Hello, for frame of reference I am a newish player having logged ~124 hours starting from late December/early January. I'm aware that I'm still learning the game, but there are a few things grating on me as I progress. I'm playing strictly PVE, so any comments I make related to balance aren't going to apply to the PVP side of things.
1. Cannons, in general.
I've tried them gimballed. I've tried them fixed. I've met reasonable success with both, but they're just plain disappointing. Their projectile speed and damage are too low relative to their ammunition capacity. I actually have an easier time hitting things with Plasma Accelerators because the shots seem to have a wider hitbox and I can approximate my aim more closely after any misses using the brightly visible projectiles. I realize cannons are supposedly useful for damaging modules, but multicannnons - and especially corrosive MCs - do a much more consistent job of it.
Aesthetically, I really want to like cannons. However, they need either noticeably faster projectile speed or higher damage, or perhaps a moderated mix of both. Flashier hit explosions or some sort of tracer effect (the smoke is a bit too subtle) would also be nice.
NOTE: I know Engineering is a thing. I'm definitely planning to try out Engineered cannons eventually, but I think Engineering should be an improvement on baseline weapons which are already "good," not required to make a weapon worthwhile in the first place.
2. Railguns only going up to C2.
I'm currently flying a Vulture, DBS, and DBE. I grabbed the DBS because it was suited to using railguns when I wanted to try them out. And they're a blast. I'd love to fit a railgun on my Vulture to fill the void left by cannons (as discussed above), but it doesn't make any sense at all for the Vulture's limited number of hardpoints. It would be really nice to see some C3 railguns, and there isn't any immediately obvious reason why this couldn't be balanced appropriately.
3. The game wastes a lot of time.
Don't get me wrong; I'm fine with slowly-paced games and for the most part Elite's pacing is pretty great. However, I don't appreciate it when games waste time for no reason. For example:
Detailed Surface Scanner probes are way too slow!
I can already pace myself to minimize overlaps by launching them slowly; why do I need to wait so long for each probe to land? Even getting within 10ish Mm feels sluggish. Sure, it 'takes time for the probes to travel long distances,' but why can't they be faster? It's not like we can watch the probe land in detail; as far as the player is concerned they're just streaks of light. I'm fine with the time spent traveling between bodies, I'm fine with needing to scan upwards of 30 bodies in some systems, and I'm fine with needing to spend time chasing that efficiency bonus. It would be nice, however, to spend less time waiting for results once I get there.
Hunting for ships and parts is cumbersome!
Different ships sold at different stations? Fine. Different ships sold in different regions? Fine. Different parts for ships sold in different stations and regions? Fine. But this is a future in which FTL travel is a thing, so why can't I (at least for stations I've visited or systems I have trade data for) check a location's stock without actually traveling there? I know to look at High Tech systems for ship parts, but that doesn't really help the issue of looking for specific parts. It's still a coin-toss requiring you to actually travel there and check. I know this future has social media, so why is a similar network not in place when it comes to the economy?
Notoriety is just stupid.
To date, I have been stuck with notoriety twice: the first time, a police Eagle rammed into me at full speed without shields and blew itself to smithereens. The second time (currently waiting in an independent port) I clipped a Python with a few too many MC bullets and they subsequently got killed by a couple of pirate FAS. WHY AM I WAITING FOR 2 IN-GAME HOURS?! I support the concept of consequences, but I think penalties should ramp up as deliberate criminal intention becomes more established. If a player has a trend of legal behavior - trading, mining, turning in bounties/shooting down wanted ships, etc. - then initial notoriety cooldowns should be reduced. Something like 30 minutes for intermittent offenses should be reasonable, with time ramping up the higher notoriety goes and the more frequently notoriety is acquired. I would put more stock in the seriousness of the crimes if I couldn't simply switch to a different ship in the meantime.
I don't mind grinding. I don't mind waiting. However, I loathe the feeling of being unable to make meaningful progress toward specific goals either due to RNG (specifically materials) or lack of information-gathering tools (searching for ships, parts, material sources, etc.).
