This is just not true, espacially with 1.3, I just started all over again. You get up to 150 000 credits for smuggling/haulage of two slaves in your sidewinder. Thats a Cobra after three missions. Just did that mission and had fun, avoiding scans when leaving the station, avoiding police interdictions, met someone in SC who wanted me to follow him... I had fun.
Dangers of overplaying ED
- Thread starter Cmdr Eagleboy
- Start date
This is just not true, espacially with 1.3, I just started all over again. You get up to 150 000 credits for smuggling/haulage of two slaves in your sidewinder. Thats a Cobra after three missions. Just did that mission and had fun, avoiding scans when leaving the station, avoiding police interdictions, met someone in SC who wanted me to follow him... I had fun.
I agree with everything Pecisk says in the OP but mainly from the point of view of an ideal- I also sympathise with the players who have gone with the idea that it's all about getting the biggest ship and grinding towards that, or grinding towards Elite status, or grinding for their chosen PP faction, because those activities are where the rewards are handed out and where recognition is given. The game signals for people to do that stuff and the last few patches, CG's, PP- totally revolve around repeat actions which nobody should be expected to sustain without succumbing to boredom eventually. I dropped off one package of Federal aid last night for Winters and decided that was it. I had to go looking for something else to do.
Let's keep in mind that when people usually complain of boredom, the stock answer given is to develop a 'goal'. Some goals might be more creative than others but the game doesn't exactly brim with possibilities just yet, so people usually stick to the well worn paths (better gear, better rank, collect ships, etc). There needs to be more career possibilities in ED and the devs should think a bit outside the box they have created for the genre (you can trade, fight, bountyhunt, pirate, in every space game since the original Elite). It's a problem of scope and creativity. The player is only part of the problem.
Let's keep in mind that when people usually complain of boredom, the stock answer given is to develop a 'goal'. Some goals might be more creative than others but the game doesn't exactly brim with possibilities just yet, so people usually stick to the well worn paths (better gear, better rank, collect ships, etc). There needs to be more career possibilities in ED and the devs should think a bit outside the box they have created for the genre (you can trade, fight, bountyhunt, pirate, in every space game since the original Elite). It's a problem of scope and creativity. The player is only part of the problem.
Im' somewhere in the middle between a casual and hardcore player. I get on averege an hour or two a day although i sometimes miss a day or two playing here and there. Totaling about 500 hours now.
Have 100 million in assets roughly. Doing fine i think.
In theory, i could have a lot more by now if i had grinded in my play time, but that would have been incredibly boring.
Have 100 million in assets roughly. Doing fine i think.
In theory, i could have a lot more by now if i had grinded in my play time, but that would have been incredibly boring.
But surely in a game that has no endgame as such the grind is of one's own making? That is, the grind is only there because of the objectives you set for yourself, the things that one perceives as being their own goal, not that the game sets. So, if your objective is to get to the Anaconda as quickly as possible, then yes it would get grindy, BUT that's your choice. For someone who is more interested in exploring the galaxy and opportunities around them, taking their time and varying what they do from one play session to the next, the grind is perhaps not quite so severe - because the objective becomes one of 'living' your character in the gameworld rather than feeling like you have to achieve certain self-imposed milestones to get to some non-existent endgame. I guess what I'm saying is that the grind is what you make it.
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Some of the missions give big payouts now though, sometimes you can get 2 or 3 that say kill X pirates in X system and you complete them all in parallel and you just made over 500k. Also it's still ridiculously easy to make good money in RES, especially when lots of cops are around. Recently there was 50 diso corn available at Diso - when that was going on I was slowly moving between there and 39 Tauri taking a few missions on the way while transporting rares. Was lucrative and chilled and fun.
Maybe I'm easily pleased
Nice.
Best to remember too probably ..
Nobody's actually grinding anything, not actually doing, anything ..
It's a game .. you're sat, on your ASP explorer!
