Elite: Easymode. NPCs stop shooting 'your' target...whatever next? (rambling rant)

[eza]

The recent change to NPCs so that they no longer "steal" kills from people who couldn't learn to play well enough has made an easy game even easier.

Where is the difficulty? Where is the "Dangerous?" :-(

We have an influx of new players who can't figure out game mechanics, so whine and whine until a good game mechanic gets patched out.

We have toothless NPC interdictions, which are an exercise in whether you remember where your boost button is or not, we have Anarchy systems which are the safest places to be, and now NPCs who will doff their caps and let you take out "your" target.

Lame.
On one hand we have people who've never played a game since the original Elite, who think that this is the most amazing thing ever, because now Elite 1 has decent sound and graphics.
On the other hand we have others who have to be led by the hand, and then start crying if an NPC gets the last shot.

Up until now, FD would have posted a message telling the whiners to go and make their own game if that's the sort of game they want to play. But now we have pandering.
Please make it stop!

 

[Deleted member 38366]

-- Deleted --

 

[Ghostile]

Where is the difficulty? Where is the "Dangerous?" :-(

Anarchy and pvp?

Can't see how difficulty and dangerous could be in PvE anyway.

If getting bounties a bit easier from NPCs takes the difficulty and danger off the game, I don't even know...

 

[Phaaded]

Dude, why would a sidewinder npc that deals 1% of the damage to the target earn 100% of the bounty? Please, explain that simple concept to me. Hilariously, I had a 30k bounty stolen from me by an npc just 5 minutes ago.

 

[obliterator]

The recent change to NPCs so that they no longer "steal" kills from people who couldn't learn to play well enough has made an easy game even easier.

Where is the difficulty? Where is the "Dangerous?" :-(

We have an influx of new players who can't figure out game mechanics, so whine and whine until a good game mechanic gets patched out.

We have toothless NPC interdictions, which are an exercise in whether you remember where your boost button is or not, we have Anarchy systems which are the safest places to be, and now NPCs who will doff their caps and let you take out "your" target.

Lame.
On one hand we have people who've never played a game since the original Elite, who think that this is the most amazing thing ever, because now Elite 1 has decent sound and graphics.
On the other hand we have others who have to be led by the hand, and then start crying if an NPC gets the last shot.

Up until now, FD would have posted a message telling the whiners to go and make their own game if that's the sort of game they want to play. But now we have pandering.
Please make it stop!

Kill-stealing Npcs is not "dangerous", it's just a silly waste of time.

Also, there is a big difference between hard an annoying.

 

[Althure]

Some people just love being butt-hurt... The game is amazing, sure I would change a few things but this is not MY personal game. I just love those who think every game should be what THEY want it to be and if it isn't they rage and whine like a little girl who wants a unicorn for Christmas... Grow up!

 

[ste]

Been playing all night, 5 or 6 hours, never been interdicted once. This is so much more fun. They might as well just let us type in the amount of cash we want instead of messing about. Thats the only sure fire way of pleasing us 'gamers'.

At this rate I think I'll be playing the free original before long,

 

[eza]

I suggest a "Grumpy - Hardcore" mode for people like you :

In addition to the existing Iron Man rules, you get to experience

a) all imbalances from previous/early Betas
b) all bugs from previous/early Betas
c) +50% grind factor in all game mechanics to satisfy your needs (that includes 50% slower SuperCruise of course)
d) 50% less profit for any Credit-related activities
e) a random, partial wipe of varying degree every month

That way, you get exactly what you are looking for : "Good old times"

heheh it's a good point, and something i've wondered about a lot: am i just better at playing games now?
when i first played Elite on my parents' Amstrad 1512 with its 16 shades of grey, i was never really very good at it.
i found it so hard, that i ended up opening my save game files with the built-in DOS hex editor, debug, and changing random bytes to see what they would affect in game.

later, playing Frontier and FFE, i never got very far in either of them, even though i loved them dearly.

so elite has become a mythical beast in my mind: a game that can never be conquered, a game of such incredible difficulty that i could never hope to be any good at it.
which is maybe why i have my current problem: has elite got easier, or i have got better? or is it a bit of both?

