Does anyone else find this annoying?

I've been seeing a lot of missions to a local system with a distant binary, it's about a 10 minute trip to the only planets & ports in the system, I'm happy to do the missions for easy faction influence. The last run I did three trade runs (just some domestic supplies) and two of the missions generated pirate spawns, seven in total. The trip took about half an hour but as well as the three 5* inf missions I collected a fair amount of mats and about 2mil in bounties.

A war for system control has started & each time i go I stop off in a low CZ & grab a few bonds too, judging by the traffic report I'm the only one who can be bothered to make the trip ;)
 
I did two like that today in my Federation rank grind: an assassination mission that was 440k LS away and a data drop at a starport that was 0.14ly away. It's ridiculous that we cannot jump to secondary stars in a system...
 

Lestat

Banned
The problem is that silly mission design. What the game is doing, is take the size of the system and place (almost) always the USS at 3/4 of system radius.
I check always how big is the destination system before i take the mission.
You are kidding right? Sit and do nothing for 20 minutes is good game design? You're just messing with me right?
Why don't you start using some common sense instead of complaining. And use Distance + Credit = is it worth the trouble. If not then Discard.
 
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Why don't you start using some common sense instead of complaining. And use Distance + Credit = is it worth the trouble. If not then Discard.
I think part of the problem is that rewards scale for:
  • courier
  • cargo delivery
  • passenger
... based on in-system distance to the target station. The reward generation algorithm can factor this in because it's a known, fixed point.

For missions which rely on a USS to be created... that's proc generated; in fact, you can flip the game by logging out/ in and stuff, and get the USS spawn in a different point^

This feels like an oversight (and an inconsistency) rather than deliberate design.

I'm not going to lose sleep over it... but I get why this can be a pita when some missions reward the distance to the target (noting , this wasn't the case originally) and others don't. Again... this just feels like an oversight more than anything.

^ one of the most frustrating things is when you fly 600kLs to a uss, and your connection times out around 10kls thanks to how idle you are. log back on, you're where you left the game... but the mission USS moves to the other side of the system.

Edit: tangentially... i don't mind having to traipse across the system for 20-60 minutes... but consistent behavior is important to good game design.
 
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Is there anyone with a cheap excuse?
..oh, found one.
Having to fly a spaceship in a game about flying spaceships seems like pretty good design to me.
I guess you are also fine with racing games letting you wait for 30 minutes for the tow truck to arrive , if you crashed on the far side of the Nordschleife.
However, since in the base concept ED's game world is above everything else - at least it used to be -, it is logical that some USS appear far away from the system entry point. A problem is, when the flight to said USS is not entertaining. But then you could argue, space isn't always entertaining. If you ask me, it is a tough call between the simulation and game aspect. Though supercruise feels kind of empty nonetheless.
 
The 'distant USS' issue was raised back when it started in 3.4, maybe one day fdev will tweak it 🤷‍♀️

Mostly now if I can I look for small system to do missions involving USS / hunt HGEs, because I know if there is a star at 300k ls then I can predict where my target / HGE will be ...
 
Is there anyone with a cheap excuse?
..oh, found one.
I guess you are also fine with racing games letting you wait for 30 minutes for the tow truck to arrive , if you crashed on the far side of the Nordschleife.
However, since in the base concept ED's game world is above everything else - at least it used to be -, it is logical that some USS appear far away from the system entry point. A problem is, when the flight to said USS is not entertaining. But then you could argue, space isn't always entertaining. If you ask me, it is a tough call between the simulation and game aspect. Though supercruise feels kind of empty nonetheless.

Parking isn't driving, so you analogy doesn't work.

If you DO want to use a racing game as an analogy, then asking for in-system teleports is like asking to skip to the end of the straight at Monza because driving in a straight line is boring.
 
Is there anyone with a cheap excuse?
..oh, found one.
I guess you are also fine with racing games letting you wait for 30 minutes for the tow truck to arrive , if you crashed on the far side of the Nordschleife.

I understand the frustration, I just think people should be prepared to accept that they will not do some things, or that easy & hard are not defined only by twitch skill.

The driving analogy would be that there are really long straights on some circuits, not how long the delay is if you crash. The rebuy screen is as quick in ED as recovery from a crash is in a racing game.
 
Why don't you start using some common sense instead of complaining. And use Distance + Credit = is it worth the trouble. If not then Discard.
Why don’t you start using some common sense and read the OP. He didn’t know the distance until after he accepted the mission.

Your formula is useless in that case.
 
Parking isn't driving, so you analogy doesn't work.

If you DO want to use a racing game as an analogy, then asking for in-system teleports is like asking to skip to the end of the straight at Monza because driving in a straight line is boring.
I understand the frustration, I just think people should be prepared to accept that they will not do some things, or that easy & hard are not defined only by twitch skill.