(Go help your elderly neighbour carry her shopping, then come back and do some grrrrrr-ind)
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I've played the game for probably averaging 1-2 hours a day for 5-6 days a week since Alpha. I've tried a lot of ships, been to lots of places, traded, mined, bounty-hunted, pirated, completed missions galore, raised up and beat down Minor Factions, gained and lost rank with the Major Factions, both helped and fought with other players. I currently own a fully fitted Cobra and Python with 40 million in the bank and haven't yet had to do any grinding at all.
If I felt that any game I was playing was a grind rather than fun, I'd be playing something else.
If I felt that any game I was playing was a grind rather than fun, I'd be playing something else.
That is pretty much my play style too. My pleasure comes from enjoying the experience not the supposed rewards. Mind you that is the way I play most games (in my first run through in Skyrim I played for more than 300 hours before I even got going on the main quest line after the first dragon fight).
There are some very differing views in this thread, especially concerning whether you need to grind to play.
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Firstly, I would call myself an average gamer in the time I play. Most days I might play a couple of hours, then not touch the game for a week. Yet I have managed to kit out a Vulture how I want it and have a nice tidy balance of around 45M. Am I aiming for the next big ship - no not really, I enjoy what I can do with the Vulture and something like an Anaconda or a Python wouldn't match my playing style. But I can appreciate other that quest to have the biggest, baddest ship around.
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What confuses me is those that say there is nothing to do in the game. In the last 6 months (could even be shorter), the developers have given us: wings - the chance to fly with your friends; and PowerPlay, from what I have read a very story driven strategic adaptation of the politics of the game. Additionally the forums are full of threads requesting/demanding/holding their breath unless they get it planetary landings. I strongly suspect that those that are currently complaining about lack of content in the game, no matter what FD introduce they will still find it boring after the initial 'gee wiz' excitement wears off (with seems to be about a week). I wonder if these types of players know exactly what they want the game to be??
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Firstly, I would call myself an average gamer in the time I play. Most days I might play a couple of hours, then not touch the game for a week. Yet I have managed to kit out a Vulture how I want it and have a nice tidy balance of around 45M. Am I aiming for the next big ship - no not really, I enjoy what I can do with the Vulture and something like an Anaconda or a Python wouldn't match my playing style. But I can appreciate other that quest to have the biggest, baddest ship around.
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What confuses me is those that say there is nothing to do in the game. In the last 6 months (could even be shorter), the developers have given us: wings - the chance to fly with your friends; and PowerPlay, from what I have read a very story driven strategic adaptation of the politics of the game. Additionally the forums are full of threads requesting/demanding/holding their breath unless they get it planetary landings. I strongly suspect that those that are currently complaining about lack of content in the game, no matter what FD introduce they will still find it boring after the initial 'gee wiz' excitement wears off (with seems to be about a week). I wonder if these types of players know exactly what they want the game to be??
I too am in the minority then. I have no interest in big ships. Been batting around in the viper and type 6 since gamma, and more recently the courier. Cash flow is not my driving force.
All good points, and you've highlighted a major problem for all kinds of players right now.
The lack of variety in the (otherwise brilliant) moment to moment gameplay means no matter what goal you set for yourself (clear all the pirates out of a system, become a market tycoon, win a war for your chosen nation, visit Sagittarius A*) the only paths to achieve those goals are excessively grindy and repetitive in nature. Shoot the same sidewinders giving you the same one-liners in the same asteroid belt ad infinitum until a number drops as close to 0% as you can tolerate, shuttle the same 2 goods between the same 2 stations until you die of boredom, shoot down the same infinitely respawning ships in the same area around the same planet until an arbitrary time limit is reached and you all go hit the showers, jump honk jump honk jump honk jump honk jump honk jump honk jump honk jump honk jump...
Is there anyway to see your playtime in game? I need to see how much I am overplaying.
There's nothing wrong with that, don't get me wrong. It's just that the OP worded his post in such a way as to insinuate that people who don't do that are doing it wrong. Which is what I took upbrage with.
