Newcomer / Intro [Feedback from Noob] Starting zone

[CemXen]

Hello,

I bought the game a month ago and shelve it after boucing around everywhere and not finding any way to make credit (all missions were out of range)
I saw the next update was bringing new player starting zone so I waited.

Here we are now ! Let's talk about my experience.

*while you are reading, note that, as a new player, i do not know the mechanics of the game nor do I have to watch 50 hours of youtube let's play. There is a beginner zone and individual tutorials, everything will be explained there !

1. UI : i received a message. How the hell do I read it ?? Can't use the mouse to click on it. I had to look into key bidding for 20 minutes to figure it out. While I was there i reconfigured a bunch of keys.
Improvments :
(similar to the first take-off checklist) show the new player how to navigate the UI
space for selecting is not intuitive
why can't we use the mouse when docked, there is no gameplay reason to shake your ship around when docked (is there ??)
improve the default keymapping (mouse controlling both 'rudder' and 'ailerons' is ****, it's the reason why i was boucing around everywhere a month ago)

2. Missions : all around better than before
Improvment :
maybe place courier or delivery missions as 'recommended' ?
if there is only one reward, why the reward selection screen ? (clicking for no reason)
Question :
If i already have medicine in my cargo, why can't I directly complete the mission if offered ? I had to sell the cargo and another round trip. Why ??

3. Undocking/autopilot : great ! the 7 second rule is known by all experienced pilots but as a beginner, last month, i was looping like crazy.
Improvment :
game doesn't explain that you can't jump if your target is behind a planet/star
game doesn't explain the supercruise button (K)
game ask me to slow down when I get close to a planetary body. I emergency stopped the cruise, took damage and circled around the planet at standard speed (took a long long time, no fun !)
i can't always engage autocruise and i don't know why (and i am not mass locked)

4. Combat : BAD !
The second mission send me to fight Alpha vs Omega. I buy the Eagle, fully equip it to all D rating (the best available in newbie zone as far as I know)
I do the training scenario to practice a bit, A-OK. Then, I jump into a low intensity conflict zone (low intensity is easy right ?)

I scan around, and pick the easiest ship I see (competent ASP scout). I mean it's a scout, easy target, no ? I stay behind him, after 5 minutes where I do not take damage, he is down on 70% hull. My thought : god, it takes a long time to wear down ennemies, killing 10 as the mission ask me will take an hour.
Then out of NOWHERE, an enemy makes ONE attack pass on me, I am down to 30 % hull...... (add as many dots as you wish, i am bewildered).......
Well, all pips to engine and I flee. Missile incoming, launch chaff, OK. Missile incoming, launch chaff, OK. Missile incoming, laun... BOOM.
I don't know what killed me nor did I ever saw my killer. I DO NOT have access to missiles.

Ok, I do 2nd, 3rd try. Same result. Didn't killed one enemy. I leave the game and check the wiki.

All enemies are using ships I DO NOT have access to.
All enemies are competent or above (big lol at the elite vulture vs new players)

Frontier : what were you thinking about ?!?!?!?!

My conclusion, as a new player : Elite is not a dofighting game. It is a space trucking simulation.
I mean I got my *** handed to me on a silver plate in a training mission, in a newbie zone. In the real game out there, I will get one-shotted at 10km by an enemy I didn't even detected.

5. Graduating : is too fast
I was declared gradated after my second landing. I had moved like 12t of goods. Seeing point 5 I am not ready to move out !!
I also didn't touch exploration and mining. Yet the game want me out of newbie zone.
Improvment :
raise the trading first rank or declare graduation on the second rank
instead of sending new players to slaughter (point 5) after learning how to travel, maybe send them first to mining or whatever other activities are available

6. Staying in the newbie zone : i left the newbie zone by mistake, going from Dromi to Matet. The game routed me through a system out of the newbie zone because my jump range wasn't enough.
Improvment :
add a warning
make the autoplot avoid external zones until you took the graduation mission

NB : will improve the layout later. English is not my native language

 

[aRJay]

Cargo question, the reason you have to carry the specific cargo they give you for the mission is to stop cheating by accepting the mission travelling to or near the station in a fast tough ship and buying the cargo and delivering it.

Your super cruise/jump drive module needs to cool down after it stops before it can be restarted thee is a progress display in the bottom right of your display.

