Horizons Elite Dangerous is needlessly difficult

[babelfisch]

I am one of the 'few hours a week' players. I'm lucky if I get an hour to play of an evening and some weeks don't get to play at all. Can't agree with you though. The game was never meant to be one where you are the hero of the galaxy and this was clearly said right from the kickstarter. It is difficult to thrive in the ED galaxy and sometime difficult just to survive, but that is the challenge of the game. If you want to achieve something it takes a lot of time and effort. Even though I have to spread that time and effort over many weeks just to achieve small advances I don't find that to be a problem. I'm in this game for the long term and I don't need to get everything on a tight schedule.

I don't know if I can play this way because I really enjoy the game, or I really enjoy the game because I play this way.

+1

This makes me think of the other thread were someone claimed the game is broken because he couldn't win a fight against 2 Anacondas and 1 Python.

 

[We Are Groot]

Most of the time, I get interdicted by Vultures and Pythons. In my Cobra, I can outrun them easily. No mods, either.

I have not been interdicted very often so to soon to tell. Not getting chain interdicted is a good thing so I can't complain about that. Probably because I am in a large ship so it is harder finding missions. Interdictions do seem harder but haven't had much of a problem yet.

 

[dayrth]

BTW, I use to play SOLO but play in Open now and have yet to meet a PVP griefer or gangker. I suppose living in the USA the time zones keep most players from the UK in bed while I'm playing, lol.

Interesting.... I am in the UK and always play in open. I always though that the lack of griefers I experience was because they must all be in the US and so not online while I was. Perhaps they are just mythical

 

[MickyG1982]

Interesting.... I am in the UK and always play in open. I always though that the lack of griefers I experience was because they must all be in the US and so not online while I was. Perhaps they are just mythical

I was doing the Rares CG this week, in open, saw loads of players, but no pirates, nobody wanted my rare goods at all...

 

[thirstyfish]

ED is far too easy, even now, not even kidding.

You're given an invincibility and reset encounter drive after 15 seconds of charge time, how easier can this game get, really?

If I really wanted a gaming experience that is ungodly challenging, I have options. I can play either of the two original 8-bit zelda games, the original metroid or kid icarus, do an immortal run on any dark souls/demon souls, any Mass Effect game on insanity, Halo on legendary with all skulls, or Persona 3/Persona 4 on the hardest difficulty setting. Elite dangerous, to me, isn't supposed to be impossibly hard. Its supposed to have a reasonable level of difficulty. And the invincibility makes sense because you don't have control over your ship when the countdown timer starts, allowing a player to be killed while they don't have control is a huge no-no in the video game world.

 

[Madgarlick]

Interesting.... I am in the UK and always play in open. I always though that the lack of griefers I experience was because they must all be in the US and so not online while I was. Perhaps they are just mythical

I've always played in open and never been grieffed. I think the biggest mistake FD made was making any other option to open play, it kind of killed the game world right from the start with solo and group options leaving the game world a little too empty and dull.

 

[Red Anders]

I am actually truly glad that some people (and I think it's many people) are excited by this new update, and I'm glad that they enjoy the increased challenge... but I still think it's unfortunate that there are some players - I don't know how many - but I am among them - who just can't hack it. The intellectual requirements of my particular job notwithstanding, I don't think that this is correlated with being good at playing Elite: Dangerous or any other video game. I've never been that good at any video game, regardless of how long I play it for - maybe this is a personal lack on my part, but I started playing this game because I COULD play it, and enjoy the heck out of it, and now I don't seem to be able to. I would love to be told how to change this, but I think it will just boil down to "put the work in to get better", and my answer is that I've tried - I've played the game for hundreds and hundreds, possibly thousands of hours (OK looking it up... it says I've played for 4w 2d 12h 59m), achieved the ranks of Expert/Broker/Pathfinder (which I know is pathetic for that amount of gameplay, but I was having fun, darn it!), and handed in over 700 bounties... and now I can't win a single battle against an NPC. Not one. I die every single time. I don't think this is a reasonable adjustment in difficulty level. I feel a bit betrayed. I know I can just go play something else, but there isn't something else this awesome that I can play. This update effectively shut me, and many other people, out of playing the game. I'm glad you're better than me and enjoy it... but can't you have some sympathy for people who were really enjoying this game, aren't as good as you and don't have the ability to get as good as you, and still want to play, especially since we were willing to pay hundreds of dollars into it and support its development? I kindof want my money back, though I really did enjoy the time that I was able to play it, so that's still nice.

