Something that's been on my mind since I started playing this game way back in Horizons is the lack of rewards for grinding out those coveted Elite ranks in each discipline. I know you get the triple Elite decal and there are now suit colour variations and suit decals, but that's not really an incentive to get rewarded for the time investment of getting Elite rank. Even more so now that the ranks go to Elite V there should be discipline specific rewards for attaining that coveted Elite (or Elite V) rank, and I think they should be ships/vehicles that make whatever discipline you were doing better. So I put together a list along with some pros and cons for each. Let me know in the replies if I missed any pros/cons for each, or things you might like to see as alternative Elite rank rewards.
Exploration:
A ship purely designed for exploration. The best of the best. A nice cockpit with good visibility, very lightweight (something with a default jump range of another ship in its class with a guardian FSD booster equipped) or perhaps a pre-engineered surface scanner or maybe a larger fuel tank to travel even further into the black without needing to refuel. Something that helps bridge the gap between the 80ly range of an Anaconda, and the 500ly range of a fleet carrier (maybe something around 120ly max?)
Pros:
Trade:
Something with a bigger cargo capacity than the T9/Cutterlets not talk about the infamous Panther Clipper that has maybe better hull by default to enable shieldless trade runs, or that perhaps has pre-engineered thrusters to make manoeuvrability better. Or even just in this ship you can store cargo on it while piloting another ship (some might say "lol just buy a fleet carrier" but that's an argument for another thread).
Pros:
All of the above cons can also be said about fleet carriers but on an even bigger scale and yet they are allowed so don't come at me in the comments pls ty
Combat (ship):
The best fighter in the game. Maybe it has FA permanently disabled or something to make piloting it require a degree of skill/finesse. The straight line speed of the Mamba, with the Chieftain hardpoint convergence and the twin huge hardpoints of the 'Vette. A ship so destructive people flee at the sight of it. A true warrior vessel.
Pros:
Exobiology:
This one is very simple. An Exobiology SRV. An SRV that you can scan for nearby life and also record data samples from. A scanner that perhaps only requires one data sample as it is an upgraded version of the base scanner we currently have. Or a way you could physically take a piece of the life form (like barnacles/crystal shards) and collect it in the SRV to be processed at a Vista Genomics.
Pros:
Combat (Mercenary):
Now originally for this I would have also said another SRV however the Scorpion exists now so i'll just say weapons. Better weapons. Better manoeuvrability in your combat suit (even though 99.999% of on foot combat exists on low G planets). More damage, more ammo, better aim, or even a new type of weapon unable to be bought from any pioneer supplies. Or perhaps access to a special black market where you can buy pre-engineered weapons/components without scouring the bubble on reset day looking for lucky spawns.
Pros:
IN CONCLUSION - there must be a better reward at the end of the grind. The fact that I even refer to it as a "grind" is alarming enough as it is, which just furthers my point. In all other aspects if you're the "best" at something you get the best equipment for that job. The best musicians have the most expensive equipment, the best racing car drivers have the fastest cars (usually), the best pilots get to fly the best planes etc etc. Right now the only reward for grinding the top ranks is saying "phew, thank goodness I never have to do that again" and I feel that attitude is killing the playerbase. People just give up because what's the point in getting to Elite V if there's nothing but a ship decal and bragging rights to show for it? There needs to be more incentive to get people playing and working towards something rather than rushing stuff to get it over with. I remember reading about Frontier sending people actual elite badges in the post for hitting elite rank in the game, and that was SUCH a cool thing to do. We need to bring that feeling of accomplishment back.
Exploration:
A ship purely designed for exploration. The best of the best. A nice cockpit with good visibility, very lightweight (something with a default jump range of another ship in its class with a guardian FSD booster equipped) or perhaps a pre-engineered surface scanner or maybe a larger fuel tank to travel even further into the black without needing to refuel. Something that helps bridge the gap between the 80ly range of an Anaconda, and the 500ly range of a fleet carrier (maybe something around 120ly max?)
