I started playing ED some years ago.
I didn't grow old with the game as so many others in this community. I didn't even play Elite prior to this version of the game, and as such I have no expectations to what might come according to lore.
But according to gameplay and functionality I expect a lot.
It was actually a friend of mine who got me into ED.
He sold the idea of all the empty space and galactic battles to me on a specific day i was visiting him. I still remember that day! Before he had even finished justifying the purchase of the game to me, I had already bought it, and started downloading from steam.
I remember him talking about 1 missing feature that developers had already planned for implementation. That was the "wing" functionality.
We discussed it a lot, and made references to the old World of Warcraft days and hoped that missions would be something that we could do together in hopes of achieving greatnes, as a dynamic duo. That was always the goal. To play together.
I remember on one of my very first missions (flying a sidewinder, ofc) that I had equipped a torpedo simply for the one purpose of learning what it's damage was like... I fired on a python NPC, and stripped him of his shields and half his hull... Torpedos used to be a great tradeoff of "1 shot, great risk, great rewards". Nowadays I bet noone is using torpedos anymore. And why would they... The great rewards have been "patched" because of "balance".
I remember how my very first upgrade was a Hauler, and I started flying between 2 stations, like a pendulum so that I could buy more cargo racks to carry more stuff and increase my income. Then I upgraded to a Cobra. Silly ship, with a lot of soul... The Cobra is really a pleasure to navigate around.
I upgraded again to a Type6, and then a Type7. Not a lot of versatility, but for a brief time I really felt like a space trucker. That big rectangular thing flying around with comodities... You had to decide if you wanted the shield generator, or extra cargo so that the 5-6 jumps to the community goal would either pay more, or you would secure your own arrival... I'll admit, my biggest threat was not NPCs or other players. It was myself in the docking phase...... Yea....
Community goals made a difference back then.
I think it was somewhere along the way around here that ED became a singleplayer game for me.
My friend had stopped playing it, and I was now alone in the galaxy. It was pretty much my own fault, because I always logged on to our own private group and never into open. I learned from that later.
At this point I was flying a Python I think. I have found memories of doing Resource Extraction sites with my burst lasers. Ramming was the latest fasion and you could basically take out NPCs just by setting all pips to shields and flying into them repeatedly. Then came HazRes sites, if I recall right. Those were a challenge. More enemies, and no cops to help you out! (yea I used to rely on the security forces, to cover my retreat)
I remember telling my friend about what a challenge HazRes was, and that I could really use his help. I think we did it once or twice, and then he lost the will to "Elite" again.
At some point I made enough money to get myself an Anaconda...
This was a breaking point for me. I had promised myself NEVER to get that ship, simply because all the forum pilots used it (it was the only big ship, besides the type9 at this point), and because I thought it was REALLY ugly...!
None the less I bought it the second I could afford it. Didnt even have money for the rebuy. Started doing trading missions again so i could upgrade my FSD and other modules... After this I have a blackout. I don't really remember much from this period, but at some point along the way along came Sothis missions, and after that engineers... I remember getting the Horizons expansion and full of hope from the action-packed cinematic trailer getting into elite again.
I've been on and off from Elite since then, and many times in between.
I have a couple of ships at this point - Anaconda, Type9, Courier and Clipper.
At the moment I am mining void opals in my clipper. (not saying where!)
But I can feel this specific emotion creeping up on me again... Elite is being reduced to the same routine-ish gameplay over and over again.
I WANT to play with someone I know, but servers are buggin out on us everytime we enter the same instance.
I've tried joining a Squadron, but activity is kinda low it seems, despite it's hundreds participants.
I've tried pledgin myself to a player faction, but it just doesn't seem like it's giving me much purpose....
What I am really missing is something to do for myself and my 1/2/3 friends that actually motivates us to keep going, and I just can't find it.
"in Elite, you need to blaze your own trail!"
That is what I hear over and over again.
But I don't want to.
I want to...
I want a long story mission that links 100's, maybe 1000's of missions together.
That takes me across the galaxy, that rewards me with unique bubbleheads, that forces me to face off againts spaceships not found anywhere else.
I want a journey to be ahead of me that I can stray from and return to as I please... And big g pile of gold at the end of a rainbow that I may never find.
Elite may not really be for me. But I consider myself a very average gamer, and I truly admire and respect the world of Elite Dangerous.
I follow the EDC on facebook, simply because the feed there is more interesting than anything my family could ever post (it's true - my social media is mostly for gaming updates!)
I want to love Elite...... I truly do!
Why can't she just be everything I want her to be?