There are probably a bazillion other problematic things covered in much more depth by other posters at this point, but these are the things I personally have found most annoying thus far. That said, the game as a whole is great and I am thoroughly enjoying it; thank you!
o7
1. Cannons, in general.
I've tried them gimballed. I've tried them fixed. I've met reasonable success with both, but they're just plain disappointing. Their projectile speed and damage are too low relative to their ammunition capacity. I actually have an easier time hitting things with Plasma Accelerators because the shots seem to have a wider hitbox and I can approximate my aim more closely after any misses using the brightly visible projectiles. I realize cannons are supposedly useful for damaging modules, but multicannnons - and especially corrosive MCs - do a much more consistent job of it.
Aesthetically, I really want to like cannons. However, they need either noticeably faster projectile speed or higher damage, or perhaps a moderated mix of both. Flashier hit explosions or some sort of tracer effect (the smoke is a bit too subtle) would also be nice.
NOTE: I know Engineering is a thing. I'm definitely planning to try out Engineered cannons eventually, but I think Engineering should be an improvement on baseline weapons which are already "good," not required to make a weapon worthwhile in the first place.
2. Railguns only going up to C2.
I'm currently flying a Vulture, DBS, and DBE. I grabbed the DBS because it was suited to using railguns when I wanted to try them out. And they're a blast. I'd love to fit a railgun on my Vulture to fill the void left by cannons (as discussed above), but it doesn't make any sense at all for the Vulture's limited number of hardpoints. It would be really nice to see some C3 railguns, and there isn't any immediately obvious reason why this couldn't be balanced appropriately.
3. The game wastes a lot of time.
Don't get me wrong; I'm fine with slowly-paced games and for the most part Elite's pacing is pretty great. However, I don't appreciate it when games waste time for no reason. For example:
Detailed Surface Scanner probes are way too slow!
I can already pace myself to minimize overlaps by launching them slowly; why do I need to wait so long for each probe to land? Even getting within 10ish Mm feels sluggish. Sure, it 'takes time for the probes to travel long distances,' but why can't they be faster? It's not like we can watch the probe land in detail; as far as the player is concerned they're just streaks of light. I'm fine with the time spent traveling between bodies, I'm fine with needing to scan upwards of 30 bodies in some systems, and I'm fine with needing to spend time chasing that efficiency bonus. It would be nice, however, to spend less time waiting for results once I get there.
Hunting for ships and parts is cumbersome!
Different ships sold at different stations? Fine. Different ships sold in different regions? Fine. Different parts for ships sold in different stations and regions? Fine. But this is a future in which FTL travel is a thing, so why can't I (at least for stations I've visited or systems I have trade data for) check a location's stock without actually traveling there? I know to look at High Tech systems for ship parts, but that doesn't really help the issue of looking for specific parts. It's still a coin-toss requiring you to actually travel there and check. I know this future has social media, so why is a similar network not in place when it comes to the economy?
Notoriety is just stupid.
To date, I have been stuck with notoriety twice: the first time, a police Eagle rammed into me at full speed without shields and blew itself to smithereens. The second time (currently waiting in an independent port) I clipped a Python with a few too many MC bullets and they subsequently got killed by a couple of pirate FAS. WHY AM I WAITING FOR 2 IN-GAME HOURS?! I support the concept of consequences, but I think penalties should ramp up as deliberate criminal intention becomes more established. If a player has a trend of legal behavior - trading, mining, turning in bounties/shooting down wanted ships, etc. - then initial notoriety cooldowns should be reduced. Something like 30 minutes for intermittent offenses should be reasonable, with time ramping up the higher notoriety goes and the more frequently notoriety is acquired. I would put more stock in the seriousness of the crimes if I couldn't simply switch to a different ship in the meantime.
I don't mind grinding. I don't mind waiting. However, I loathe the feeling of being unable to make meaningful progress toward specific goals either due to RNG (specifically materials) or lack of information-gathering tools (searching for ships, parts, material sources, etc.).
There are probably a bazillion other problematic things covered in much more depth by other posters at this point, but these are the things I personally have found most annoying thus far. That said, the game as a whole is great and I am thoroughly enjoying it; thank you!
o7