As to combat the basic training scenario is a good place to start and get familiar the advanced is there for experienced players who want a refresher, even Olympic athletes train.

Conflict Zones are out and out wars NPC ships in them are equipped with high damage weapons and will work as a team due to numbers on each side it used to be safer to visit the High Intensity ones but they have changed in the last 6 months and I haven’t visited them since.
You would probably be better off hunting ships that show as wanted when targeted and the scan completes at Nav Beacons or Low & blank Resource Extraction sites.

Missions base enemies about the rank of the mission not your rank, so be wary of taking higher ranked missions.

 

[Jaggid Edje]

NB : will improve the layout later. English is not my native language

Well, I think you communicated everything incredibly well, regardless of what your native language is. This is very good feedbeeck.

5. Graduating : is too fast
I was declared gradated after my second landing. I had moved like 12t of goods. Seeing point 5 I am not ready to move out !!
I also didn't touch exploration and mining. Yet the game want me out of newbie zone.

You know, when I first read the plans about the starting area this is what I thought at the time. I am relatively new myself and that first rank comes very, very quickly.

Hopefully you keep at it, the game is a bit steep to learn for the first few days but it does start to get easier over the first week and is a lot of fun. Good luck Commander! o7

 

[sinisalo]

game ask me to slow down when I get close to a planetary body. I emergency stopped the cruise, took damage and circled around the planet at standard speed (took a long long time, no fun !)

Interesting read, thanks for posting.

In English the game gives a "Slow Down" message at times. In most cases it is not an instruction, but a state, a message that (gravitational) forces are acting upon your ship.

But confusingly, I believe there are occasions where it is indeed an instruction, a warning to slow your speed.

What Frontier should do is change the first one to "Slowed", and if there is indeed an intention to give an instruction to reduce speed, this one should be "Slow Down". This would help to avoid confusion.

So bottom line is that in most cases you get the Slow Down message as you pass a nearby body, your ship is slowed by these forces, but it requires no action by you, other than maybe more throttle

As for combat.... it may seem unfair at the early stages, and frankly the whole idea of the starter system negates the best method of escaping combat (high wake). But over time, your skills will improve, your ship will become more capable and you will fondly remember combat when it felt dangerous.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

6. Staying in the newbie zone : i left the newbie zone by mistake, going from Matet to (tbc). The game routed me through a system out of the newbie zone because my jump range wasn't enough.
Improvment :
add a warning
make the autoplot avoid external zones until you took the graduation mission

You're seriously telling me there is no warning? Unbelievable. Come on FD, this is basic stuff.

Re combat, sinisalo is right, there will come a day when you find combat (PvE) too easy.

Some good feedback for FD there.

 

[Para Handy]

You're seriously telling me there is no warning? Unbelievable. Come on FD, this is basic stuff.
.........

No, the OP is being disingenuous. Your lose the permit only after DOCKING in a system outside the zone.

 

[Para Handy]

.........
4. Combat : BAD !
The second mission send me to fight Alpha vs Omega. I buy the Eagle, fully equip it to all D rating (the best available in newbie zone as far as I know)
I do the training scenario to practice a bit, A-OK. Then, I jump into a low intensity conflict zone (low intensity is easy right ?)
..............
My conclusion, as a new player : Elite is not a dofighting game. It is a space trucking simulation.
I mean I got my *** handed to me on a silver plate in a training mission, in a newbie zone. In the real game out there, I will get one-shotted at 10km by an enemy I didn't even detected.
...........
6. Staying in the newbie zone : i left the newbie zone by mistake, going from Matet to (tbc). The game routed me through a system out of the newbie zone because my jump range wasn't enough.
Improvment :
add a warning
..............

You do not need to undertake combat - E D is not a "space shooter". It was your choice to go fight.

I explained in a post above about the permit only being lost after you DOCK outside the zone - your routing complaint is invalid. You are warned if you plot a course TO a system outside the zone.

 

[Dommarraa]

I agree with #5. IMHO it should be higher, allowing a neebie to get ideas above his skill level, go out into the big bad, get his rear end handed to him, and scurry back for a bit more practice.
The rest just sounds a bit unjustifiably ranty, but hey ho, perfectly entitled to those opinions.