The driving analogy would be that there are really long straights on some circuits, not how long the delay is if you crash. The rebuy screen is as quick in ED as recovery from a crash is in a racing game.
It is either way waiting for something happening in the game. Though, the straight in Monza is barely comparable to any SC destination from the jump point in ED. At least on straight in racing games, the pilot has something to do even when there are no competitors around: Check various sensor readings from the car and also maybe relax for a bit.
Again I think the game would be better of if at minimum the reward was adjusted accordingly, even better if the game provided something interesting during those travels. Yes, Galnet audio is a good start, but it is not like you could play something in the background anyway.
 
Sorry, but what's the issue?

Get up; visit the Little Pilot's Room, make a cuppa, have some toast. Kiss the wife, remember the kids' names, whatever.
20 minutes is nothing in real flying.

My favorite gameplay is the kind that encourages me to literally stop playing the game for so long I can leave the room, get something to eat, use the bathroom, do some minor chores or otherwise just not play the game. Such amazing design choice so pervasively implemented.
 

Lestat

Banned
Why don’t you start using some common sense and read the OP. He didn’t know the distance until after he accepted the mission.

Your formula is useless in that case.
This game requires common sense even in the middle of a mission. Even If the user does not know the distance he she might have to travel. They have to look at Distance + Credits and dose that time and Effort worth the Credit. If not, then Discard.
It is either way waiting for something happening in the game. Though, the straight in Monza is barely comparable to any SC destination from the jump point in ED. At least on straight in racing games, the pilot has something to do even when there are no competitors around: Check various sensor readings from the car and also maybe relax for a bit.
Again I think the game would be better of if at minimum the reward was adjusted accordingly, even better if the game provided something interesting during those travels. Yes, Galnet audio is a good start, but it is not like you could play something in the background anyway.
My favorite gameplay is the kind that encourages me to literally stop playing the game for so long I can leave the room, get something to eat, use the bathroom, do some minor chores or otherwise just not play the game. Such amazing design choice so pervasively implemented.
Well, This is where the concept of common sense gameplay comes in. If you are complaining about Distance and you are not using features to avoid it. Which equal lack of Common Sense. Even if you have to discard in the middle of a mission. It like the Combat missions I like to take. If the NPC too hard. I can Discard the combat mission. Or when I accept a Large trade mission of 6000 Cargo, and I find It will take 30 trips I have the option to discard that mission. You can do the same thing With a mission that you found the distance is 300,000 LS.
 
This game requires common sense even in the middle of a mission. Even If the user does not know the distance he she might have to travel. They have to look at Distance + Credits and dose that time and Effort worth the Credit. If not, then Discard.
How can a user look at Distance + Credits to calculate effort if they don't know the distance?

Well, This is where the concept of common sense gameplay comes in. If you are complaining about Distance and you are not using features to avoid it. Which equal lack of Common Sense. Even if you have to discard in the middle of a mission. It like the Combat missions I like to take. If the NPC too hard. I can Discard the combat mission. Or when I accept a Large trade mission of 6000 Cargo, and I find It will take 30 trips I have the option to discard that mission. You can do the same thing With a mission that you found the distance is 300,000 LS.
There is a lack of common sense in this thread from someone in particular:
  • The OP already said he did not know the distance until he accepted the mission. What feature could he have used to avoid it?
  • Why should a user be forced to abandon a mission (negatively affecting his status with the minor faction) due to bad game design?
  • You fail to understand the concept of 'hard' (i.e. difficult). As we have repeatedly said elsewhere, long distance missions are not 'hard'. They are just time consuming and boring. This is different to them being 'too hard'.
 
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Lestat

Banned
How can a user look at Distance + Credits to calculate effort if they don't know the distance?
How hard is it to look at the location. It only a few jumps away.


The OP already said he did not know the distance until he accepted the mission. What feature could he have used to avoid it?
Thing Is. It doesn't matter if they don't know it or not — it what they do when they get there. Then decide if the distance is worth the Credit. Just like the Combat or mission, some people also complain about. If it too hard or if it too Long. DISCARD serves a purpose. If you think everyone should have an I win situation you are dead wrong.

Why should a user be forced to abandon a mission (negatively affecting his status with the minor faction) due to bad game design?
So are you saying If every type of task is too hard and it negatively affects his status with the minor faction. Should the game be dumb down? What I mean by Hard could mean. Combat missions. Long-distance missions. Or 6000 tons Trade missions. Each has its pros and cons. Distance Time consumed or combat.

You fail to understand the concept of 'hard' (i.e. difficult). As we have repeatedly said elsewhere, long distance missions are not 'hard'. They are just time consuming and boring. This is different to them being 'too hard'.
No nanite2000 you failed to understand using common sense is part of the gameplay, not lack of Common sense that why I don't play other games. If it too long and you are short on time. We have other mission to suit your needs. Discard is just part of the gameplay. Negative Rep is also part of the game. Yet you don't want these feature in the game.
 
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Parking isn't driving, so you analogy doesn't work.

If you DO want to use a racing game as an analogy, then asking for in-system teleports is like asking to skip to the end of the straight at Monza because driving in a straight line is boring.
Are you equating the experience on a race track to straight line SC? You're not right? That would be a pretty soft comparison by any measure.
 
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