Pros:
- Good jump range
- More efficient at scanning planets and detecting anomalies which means more people are likely to map entire systems rather than just honk/FSS then only map the ammonia/ELW/TWW etc
- Can see a lot from the cockpit without having to travel in a Type-7
- Very lightweight means susceptibility to damage (engineering required to defend against pirates)
- Large cockpit can feel exposed at times or offer an "unfair advantage" if trying to use it as a combat ship (even though it would be about as useful as a wet paper towel in a dogfight)
- Could potentially end up in a system only FCs were meant to reach (with neutron boost) which means rescue could prove difficult/time consuming.
Trade:
Something with a bigger cargo capacity than the T9/Cutter
Pros:
- Can haul a lot of cargo easily
- More profit from staying in asteroid belts longer or helping complete CG's quicker
- A good mid-way point for people who want to run more cargo but don't want the hassle of Fleet Carrier upkeep
- Can complete CG's quicker
- Can deplete station supply quicker
- Can hold cargo until prices go up again for more profit
Combat (ship):
The best fighter in the game. Maybe it has FA permanently disabled or something to make piloting it require a degree of skill/finesse. The straight line speed of the Mamba, with the Chieftain hardpoint convergence and the twin huge hardpoints of the 'Vette. A ship so destructive people flee at the sight of it. A true warrior vessel.
Pros:
- Excellent hardpoint convergence
- Good speed/manoeuvrability
- Excellent firepower
- Will be able to
gankdominate other players lower ranked in open play (as if that doesn't already happen) - Probably will end up being used for AX combat to cheese kills (gibbing)
- Hard to fly for people not experienced with permanent FA-Off
Exobiology:
This one is very simple. An Exobiology SRV. An SRV that you can scan for nearby life and also record data samples from. A scanner that perhaps only requires one data sample as it is an upgraded version of the base scanner we currently have. Or a way you could physically take a piece of the life form (like barnacles/crystal shards) and collect it in the SRV to be processed at a Vista Genomics.
Pros:
- Make Exobiology INFINITELY more fun and enjoyable
- Adds another element of discovery to Exobiology apart from just running with the scanner playing supermarket sweep with the different samples
- Scans can be done faster meaning more people are likely to map/record biological life in entire systems rather than whichever planet has the biggest CR value
- Won't be added to the game because space legs exist ("we made it so you could get out of your SRV so why do you want to stay in it" etc etc)
- Means you need to outfit your exploration ship with a planetary vehicle hangar which some people might not want to do, as they prefer exploring on-foot
- Potential to lose cargo if SRV gets destroyed (or requires cargo racks on the exploration ship to transfer to, thus hindering jump range)
Combat (Mercenary):
Now originally for this I would have also said another SRV however the Scorpion exists now so i'll just say weapons. Better weapons. Better manoeuvrability in your combat suit (even though 99.999% of on foot combat exists on low G planets). More damage, more ammo, better aim, or even a new type of weapon unable to be bought from any pioneer supplies. Or perhaps access to a special black market where you can buy pre-engineered weapons/components without scouring the bubble on reset day looking for lucky spawns.
Pros:
- Odyssey combat will actually be
tolerableenjoyable for a change - Access to pre-engineered weapons market means you can mostly skip the farce that is the Odyssey suit/weapon engineering grind
- More people actively going to settlements and spending time there, creating player-made wars/conflict zones on planets
- Again, ganking will probably be prevalent at high-traffic surface sites in open play
- People will skip the Odyssey engineering grind making it redundant as they'll just farm combat rank instead and buy the pre-engineered stuff (as if they didn't do that anyway)
- Not really much practical use for the weapons/suits outside of CZs/surface missions
IN CONCLUSION - there must be a better reward at the end of the grind. The fact that I even refer to it as a "grind" is alarming enough as it is, which just furthers my point. In all other aspects if you're the "best" at something you get the best equipment for that job. The best musicians have the most expensive equipment, the best racing car drivers have the fastest cars (usually), the best pilots get to fly the best planes etc etc. Right now the only reward for grinding the top ranks is saying "phew, thank goodness I never have to do that again" and I feel that attitude is killing the playerbase. People just give up because what's the point in getting to Elite V if there's nothing but a ship decal and bragging rights to show for it? There needs to be more incentive to get people playing and working towards something rather than rushing stuff to get it over with. I remember reading about Frontier sending people actual elite badges in the post for hitting elite rank in the game, and that was SUCH a cool thing to do. We need to bring that feeling of accomplishment back.
