Horizons David why did you kill the game rewards !?

[Mundo54]

I think that is a big part of the problem. If only a limited area of the game is profitable, people will tend to lean on that one section of gameplay to advance. Not to get off topic, but the frequent rebalancing of weapons is often attributed to prevent one winning setup from dominating the game and encourage diverse setups. When the mission system has that same problem, it would seem to need fixing.

I think I have truly underestimated the Anaconda.

I find it funny, although not ha-ha funny, but more in the sense of it being ironic that my essentially casual game-play style has lead to me being in a sweet-spot vis a vis the passenger missions. I have always felt that I'm an outsider looking in, especially after I started dipping into various forum threads here and getting just a glimpse of the stuff that the more elite players are involved in. I guess in my case, it all comes down to accepting my personal limitations and just how much time I'm willing to invest in any one thing, whether it be hobby or 'work' related.

Yesterday I ran another fairly lucrative 13.4-Mil 4-destination tourist mission - Flickr static. Although with 4-destinations and the extra time that took, I might have been better served by just running shorter tourist missions or some of the bulk passenger missions instead.

But I kind of like any chance to fly my 'new' Conda and this also provides a good segway into your Conda comment and how my entry-level Conda at 166-Mil - EDCD Coriolis, may be a good 'starter-ship' for some people. I rolled some of the proceeds from the mission yesterday, into upgrading to a 6B Fuel Scoop from the 6C shown in this build.

And this provides a further segway back to Pookii's earlier comment, raising the issue of whether or not to re-install the game and get back in the saddle. If people take a look at the initial 2.2.03 Beta Main Menu - Flickr static, the main purpose of the beta at that stage was for players with existing Engineer mods, to test them.

I have not been dedicated enough in the current full game to take on the extra work involved to engage with the Engineers. But in the beta I was able to take my Conda from a normal jump-range of 32.95-ly, directly to a Level-5 FSD Upgrade with a jump-range of 42.87-ly. Needless to say, that impressed the heck out of me. So I'll be checking out the new Engineers setup when 2.2.03 goes live to see if I can handle the work involved.

Although I imagine that Frontier will need to strike some kind of balance there. They won't want to make the Engineers stuff too easy. But at the same time, drawing more people into that aspect of the game has numerous benefits. But we also have to put the Engineer upgrades into perspective. They are certainly a benefit, there's no denying that, but there are still limits to what they can do. So I think this leads to the need for some kind of new 'cost-vs-benefit model' in the game.

And Pookii also commented specifically on the Fixed vs Gimbal Weapons changes being considered, as mentioned in the 2.2 Update: Combat Balance Adjustments [UPDATED] 21-Nov-2016 thread.

In this case I found that it was kind of a reverse whammy that could impact me negatively, because after watching Rinzler o7o7o7's - The Git Gud Guide to the Gunship - YouTube, I decided to go with 7 gimballed multi-cannons on the Gunship that I had at the time. It has since been replaced with a roughly 37-Mil Federal Dropship - EDCD Coriolis.

I saw this as kind of a lazy man's way, as a traditionally non-combat player, to *potentially* enhance my ability in combat. But now this strategy may be impacted, to some degree, with the planned changes. I suspect that later stages of the 2.2.03 Beta may request that players focus on testing some of these weapon changes planned.

 

[_Iceman_]

It's clear that we can not be in the heads of people and without answers we can only suppose :

So if we want to understand why the missions do not pay since the release 2.2 and until today without any reaction and favorable correction on the part of Frontier we can only suppose that what motivated them.

Less rewards = More time playing

This is undoubtedly the most perverse way to make the selection of players, this is probably the only intelligent way they have found to keep only those who still like something in this game who became totally flat and unpleasant.

 

[rxay579]

...
But I kind of like any chance to fly my 'new' Conda and this also provides a good segway into your Conda comment and how my entry-level Conda at 166-Mil - EDCD Coriolis, may be a good 'starter-ship' for some people. I rolled some of the proceeds from the mission yesterday, into upgrading to a 6B Fuel Scoop from the 6C shown in this build.
...

Starter ship? 166 million credits? I'm thinking that you mean starter build for when one reaches the huge ships; if not, I am definately not picking the right actions to earn credits.
Those high end fuel scoops are amazing.

...
I have not been dedicated enough in the current full game to take on the extra work involved to engage with the Engineers. But in the beta I was able to take my Conda from a normal jump-range of 32.95-ly, directly to a Level-5 FSD Upgrade with a jump-range of 42.87-ly. Needless to say, that impressed the heck out of me. So I'll be checking out the new Engineers setup when 2.2.03 goes live to see if I can handle the work involved.

Although I imagine that Frontier will need to strike some kind of balance there. They won't want to make the Engineers stuff too easy. But at the same time, drawing more people into that aspect of the game has numerous benefits. But we also have to put the Engineer upgrades into perspective. They are certainly a benefit, there's no denying that, but there are still limits to what they can do. So I think this leads to the need for some kind of new 'cost-vs-benefit model' in the game.

And Pookii also commented specifically on the Fixed vs Gimbal Weapons changes being considered, as mentioned in the 2.2 Update: Combat Balance Adjustments [UPDATED] 21-Nov-2016 thread.
...

With the current system, level 2+ upgrades can be daunting, but if you've been tooling around in a somewhat balanced way, I'd highly recommend stopping in for some level 1 upgrades as they can actually be pretty nice.
A lot of single common materials can be used for useful level 1 upgrades: http://inara.cz/galaxy-engineers. Subject to change with updates, as always.