I didn't grow old with the game as so many others in this community. I didn't even play Elite prior to this version of the game, and as such I have no expectations to what might come according to lore.
But according to gameplay and functionality I expect a lot.
It was actually a friend of mine who got me into ED.
He sold the idea of all the empty space and galactic battles to me on a specific day i was visiting him. I still remember that day! Before he had even finished justifying the purchase of the game to me, I had already bought it, and started downloading from steam.
I remember him talking about 1 missing feature that developers had already planned for implementation. That was the "wing" functionality.
We discussed it a lot, and made references to the old World of Warcraft days and hoped that missions would be something that we could do together in hopes of achieving greatnes, as a dynamic duo. That was always the goal. To play together.
I remember on one of my very first missions (flying a sidewinder, ofc) that I had equipped a torpedo simply for the one purpose of learning what it's damage was like... I fired on a python NPC, and stripped him of his shields and half his hull... Torpedos used to be a great tradeoff of "1 shot, great risk, great rewards". Nowadays I bet noone is using torpedos anymore. And why would they... The great rewards have been "patched" because of "balance".
I remember how my very first upgrade was a Hauler, and I started flying between 2 stations, like a pendulum so that I could buy more cargo racks to carry more stuff and increase my income. Then I upgraded to a Cobra. Silly ship, with a lot of soul... The Cobra is really a pleasure to navigate around.
I upgraded again to a Type6, and then a Type7. Not a lot of versatility, but for a brief time I really felt like a space trucker. That big rectangular thing flying around with comodities... You had to decide if you wanted the shield generator, or extra cargo so that the 5-6 jumps to the community goal would either pay more, or you would secure your own arrival... I'll admit, my biggest threat was not NPCs or other players. It was myself in the docking phase...... Yea....
Community goals made a difference back then.
I think it was somewhere along the way around here that ED became a singleplayer game for me.
My friend had stopped playing it, and I was now alone in the galaxy. It was pretty much my own fault, because I always logged on to our own private group and never into open. I learned from that later.
At this point I was flying a Python I think. I have found memories of doing Resource Extraction sites with my burst lasers. Ramming was the latest fasion and you could basically take out NPCs just by setting all pips to shields and flying into them repeatedly. Then came HazRes sites, if I recall right. Those were a challenge. More enemies, and no cops to help you out! (yea I used to rely on the security forces, to cover my retreat)
I remember telling my friend about what a challenge HazRes was, and that I could really use his help. I think we did it once or twice, and then he lost the will to "Elite" again.
At some point I made enough money to get myself an Anaconda...
This was a breaking point for me. I had promised myself NEVER to get that ship, simply because all the forum pilots used it (it was the only big ship, besides the type9 at this point), and because I thought it was REALLY ugly...!
None the less I bought it the second I could afford it. Didnt even have money for the rebuy. Started doing trading missions again so i could upgrade my FSD and other modules... After this I have a blackout. I don't really remember much from this period, but at some point along the way along came Sothis missions, and after that engineers... I remember getting the Horizons expansion and full of hope from the action-packed cinematic trailer getting into elite again.
I've been on and off from Elite since then, and many times in between.
I have a couple of ships at this point - Anaconda, Type9, Courier and Clipper.
At the moment I am mining void opals in my clipper. (not saying where!)
But I can feel this specific emotion creeping up on me again... Elite is being reduced to the same routine-ish gameplay over and over again.
I WANT to play with someone I know, but servers are buggin out on us everytime we enter the same instance.
I've tried joining a Squadron, but activity is kinda low it seems, despite it's hundreds participants.
I've tried pledgin myself to a player faction, but it just doesn't seem like it's giving me much purpose....
What I am really missing is something to do for myself and my 1/2/3 friends that actually motivates us to keep going, and I just can't find it.
"in Elite, you need to blaze your own trail!"
That is what I hear over and over again.
But I don't want to.
I want to...
I want a long story mission that links 100's, maybe 1000's of missions together.
That takes me across the galaxy, that rewards me with unique bubbleheads, that forces me to face off againts spaceships not found anywhere else.
I want a journey to be ahead of me that I can stray from and return to as I please... And big g pile of gold at the end of a rainbow that I may never find.
Elite may not really be for me. But I consider myself a very average gamer, and I truly admire and respect the world of Elite Dangerous.
I follow the EDC on facebook, simply because the feed there is more interesting than anything my family could ever post (it's true - my social media is mostly for gaming updates!)
I want to love Elite...... I truly do!
Why can't she just be everything I want her to be?