You need to rethink that one OP. There's a lotta legwork no one takes into account.

 

[forger]

You did not include in your digits "fun per hour" category and also how much this category will be different from mining. The approach on credits per hour is the same as the approach to dollars per hour to our daily life. How much dollars per hour did you receive playing Elite comparing to how much dollars per hour you could get digging a hole on the construction yard?

huh, you know what balanced means in game?
or you think that devs will balance all careers not by allowing us to achieve same goals with each career in given time (money earned means upgrades, weapons, ships etc.) but by some weird formula including fun and income?

i just point out that IF you want to bounty hunt you are FORCED to trade before you can get enough cash to buy and outfit your fighter of choice, which in my opinion is silly
anyway i like trading more than bounty hunting so any "fun" in any of your formula will be wrong.
i was just curious why it is so, but it seems bounty hunters here are very happy with current order

 

[gary.brain]

well based on your calculations, may be you are not that great at combat

 

[archeolog108]

It is not about credits/hour but kilograms of fun per session for me.

But if you want to have second job.... there is also Eve.

 

[ChrisR]

why should they all be the same or equal.. you decide you want to fight (less boring) to make money and you have to spend a little to gain some more.. as long as you are gaining money... whats the issue?

yes you can mine or trade to increase your cash but how BORING is that!

i have traded a little and mined a little and it did make me over 300K in a day or tow, i spent 280k kitting out a viper and ive never had so much fun going to the resource extractions and fighting some ships..

i even tried it on with an anaconda and had to hide from it behind the asteroids until a friendly anaconda turned up and dealt with him.. i started with 10k after the viper upgrades, i turned the PC off with 119k and i had loads of fun.

 

[Martin1956]

i celebrated my first death in gamma by killing 100 wanted NPC ships, here are the results:
KILLS: 100
TIME: 320 minutes (most time was spent searching for wanted ships)
Repair and Ammo: 77 000 credits
Bounties Earned: 437 696 credits
Profit: ~360 000 credits
Profit per hour: 67 500 Credits

Let's compare profit per hour in Cobra doing
Mining: ~500 000 credits
Trading: ~600 000 credits (60 t cargo)

watch video

so my question stands when this will be balanced because now is already gamma?
or i am missing something - bounty hunters are risking their ships, spending money on ammo/repairs and bounties are now even lower than in beta 3.9, why?

Each to their own, but no real challenge in it beyond ship control IMHO if that is all you want to do fine. Me I prefer the more cerebral pursuits of trading and exploring. Though blowing a few interdicting Pirates to smithereens does give an outlet for my anger management problems.....

 

[StuartGT]

i just point out that IF you want to bounty hunt you are FORCED to trade before you can get enough cash to buy and outfit your fighter of choice, which in my opinion is silly

To take on the bigger bounties certainly, but small bounties are easy pickings even in the stock sidewinder.

As to the OP, personally I'd expect trading & mining to be more profitable (cr/hr) than say warzone tickets or bounty hunting, simply being as to some casual/mainstream players combat is more fun & exciting - ergo 'boring' trading/mining have extra creds as an incentive.

Meanwhile I like exploring

 

[forger]

Each to their own, but no real challenge in it beyond ship control IMHO if that is all you want to do fine. Me I prefer the more cerebral pursuits of trading and exploring. Though blowing a few interdicting Pirates to smithereens does give an outlet for my anger management problems.....

here's a shocker: i like trading more and was just curious why bounty hunting is so far behind

Entirely true!
>
Also, your estimate on mining is probably double what I have been able to make on average. You see, I don't have any pristine platinum locations and mine what I find in my journeys, nor would I stop my travel more than temporarily if I found one. People who do are gonna get really bored out of their skulls. And those hi grade pristine areas aren't on every street corner either. And yeah, what about all the search time? You need to rethink that one OP. There's a lotta legwork no one takes into account.

i took numbers that can be reached in COBRA, however, if we start digging deeper then any bigger ship will increase trading income while bounty hunting and mining stops right here (for mining drones can be good boost, so 500k/hour is pretty much roof for mining until drones or other mechanics are introduced).

i am trading in Asp now and it took me 2 hours to find trade route where i can get 1,3m/hour.

 

[Cat_Astrophe]

here's a shocker: i like trading more and was just curious why bounty hunting is so far behind




i took numbers that can be reached in COBRA, however, if we start digging deeper then any bigger ship will increase trading income while bounty hunting and mining stops right here (for mining drones can be good boost, so 500k/hour is pretty much roof for mining).

i am trading in Asp now and it took me 2 hours to find trade route where i can get 1,3m/hour.

Yeah, 500k may well be the roof, but that will be under conditions that one does not just have easy or quick access to. I know I haven't and it will be the case for many others, so your estimate may not be entirely fair to use. See what I mean?
>
I spent and hour at least this morning checking out a rocky ring to see what was in the few metal rich areas in it. Made nothing. Like I said, those "jackpot" areas aren't everywhere. My total mining income for gamma so far is only little over 2 mil. And not everyone wins on a slot machine either, so it's all good. The "possibility" of making 500k/hour is not the same as actually making it.
>
I should mention that exploring and mining is all I have been doing during gamma. I already suspected the resource game would be a needle in a haystack minigame and it appears I was right. That's fine with me! You have to have limits somehow and it rewards persistence.
>
Add the actual search time into your estimate and the pay/hour drops real real fast!

 

[Foxkr]

i celebrated my first death in gamma by killing 100 wanted NPC ships, here are the results:
KILLS: 100
TIME: 320 minutes (most time was spent searching for wanted ships)
Repair and Ammo: 77 000 credits
Bounties Earned: 437 696 credits
Profit: ~360 000 credits
Profit per hour: 67 500 Credits

Let's compare profit per hour in Cobra doing
Mining: ~500 000 credits
Trading: ~600 000 credits (60 t cargo)

watch video

so my question stands when this will be balanced because now is already gamma?
or i am missing something - bounty hunters are risking their ships, spending money on ammo/repairs and bounties are now even lower than in beta 3.9, why?

100% agree.. Also trading profit goes up through time and so does mining (if they add drones which collect it'll be nearly just as if not more profitable) because the same reason. Heck, I was nearly making a mill an hour through trading, sure it was boring but it got me everything I wanted as in I could now bounty hunt and explore with the best stuff. They really need to balance it out so that Bounty Hunters can make just as much if not more.. and so that Explorers actually have a chance, rofl.. pretty sure they'll have to deal with the Thergoids or whatever at release so it'll be the most dangerous..

 

[JosiahD]

i celebrated my first death in gamma by killing 100 wanted NPC ships, here are the results:
KILLS: 100
TIME: 320 minutes (most time was spent searching for wanted ships)
Repair and Ammo: 77 000 credits
Bounties Earned: 437 696 credits
Profit: ~360 000 credits
Profit per hour: 67 500 Credits

Let's compare profit per hour in Cobra doing
Mining: ~500 000 credits
Trading: ~600 000 credits (60 t cargo)

watch video

so my question stands when this will be balanced because now is already gamma?
or i am missing something - bounty hunters are risking their ships, spending money on ammo/repairs and bounties are now even lower than in beta 3.9, why?

The thing is you're assuming that all 'occupations' should payout at the same rate as each other, which they don't and nor should they. Variety is the key here. I would have thought the reward for bounty hunting would be the thrill of combat would it not, not simply massive credits?