 

[Para Handy]

What is this about "Graduating"? I have played through the newbie zone three times - never saw "graduation" mentioned and I worked up to Dealer twice. The only nudge to leave the zone was the 250,000 credit "go explore" mission which is a bribe to move on.

I play on a PC - is this Graduation stuff some sort of console badge / award thingie? I see the OP complaining about the mouse not being in use in cockpit so presume they must be on PC too so I don't understand what the graduation stuff is. (No I am not going clear-save again, the newbie zone is just too boring.)

 

[Flipityflu]

What is this about "Graduating"? I have played through the newbie zone three times - never saw "graduation" mentioned and I worked up to Dealer twice. The only nudge to leave the zone was the 250,000 credit "go explore" mission which is a bribe to move on.

I play on a PC - is this Graduation stuff some sort of console badge / award thingie? I see the OP complaining about the mouse not being in use in cockpit so presume they must be on PC too so I don't understand what the graduation stuff is. (No I am not going clear-save again, the newbie zone is just too boring.)

the 'graduation' thing comes from Frontiers own words in the patch notes. It refers to the 250,000 mission, however that is not obvious, hence the confusion.

Once players have gained a rank in Combat, Trade or Exploration, they are offered a 'graduation' mission, which directs them out of the district. If they choose to complete this mission, they cannot re-enter any of the district systems.

 

[CemXen]

You do not need to undertake combat - E D is not a "space shooter". It was your choice to go fight.

I explained in a post above about the permit only being lost after you DOCK outside the zone - your routing complaint is invalid. You are warned if you plot a course TO a system outside the zone.

As you went through the tutorial zone, you should know that, after the first onboarding mission (go dock at station x), the second mission qsk you to visit Orna and participate in the Alpha vs Omega war.
So what you said is, basically : i am an idiot to follow the onbarding mission in a tutorial.

You know, other games ask you to go kill rats in someone's basement as a first combat taste. They don't send you fighting out Alduin by yourself in iron armor...

My routing somplaint is valid : i programed my flight from within starter zone to end up within starter zone. The plot router made me go through an outside starter zone system. Not ideal !

 

[Para Handy]

the 'graduation' thing comes from Frontiers own words in the patch notes. It refers to the 250,000 mission, however that is not obvious, hence the confusion.

That explains it then, I knew I had not seen the word on any mission in there, not even the 250,000 cr bribe one. (Gosh, who would have thought that F D would have poor communication skills. LOL )

 

[GeePee]

No, the OP is being disingenuous. Your lose the permit only after DOCKING in a system outside the zone.

I don't think he said he lost the permit - just that it routed him outside the starter zone, where presumably he's susceptible to all the hardships that exist outside the starter zone. I agree a warning would be useful.

As for:

You do not need to undertake combat - E D is not a "space shooter". It was your choice to go fight.

The point of the starter zone is that it is exactly that, surely - if the learning curve is too steep then the zone is not serving its purpose, especially given the bar for leaving never to return is so low. I think you're applying the benefit of considerable experience to that of a new user.

I think OPs issues are legit and were as it happens raised as areas of concern prior to release.

 

[Jaggid Edje]

....

I think OPs issues are legit and were as it happens raised as areas of concern prior to release.

Totally agree...one would think that if the starter missions are going to send you into a CZ, they'd at least have made sure the CZ's in the starter zone were populated my NPC's that were manageable for a new player....not the normal highly leveled NPC's in engineered ships.

It's pretty sad that they did nothing to modify starting area CZ's appropriately; sorta reinforces the notion that they don't actually play their own game (and therefore don't really understand the player experience).

On the other hand, outside the starting area CZ's aren't really the place to first get the hang of combat....so the starting area is as good a place as any to learn that.

 

[Para Handy]

As you went through the tutorial zone, you should know that, after the first onboarding mission (go dock at station x), the second mission qsk you to visit Orna and participate in the Alpha vs Omega war.
So what you said is, basically : i am an idiot to follow the onbarding mission in a tutorial.

You know, other games ask you to go kill rats in someone's basement as a first combat taste. They don't send you fighting out Alduin by yourself in iron armor...

My routing somplaint is valid : i programed my flight from within starter zone to end up within starter zone. The plot router made me go through an outside starter zone system. Not ideal !

