Engineering has always been one of the best and worst parts of ED for me. I was quite late to the game contacting my first Engineer, and it was a bit of a shock when I did. I'd read threads of people saying they had collected ample materials just through their "normal gameplay" so they "never did any grind" and never had any cause to explicitly go after certain materials. This was back in the original Engineers implementation. When I tried it myself for the first time I initially LOVED the gains I was getting and LOVED that once I hit level 5 with an Engineer I could
directly apply any level of upgrade to a given model, materials permitting. Sure, I burnt through my materials pretty quickly - shocking quickly in fact - but as I'd already unlocked level 5 stuff, I ONLY needed to gather enough additional materials for one role on any new module I bought. Quite often , I was perfectly happy with a middle of the road G3 roll, as even that made a HUGE difference to the ship. So, buy new ship, A-Rate (or B/D as per ship requirements) all modules, rather some materials and perform a single G3 (or G5 for FSD) roll on each. Nice. I even sometimes Engineered "lesser" modules on ships for a boost back when I wasn't quite as wealthy as I am now. However, I'd not waste a roll on anything but modules I plan to keep now.
Then we got the "improved" (really?
sigh) Engineering update. Now, to get those middle of the road G3 rolls I'd been perfectly happy with took at the very least three rolls and three times the materials - if I got lucky and had a good rep with the Engineer. Sure, the results were sometimes a little better, sometimes a little worse but there was no chance of a "bad" stat wiping out an otherwise good roll. The extra materials costs though
shudder I had to invest a lot more time just getting materials rather than doing things I found fun. Thankfully, a fellow forum member what happy to join my Private group and help me out. He flew around blowing stuff up - something HE enjoyed - and I flew around scooping up materials - so I could, eventually, do something I enjoyed. It worked pretty well and I'm very grateful for the time he spent helping me out. Still, it was SHOCKING how quickly I burnt through materials, even though I'd filled up on several! Of course I had "trading losses" for stuff I'd not been able to get hold of. I'd unlocked a couple more Engineers by then, so I had to level them up, which took quite a few wasted material rolls before I got what I wanted. A far cry from my single G3 roll and I'm happy days.
I've not really played the game for quite a few months now - since before the new Exploration stuff was introduced. It's safe to say that Engineering grind finally broke me and I simply didn't want to play. I LOVED buying new ships and testing them out in various roles - I have lots of credits. But once you've gone Engineered, you really cannot go back the improvements are so marked. So, while I could buy ships to play with, A-Rate them fully if I chose, I knew I'd NEVER get the best out of them until I Engineered....and that meant the dreaded material and data grind.
Back to my first sentence here: I've had some of my very best times flying a newly Engineered ship. Be it for it's Improved Jump range - which was a big deal for me, as I liked trading and running long-range passenger trips - shields that shrugged off enemy fire with ease, weapons I could fire for days etc. etc. I loved all aspected of an Engineered ship. Some of my worse times however have been multiple play sessions - mine are generally short and not daily - simply hunting down materials. Gathering the easy stuff on a planet could be quite fun sometimes, if RNG was on my side, other times it was pure frustration. However, it was data gathering that was often the worse for me. I felt like I was working rather than playing sometimes, and it wasn't a job I loved. That was a shame. I'd then become elated again when I finally had the materials and data I wanted. I'd even become excited about what I'd like to buy and Engineer next...until I remembered the dreaded grind
sigh
Now, I'm aware that since I was last playing regularly there have been some changes to material gathering. However, I'd need to read up on past patch notes to find out what. However, the single biggest "you've ruined it!" moment for me was when we lost the ability to attempt a high level roll right away on a fresh module. Being forced to do the whole G1 to G4 wasted material rolls before being allowed to try a G5 roll is bloody ridiculous in my view. If an Engineer I'd build a relationship with allowed me to do a G3 roll from nothing I'd be happy, as I was happy with middle of the road G3 roll on most modules under the original system. I saved my more exotic materials for FSD mods - jump range - that's about the only thing I'd regularly G4 or G5. Everything else was G3 and I was happy.
I think FDev made Engineering too effective so it became a must have after you'd tried it. The frustration of basic flight in a ship with a standard A-Rated FSD with standard A-Rated Thrusters...the thing is just HORRIBLE to fly after you've experienced even middle of the road G3 Engineering. Same for lasers and other weapons, Efficient makes so much difference, as does long-range if that suits your play-style better. But
basic lasers?
shudder So, we as players know there's such fantastic benefits to be had from Engineering that it has the potential be the addictive and fun perfecting our fleets. But then the "pay wall" raises its ugly head in the form of a time-consuming grind-fest cost to get to that fun.
Finally, RNG can be a real pain at times. I've had instances where I've had a fair amount of the required materials for a given mod at a G3-G4 level with some spares. I've then been unlucky and burnt through the lot before I've left G2 and not gotten quite close enough to unlock G3, for while I still have materials lol.
Anyway, long post, but I've been away a while and Engineering grind was part of the reason. So, I wanted to give my feedback in a fairly verbose manner
Scoob.