Anarchy and pvp?

Can't see how difficulty and dangerous could be in PvE anyway.

re. PvP: i haven't gone looking for it, and in my time in game (since gamma) i've only met one other person, and we had a pleasant chat rather than a fight, so i still haven't experienced it.
maybe PvP is the difficulty level i'm looking for... i'm sure there are many pilots out there who would wipe the floor with me and give me the challenge i'm looking for.

 

[Ghostile]

re. PvP: i haven't gone looking for it, and in my time in game (since gamma) i've only met one other person, and we had a pleasant chat rather than a fight, so i still haven't experienced it.
maybe PvP is the difficulty level i'm looking for... i'm sure there are many pilots out there who would wipe the floor with me and give me the challenge i'm looking for.

I'm quite sure it's there.
I'm clueless about the pvp too, but I can imagine what difference it brings to a dogfight when the opponent thinks like you.

 

[eza]

Dude, why would a sidewinder npc that deals 1% of the damage to the target earn 100% of the bounty? Please, explain that simple concept to me. Hilariously, I had a 30k bounty stolen from me by an npc just 5 minutes ago.

because once you've progressed just a tiny bit further in the game, you'll realise that kill stealing is not an issue once you've got some decent weapons and can kill the enemy before anyone turns up.
it only takes a few hours of play to get to that stage, but no: everyone's all "boo hoo it's not fair!" and a perfectly reasonable mechanic gets patched out.

of course you're still able to kill steal from NPCs, and that's all fine, but god forbid another ship in the game should do it to you.

it's not a major deal, in itself, but it seems more of a knee-jerk reaction by FD to the complaints of people who haven't played the game for very long.
i think that they could improve the new player experience without diluting the game.

 

[Beermachine]

Was surprised by the amount of complaining over kill stealing, I'm sure there were ways to work the system to your advantage. Expect the solution to be a stopgap measure, and possibility a system in place in the future where percentage of damage = percentage of total bounty of the target. Would allow ships of different classes, ammo costs etc to participate against big targets, and get pay-outs proportional to their risks / contributions to the kill.
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Games are easier nowadays, that's the price of gaming being a much more mainstream hobby than 20 years ago. Still, rogue likes seems to be coming back into fashion, which is a good thing imo.

 

[Mixxi Pal]

A lot of my Elite misery has revolved around... putting in a lot of work and getting nothing back even though the intense dogfighting for 20 minutes is wonderful and thrilling and reward in itself etc... nothing is making me rage MORE than epic battles for ages then... *poof* he suddenly jumps at 2% hull or... *ping* a fed lands a shot or just *huh?* no bounty awarded... mystery...

Here's me trying to follow the advice of the forum "pros" and letting the security vessels do all the work. I'm about to open fire as this 30k bounty Asp reaches 6% hull and it's shields drop *rubbing hands*

[video=youtube_share;T7cValHuyQA]http://youtu.be/T7cValHuyQA[/video]

Bah bah and thrice bah!

 

[jptreen]

because once you've progressed just a tiny bit further in the game, you'll realise that kill stealing is not an issue once you've got some decent weapons and can kill the enemy before anyone turns up.
it only takes a few hours of play to get to that stage, but no: everyone's all "boo hoo it's not fair!" and a perfectly reasonable mechanic gets patched out.

of course you're still able to kill steal from NPCs, and that's all fine, but god forbid another ship in the game should do it to you.

it's not a major deal, in itself, but it seems more of a knee-jerk reaction by FD to the complaints of people who haven't played the game for very long.
i think that they could improve the new player experience without diluting the game.

If it's not an issue after a few hours play anyway, then does it matter if it has been changed?