I think you misunderstood what was written. Firstly, you are not asked to DO anything, it says you CAN go and undertake combat training. Secondly, the combat training mission is labelled as that - the other missions under each of the alpha and omega factions are normal combat missions against each other. So the oponnents in those are scaled to the mission description - if they are not suitable for newcomer-equipped ships then that is another matter (I didn't do any of those).

So the tutorial thing is not very good still, I agree, but a similar method applies in starting outside the PA area - you are given a welcome mission (go collect 10,000Cr) and then told you CAN go find tutorials on other facets like combat, trading, etc at certain places. You don't HAVE to do them there or in the PA zone.

The thing about your routing complaint is that you made it seem like it was a killer ("i left the newbie zone by mistake") - but in fact it doesn't matter how many places you travel through, it is DOCKING outside the PA area that revokes / cancels your permit. I can see that someone could get alarmed at seeing the route though.

 

[Para Handy]

......
I think OPs issues are legit and were as it happens raised as areas of concern prior to release.

See my responses above.

I don't disagree that the points can be made but I think some of the experiences were from misunderstandings. However those could be explained better in-game to avoid that.

P.S. I am not dismissing the OP's feedback, just clarifying / qualifying a few of the points.

 

[CemXen]

I think you misunderstood what was written. Firstly, you are not asked to DO anything, it says you CAN go and undertake combat training. Secondly, the combat training mission is labelled as that - the other missions under each of the alpha and omega factions are normal combat missions against each other. So the oponnents in those are scaled to the mission description - if they are not suitable for newcomer-equipped ships then that is another matter (I didn't do any of those).

So the tutorial thing is not very good still, I agree, but a similar method applies in starting outside the PA area - you are given a welcome mission (go collect 10,000Cr) and then told you CAN go find tutorials on other facets like combat, trading, etc at certain places. You don't HAVE to do them there or in the PA zone.

The thing about your routing complaint is that you made it seem like it was a killer ("i left the newbie zone by mistake") - but in fact it doesn't matter how many places you travel through, it is DOCKING outside the PA area that revokes / cancels your permit. I can see that someone could get alarmed at seeing the route though.

Well, I think we will agree to disagree.

I am in a training area, I NEED to do the mission to learn the game.

If I follow your argument to its logical conclusion. I CAN trade, fight, explore, mine,... in the game. But I do NOT HAVE TO. I can actually just stay in station and use Elite as a screensaver.

My feedback is all about Frontier who need to make missions suitable for beginners and the equipment available.
Wasn't it the whole point of creating this beginner area ?

An Elite Vulture oponent has nothing to do in a training area unless as your buddy (cf. Ireleth in Skyrim (sp ?))

The routing, you understood it as a killer point. Other contributor didn't saw that.

 

[aRJay]

Well, I think we will agree to disagree.

I am in a training area, I NEED to do the mission to learn the game.

If I follow your argument to its logical conclusion. I CAN trade, fight, explore, mine,... in the game. But I do NOT HAVE TO. I can actually just stay in station and use Elite as a screensaver.

My feedback is all about Frontier who need to make missions suitable for beginners and the equipment available.
Wasn't it the whole point of creating this beginner area ?

An Elite Vulture oponent has nothing to do in a training area unless as your buddy (cf. Ireleth in Skyrim (sp ?))

The routing, you understood it as a killer point. Other contributor didn't saw that.

Personally if I ever restart/get an alt character I will do what I did before which is run the training simulator until I have all the basics down then get into the game but not everyone is going to want to take that much time.

You can also play the game for years and barely touch the mission system at all.

Actually part of the reason for the beginner area was to create a zone where there would be no one with a custom built killing machine lurking around looking for victims.

I agree that Elite NPCs in Vultures seem inappropriate no matter whose side they are on.

 

[Kirknay]

The Orna combat exercises missions are basically impossible for a starting player. I went in with an eagle kitted as high end as I could make it, and got instant nuked by Alpha Co. twice.

 

[d8veh]

The Orna combat exercises missions are basically impossible for a starting player. I went in with an eagle kitted as high end as I could make it, and got instant nuked by Alpha Co. twice.

Conflict zones, like everything else in ED, are easy when you know how. Have a look at this, which explains how to do them. This is the build I'd use. note the enhanced thrusters.

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/sidewinder?code=A0p0u0F3l3d4s0f118180202B5m3----.Iw1+kA==.Aw1+kA==..EweloBjEoUwQwOYBtYhARgtmuJA=