Greetings, (I am posting this here as I was not very sure where to post, it is meant for Discussion too but also expresses suggestions if in wrong Forum any Mod feel free to move it)
I am a relatively new player of Elite (some 340 hours played at the time of this post). I actually had bought the game a while back on a STEAM sale, but never played it other than creating a Character.I was just too busy at the time, but the Pandemic made it so that we all have some more time for Computer game fun.
And so about a couple of weeks before the Carrier Update, I started playing ED with Horizons expansion. Dusted my old trusty Saitek X52 & Throttle configured Controls and spent about 2 days going through all the tutorial missions. And then Started playing in Solo Mode for about a week. Did some combat and some missions, then got a Hauler and did some exploration some 500 ly returning to the point of origin ungraded to a Cobra MK III and also an Explorer ASP, By that Time I was very excited with the game and especially as I had come to realize its sheer size and scope a 1:1 scale recreation of the Milky Way, Billions of Stars and Trillions of Planets and that many opportunities! Now I only played the Original (wire frame) Elite Dangerous when I was a Kid for a few hours, but I have been a Fan of the Genre since, played other Space Sims as a Teen such as Wing Commander Series, and of course Privateer and all the Star Wars Space Sims then Star Lance, and Freelancer. Then I had many years playing MMORPG's and played Space Themed ones as well, namely EVE, Earth and Beyond, Jumpggate and Star Wars Galaxies.
ED reminds me most of Privateer/Freelancer and Jumpgate.
I got very excited also about the fact that ED was not Grindy, in terms of Finances anyways. After 20 years of Playing Massively Multiplayer Games I have come to dislike the Grindy games now days as Life is more compatible with Casual play in general and I can't play as much as I used to. It is no longer about Efficiency and Accomplishment, it is simply about fun. And Grindy games are no Fun.
ED was a perfect fit for my style of play with the combined approach of the game Modes and the relatively fast Financial progression. On the other hand what I also like is the Journey not only the Destination. And the Journey is a monumental in this game, with 400 Billion Stars to explore I doubt anyone could ever do it in their life time, and then we have Personal Ranks, Navy Ranks Engineer Rep and who knows what else (I am still discovering and learning), all journeys one can undertake in a more paced way.
But at least without struggling for Finances while undertaking all these Journeys. That was the key for me.
So by the end of the second week I had excited some of my friends and got 6 of them to get the game, I managed to create a Squadron with my initial funds and we started playing mainly in Private Group mode since and sometimes Open mode.
I LOVE the way the game is made with modes all sharing the same Galaxy.If I had not experienced it I may probably not see it favorably. But now that I have I think it fits very well with this type of game and its scope.
Then the Carrier Update Happened as my friends were joining the game. They spent a few days in the starting area, so in the mean times I was exploring other aspects of the game such as combat and trade and missions and decided to do some trading and that led em to look for commodities and their prices etc, and so found Tritium was the most lucrative.
I Converted the ASP Explorer with Cargo. I also found the Inara Tool/Web site by then. So I looked for Tritium at Low Price, 4k and then identified High price places to sell it (roughly 50k). I was operating around the Area of Helgardu System buying Low and selling High on the ASP explorer a few Jumps further.
As my friends came out of the Starting place I shared the info with them and they engaged in some trade too to quickly boost their finances so we can then continue our exploration of the other game aspects. Not all are traders, some prefer the Combat of the game but they found it too slow to progress financially like that. Mining was out of the question for them and to a degree met too, only a couple of our group likes mining really as an activity. So the next best thing was a quick lucrative Trade,so one can quickly go back to the activity of fun. And it is fun to have such quick avenues because different activities are perceived different different people. Some people find Trading and Transporting Boring others find combat not fun other find mining boring, same with exploration.
The game seemed to have however avenues so that any Style of play with a minimum of effort can progress nevertheless. So the combat people spent hours doing combat and maybe one hour doing Tritium Trading. And this did not feel compelled to do things that were not fun to them, did not feel like the game worked against them. On the other hand the Trader Types did some Open Trade with Tritium to buy bigger Cargo Ships so they can then do the Big missions! This is what was fun to them.
Ad Hoc Trading Tritium seemed like a Balancing Factor conciliating many styles. For me I like primarily exploring, but I appreciated the Ad Hoc Trade of Tritium in the mean time and when not out there exploring. We even formed Wings and experimented with Multi-Crewing. Wings mechanics are ok. Multicrew is not fleshed out I think, very confusing what each person can and not clear what the Host can relegate or how to other players. Maybe I missed something there. But lets just say our first experience with it was not exciting.
Wings were fun however, the bonuses for activities the Wing Missions. It just requires more practice to stay together while jumping etc or when a wing member gets intercepted in Supercruise and gets drooped out. Very tough to quickly find them etc. Again there maybe still things to learn on the mechanics.
So in about a week after that we all managed to make some funds and progressed to Larger ships and learned about Fittings and differences between Class and Grades, and more of less fitting for the intended role. We have no Mods yet, no Alien Equipments etc. Really basic stuff.
I prefer Multi-Role Sips, so beyond the ASP I went with a Python which I used for Trading while some of my Trader friends went to Type-7 and even Type-9 ships. I did not invest in a Trading ship.