 

[eza]

Been playing all night, 5 or 6 hours, never been interdicted once. This is so much more fun. They might as well just let us type in the amount of cash we want instead of messing about. Thats the only sure fire way of pleasing us 'gamers'.

same here: interdictions dropped way down as soon as i first upgraded my ship. it made a bit of sense to me, because now i'm a bit more 'tasty' then they'll think twice about interdicting me, but it made me feel too powerful too quickly.
now i either get zero interdictions, or a series of elite pythons with turreted weapons so i just run away (and running away is way too easy to do).

what i would like from an interdiction, is a single target of equal or slightly greater power to me, or multiple weaker targets; and i'd prefer the multiple targets option: a swarm of sidewinders would be a great challenge with lots of explosions, for instance.

At this rate I think I'll be playing the free original before long,

a direct3d version of FFE exists, which is fantastic because the graphics update makes it look like it does in your head (you know how nostalgia makes old games that you remember have great graphics in your mind?)

 

[Puck]

Honestly, it was easier before the change. I think most (all) of the whiners are just using the excuse that it was the opposite so they don't sound like big whiny cry babies.

Hint: It's not working.

 

[ste]

Thats cos you sat there waiting to long. You get 10 seconds, you dont have to wait til a split second. Pop the odd bullet in him every once in a while and let the cops do the work.

 

[Mixxi Pal]

Sad state of affairs if we're having to fly mindlessly waiting for ships to reach 4-5% hull then open fire. Yay.

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Thats cos you sat there waiting to long. You get 10 seconds, you dont have to wait til a split second. Pop the odd bullet in him every once in a while and let the cops do the work.

Awesome gameplay. Sorry I disappointed by doing it wrong.

edit: For the record, I also have footage of me piling into an Asp around 4-6% hull with all guns blazing and STILL getting nothing. In fact... I have literally HOURS of me dogfighting for ages and getting NOTHING. I'm not saying I'm not rubbish. I'm saying this game... kicks me in the balls too often.

 

[jptreen]

Sad state of affairs if we're having to fly mindlessly waiting for ships to reach 4-5% hull then open fire. Yay.

We don't have to do that. I doubt anyone really has the patience to do that. The trick is very simple, make sure you have full magazines when the enemy is under 5-10% (depending on ship, and your weapons), and you've got a great chance of getting the kill.

If people choose to wait until the security forces have almost killed a ship, that's their lookout. I think most pilots have better things to do.

 

[DraigUK]

A lot of my Elite misery has revolved around... putting in a lot of work and getting nothing back even though the intense dogfighting for 20 minutes is wonderful and thrilling and reward in itself etc... nothing is making me rage MORE than epic battles for ages then... *poof* he suddenly jumps at 2% hull or... *ping* a fed lands a shot or just *huh?* no bounty awarded... mystery...

Here's me trying to follow the advice of the forum "pros" and letting the security vessels do all the work. I'm about to open fire as this 30k bounty Asp reaches 6% hull and it's shields drop *rubbing hands*

[video=youtube_share;T7cValHuyQA]http://youtu.be/T7cValHuyQA[/video]

Bah bah and thrice bah!

If you take 20 mins to kill anything your doing it wrong. Taking that long to kill anything you should be greateful for the cops coming in and helping out.
But instead of learning to do it better, or get better gear to do it faster, let's change the entire freaking mechanic instead to make things easier.

2-3 mins on an Elite Anaconda max to kill it.

Maybe 30 seconds to 1 min on an Asp.

10 seconds if that on a Sidewinder or Eagle.

20 minutes?!?!

 

[bitstorm]

nothing is making me rage MORE than epic battles for ages then... *poof* he suddenly jumps at 2% hull or... *ping* a fed lands a shot or just *huh?* no bounty awarded...

Just turn off the option in your right hud that automatically calls the cops everytime you get in a fight.

Voila no more Feds "stealing" your kills because you asked them to turn up and help. =/



"Hello, 999? Yes please send the Police round post-haste, I'm in a gunfight with a criminal and my life is at risk"

*Police rush to the scene and open fire killing said criminal*

"WHAT THE!!!!! Oi Police what are you playing at? You got the last shot in and stole my bounty, this is ridiculous!!! Next time I call you and you come to save my life please stop shooting so I can get the last shot in" *rages at Police*

Police: "ok =("