When 2.2.03 comes out, the new system should (hopefully) be a lot more approachable for everyone. As I understand it, NPCs with the two highest combat ranks can have engineered weapons, so it seems like getting involved with the Engineers can't be ignored forever.
I'd like to see more detailed info on possible experimental effects of the upgrades as I discovered at least one really interesting and unexpected one when rolling for a Lvl 1 Shielded Power Distributor (IIRC); it gave a slight buff to all charge rates like a Lvl 1 Charge Enhanced mod would have. Sadly, I didn't think to screenshot it as it came up a couple times among the first rolls, so I thought it was common, but then it didn't come up again after ~20 more rolls.

I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about getting my gimbal range cut back, but I'm glad that I'm already in the habit of using A rated sensors as I like the extra visibility to decide what to do about an incoming ship.

It's clear that we can not be in the heads of people and without answers we can only suppose :

So if we want to understand why the missions do not pay since the release 2.2 and until today without any reaction and favorable correction on the part of Frontier we can only suppose that what motivated them.

Less rewards = More time playing

This is undoubtedly the most perverse way to make the selection of players, this is probably the only intelligent way they have found to keep only those who still like something in this game who became totally flat and unpleasant.

What would Frontier gain by slowing down the game economy? This is a genuine question as I can't come up with a satisfactory argument for myself. I thought they did it as a blunt way to cut off a few ways players were using to generate obscene amounts of wealth.
In any case, like everyone in this thread, I'm hoping they are working on a better approach to it.

 

[ubit]

What would Frontier gain by slowing down the game economy? This is a genuine question as I can't come up with a satisfactory argument for myself. I thought they did it as a blunt way to cut off a few ways players were using to generate obscene amounts of wealth.
In any case, like everyone in this thread, I'm hoping they are working on a better approach to it.

I currently am experiencing very long loading times from the server. Images in station overview load quite slow. Images in crew lounge load slow. Mission board loads slow. Galaxy map loads very slow. System map loads slow. Commodity market loads very slow. Outfitting: Slow. Shipyard: Slow.

But: Some times it is very, very slow - other times it is ok. Seems that it largely depends on server load or how many people are simultaneously plaing. It makes sense to break some features of the game to get rid of a lot of players, reducing server load...

Ciao, Udo

 

[Mundo54]

Starter ship? 166 million credits? I'm thinking that you mean starter build for when one reaches the huge ships; if not, I am definately not picking the right actions to earn credits. Those high end fuel scoops are amazing.

I should probably pseudo-apologize for that comment along with providing an explanation of sorts. You never really know which audience you're playing to in these threads. For the elites, my Conda, now upgraded a bit with an extra fuel tank, and clocking in at around 171-Mil, according to EDCD Coriolis, is probably like a kiddy ship, almost laughable.

But I was thinking along the very same lines just last night. If I was a new kid on the block, just off the bus and trying to make some decent credits along with getting Allied with factions, man oh man, it would be a slow climb up the corporate ladder, a really slow climb.

And in the Truth or Dare Department, after seeing Drumatiko's Conda screenshot as mentioned in Newsletter #154, I now find myself wanting to buy the Conda Military paint Pack, the Military Earth Yellow kind of floats my boat.

But that makes me feel like a weenie, kind of. Most of the time you never even see the exterior surface of your ship unless it's in screenshots. But in the Conda on the long tourist hauls, in particular, you do spend a lot of time just looking out over the hood. So that's one justification, I tell myself.

And I figure what the hay, it doesn't hurt to give some more proceeds to Frontier, and in lieu of having a chance to look at The Books, I would have to assume that every little bit helps. Although I imagine they will rake in some decent coin when the PS4 version goes live. More happy console campers/cousins, at least once they get passed the initial learning curve.

When 2.2.03 comes out, the new system should (hopefully) be a lot more approachable for everyone. As I understand it, NPCs with the two highest combat ranks can have engineered weapons, so it seems like getting involved with the Engineers can't be ignored forever.

I'd like to see more detailed info on possible experimental effects of the upgrades as I discovered at least one really interesting and unexpected one when rolling for a Lvl 1 Shielded Power Distributor (IIRC);

At the risk of repeating myself here, I'm really keen to tuck in with the Engineer's stuff when the beta goes live. Although my understanding, at least based on forum comments that I have seen here and there, was that you typically have to go all the way to Level-5 to get the max benefit. So your Lvl-1 comments provide further encouragement, when it comes to rolling the dice.

I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about getting my gimbal range cut back, but I'm glad that I'm already in the habit of using A rated sensors as I like the extra visibility to decide what to do about an incoming ship.

I did a little wingman stuff with my Squad Lead from PlanetSide-2 yesterday. I was flying my Vulture because I thought it would be a little more fun to fly, more nimble basically, compared to my Federal Dropship.

It was a hoot although most of the time, it barely paid out enough to cover our operating costs. I was "playing turkey" with an NPC pirate at one point. I was lighting him up with the two large multi-cannons on the Vulture as we flew straight at each other, and then he exploded in a huge ball of flame right in front of me. That was followed by my flying through his debris field, stuff bouncing off my shields. Kind of trippy and that alone, as they say, was worth the price of admission.

What would Frontier gain by slowing down the game economy? This is a genuine question as I can't come up with a satisfactory argument for myself. I thought they did it as a blunt way to cut off a few ways players were using to generate obscene amounts of wealth.
In any case, like everyone in this thread, I'm hoping they are working on a better approach to it.

It almost seems like too little too late in terms of a game economy adjustment. But in this case, the payout nerf wasn't too little, it was generally too much. Hopefully more players can find a niche, and get their Mojo working again.