I agree. Bigger ships = less challenge = easier game = less fun. I've been on since beginning of PB - over a year - and have no desire to fly/own all the big ships.
It's not really any easier if I am honest. You just get MORE of the bloody things trying to kill you.
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I played in a RES yesterday, and first I got a Sidewinder (small ship) instance. I thought, lets jump out and in again. Suddenly, a dropship spawned or jumped in. Then Pythons and Clippers steadily arrived and kept the combat fresh and alive. New cannon fodder and good payouts from 80000-150000 for deadly pythons. With good help from the feds I raked up 1,4 mill in 50 minutes not the best but not bad either. I must say the RES was mostly in the shadow to so it was dark there. Almost crashed into an asteroid. It was a high intensity RES. I am happy, I could buy me a new power plant for my Asp. Maybe not the best ship to bounty hunt in but I like it. It takes a punch.
Btw, I am in no danger of growing tired of the game. Im just of to an Asp and have a long way to go. I like the grind. Makes the game last for a good time. And with even new content, it will last forever. I want an even bigger ship to aim for than the Anaconda. Give us the Federal Corvette or the Clipper
Btw, I am in no danger of growing tired of the game. Im just of to an Asp and have a long way to go. I like the grind. Makes the game last for a good time. And with even new content, it will last forever. I want an even bigger ship to aim for than the Anaconda. Give us the Federal Corvette or the Clipper
Why specialise? Why not haul, high end low tonnage goods, in a triangle route long distance, honking on the first pass, detail scanning on the second .. and if someone attacks you, shoot back!
.. and missons
.. for a power
?
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Yup, time-strapped player here too. I manage a few hours every week, and I never expect to reach Elite or own an Anaconda or T9 (outside the beta discounts ). That's fine. I could probably squeeze in a bit more time, but I'm afraid I'd loose interest before the game reaches its full potential. It would be a pity to burn out, when there is still so much in the pipeline...
). That's fine. I could probably squeeze in a bit more time, but I'm afraid I'd loose interest before the game reaches its full potential. It would be a pity to burn out, when there is still so much in the pipeline...
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On the contrary, the only challenge I've gotten from the game has been revolved around trying to get a bigger, more expensive, but not necessarily more capable ship.
The fun I've gotten from the game has come from operating at the very limits of my credit balance, whatever that may be at the time. This meant investing everything I had in my ship, its outfitting, cargo and one or two rounds of insurance (most of the time). If I had a lot of pocket change but not yet enough to move to a bigger hull like some sort of profit-driven hermit crab, I'd go and buy as many of the smaller ships I previously owned as I could, and have some fun wrecking things in them before selling the whole fleet when it was time for an upgrade.
This has added an ebb and flow of tension and cockiness throughout my career, as I build up one ship to peak performance as my confidence in my ability to handle it grows, then essentially start anew with a huge (to me), unfamiliar, D-grade ship that makes me watch the scanner like a hawk every time I sneak it out of the letterbox. This reached peak tension when I traded in my Python worth 130 million credits to afford the basic, stripped out Anaconda hull at one of Li Yong Rui's discounted starports. I was left with enough change to buy a Viper, C-grade internals, 4 pulse lasers and 20,000cr worth of insurance money. I dared not touch the Anaconda, the physical manifestation of my entire career's worth of accomplishments before I worked up the insurance for it.
Well, until I got bored trying to grind 6.5 million credits in a half-kitted Viper anyway. Then it was a wondrous, heart-attack inducing stint of insurance-less trading with half a cargo hold full of rare earth metals in a ship I'd never flown before with barely enough money in it to get it off the landing pad under its own power.
Bigger ships aren't less challenge if you play them like a bigger and bigger risk to test your mettle.
Oh, and I'm glad to say I was able to make enough to take the Anaconda into its first trial-by-fire at a nav beacon the other day, insurance and everything. She's a fine ship, aye, and with stories to tell from the day her first planks were set down.
My next goal is to acquire and outfit every ship in the game. I just hope that by the time I'm done I'll have a lot of stuff to do in each and every one of them.