Sympathy? Yes, when you express yourself like that instead of throwing out tired lines about Jobseeker's Allowance of course I can have some sympathy.

I'd also say that categorising your ranks and so on as 'pathetic' isn't something I'd ever do; as you say, you were having fun and that's the important thing. Hell it's a game, fun is the point and I can't pretend looking at my ranks and stats is fun in itself, it's all about the experience.

The trouble is, from what you wrote I just don't know how they can square away the issue. No matter where the sweet spot is set in terms of difficulty there will always be someone who's just on the good side of it and someone who's just on the other side and if you move from one to the other as a result of some changes, I totally understand why it feels like a kick in the teeth.

Having said that I do honestly believe that anybody has the ability to be at least as 'good' as I am at the game; I mean really, I'm in no way some pro gamer or something and don't have some special skill set that makes me effective at the game. It's just time, experience and knowing when to fight and when not to. If you've played for over 4 weeks of game time you almost certainly have that knowledge already because from your own assessment of your abilities there were presumably fights that you wouldn't have won back before 2.1 was released - perhaps you just need to recalibrate what you deem to be your cut-off point?

I as a rule now run away when interdicted in my asp. I don't even try and avoid the interdiction I submit then jump as soon as the cool-down ends.

Prime example there - I used to smuggle in an Asp prior to 2.1 and when interdicted I'd usually just kill whatever it was with 4 pulse lasers. Now I wouldn't even think of fighting in my smuggling Asp, it will be submit, turn to face the interdictor, boost past them and jump out, every single time. If I want to smuggle small amounts of cargo and fight when I'm interdicted I'll stick a couple of cargo racks in my FAS or maybe wait until I get the rank for an Imperial Clipper. Adapt and overcome.

Seriously, I do hope you get to a point where you're having some fun again.

Also lol Gareth Bale with a 35 yard free kick after England inexplicably decide to block Joe Hart's view of it with a wall. Never mind Roy Hodgson, we'd do better with Roy Cropper managing us.

 

[tappo]

Finally I feel the need to join in the too hard/too easy debate.

I am a relatively casual player and had been reasonably competent in my vulture with fixed weapons, trading and exploring in my Asp and been quite happy.

If I wanted a higher combat challenge I would go to haz res, compromised beacon etc, and otherwise get just the occasional interdiction or trouble without having looked for it.

This was fine, big trouble only if you went looking for it.

Now I am back from the black, I thought, I'll have a change from simply flying, scanning and looking at the scenery of the galaxy and go for a bit of combat. Drop out of FSD drive in a conflict zone I had visited before and...

Taking kinetic damage,
Taking thermal damage
Ejecting
Boom

What happened? I didn't even get to see which ship fired on me...

Ok maybe my combat skills got rusty, I'll try trading today.

"Leaving federal control, have a nice flight"
FSD Charching
"Under attack"
FSD Drive Malfunction
Eject
Boom
Again, no warning, no time to even see attacker
Type 7 + cargo destroyed too

I think the problem now is "everywhere" in the bubble is hazardous, kills are too fast even in reasonably equipped ships, difficulty used to be more of a choice in where I decided to go.

TBH, I think I am going to get my asp to the valet and get back out into the black for a while. I simply don't enjoy being destroyed without even being able to fight back - I certainly dont recall ever being able to destroy any of my old opponents even with A rated vulture vs harmless sidey as fast as I am now being wiped out

Not so fun IMHO.


All since engineers update as far as I can see. Until engineers I had only claimed 240k ish on insurance, now over 4m in just a couple of days back in the bubble..