Also I did not want to go further higher for Anaconda etc I think I am too new to be using Advanced ships yet. So the only other ship after the Python I got was a Viper MK IV to do Navy Rank, Courriel and Combat Missions with with a bit more Combat profile than the Cobra Mk III which I really like too.
Traded for about 400 Million, got the Python and Viper plus appropriate fittings and then sat comfortably at around 200 million while I switched to raise ranks.
Made Duke with the Empire using Cobra Mk III and then started Federation Navy Ranking with Viper Mk IV which I am till doing now. Once that is over I plan to switch to ASP Explorer and go on a 5000 ly exploration Expedition. After that I will look for raising engineering and getting some Alien Fittings (Guardian etc). At least that was my Plan.
But I have not been playing lately, I somehow lost interest after the latest Patch which affected Financial Progression. I do not know why but my motivation went away once I saw the Tritium Trade being nerfed. I understand that the latest patch was supposed to address some Bugs that were being exploited from what I read. But why change the Trade and availability of Tritium?
Why is locating the best Source for Tritium every day and moving there to buy low and then transport it several jumps away to sell it high not good? Yes I can still do it with lower Profit Margin but now it will require 3-4 hours to get the same income as before.
Back and forth grinding is not my idea of fun, when it was faster it is acceptable because it doe snot last long you can do it for a while meet your goal and then go back to what gives you fun or undertake other goals. Rep grind is ok because it is temporary it is a goal a journey that can be enjoyed but that has an end at one point. But perpetually having to grind for finances is not Fun in the long run.to me, and I assume to a part of the player base too. I know some people like it because it is their journey however changes like these affect everyone. And that is what is not good in my opinion.
And that is all I will say as part of the Feedback. I do not want to complain, but I want to express how changes like that affect players and the Fun of the game which in turn de-motivates players from playing this game and motivates players to play something else instead.
On to some suggestions for possible improvement:
1- Limpets system. While I love all other aspects of Gameplay and the mechanics and approach to them I really find Limpets a Frustrating intuitive mechanic. The game Timeframe is supposed to be in the 4th millennium (circa 3336?), have we lost the knowledge of Drones and Robots? Why have a System that requires Cargo with perishable devices called limpets which cannot be reused? It feels archaic but also poor in terms of practicality from a game-play POV as well.
I think a system itself (lets say Collector Limpets) should include Collector Robot Drone or in Drones/Robots according to size and Class which are reusable. Make the system itself have more weight when equipped in the ship instead of having perishable Drones (limpets) taking up cargo space etc. It would be more fun.
2-RPG Ambiance. While I do enjoy and love the Open ended and Sandbox like nature of the Game. I find that it lacks some RPG Ambiance. Like for instance when we land on different Bases instead of doing everything on a Holographic Screen from our Cockpit why not choose to go in a lounge filled with Characters instead (NPC's) etc witch whom we interact either directly or through a Data Pad but at least by a Window Lounge where we can observe the Traffic out side or a nice Vista in Space etc? Enhancing our immersion a bit and making the Universe of Elite more lively. It does feel a bit bland and colorless and sometimes lifeless.
I do not know what the plans are for Odyssey, but I seen hopes that are quite ambitious like being able to walk in stations too not only barren planetary sites. I do not think we absolutely need to be walking inside stations in space or in ground one but at least have some transition to a different location in the stations themselves in space or in planetary ones would go a long way. Maybe some nice background music maybe music depending on which Faction controls the station, a thematic approach to it all?
3-Colors Customizations. It would be really great to have the possibility to change the colors of the UI. I found a Website which shows how to do it with modifying the .xml files but it is very limited. It changes colors that should not change. Such as Reputation Rankings, and even Colors of Friend and Foe on the Radar. There needs to be more granularity there and ideally Customization from within the Game UI itself because not everyone is handy with modifying game files etc. So a more user friendly and granular way please.
That Orangy color UI gets monotonous after a time...really.
4-Cargo and Trade. What I would like to suggest here is to try and get inspiration from the real world's history, especially the Age of Sail and Age of Exploration period when people traded goods from one side of the planet to another explored new routes opened new markets and exchanged new commodities. And now traspose that for Space exploration.
ED has a great Variety of commodities, but none of them is valuable enough to trade outside of missions really. The ad Hoc Trade aspect of the game is one dimensional. Just aim for the Highest Paying commodity and trade that.
Greetings, (I am posting this here as I was not very sure where to post, it is meant for Discussion too but also expresses suggestions if in wrong Forum any Mod feel free to move it)
I am a relatively new player of Elite (some 340 hours played at the time of this post). I actually had bought the game a while back on a STEAM sale, but never played it other than creating a Character.I was just too busy at the time, but the Pandemic made it so that we all have some more time for Computer game fun.
And so about a couple of weeks before the Carrier Update, I started playing ED with Horizons expansion. Dusted my old trusty Saitek X52 & Throttle configured Controls and spent about 2 days going through all the tutorial missions. And then Started playing in Solo Mode for about a week. Did some combat and some missions, then got a Hauler and did some exploration some 500 ly returning to the point of origin ungraded to a Cobra MK III and also an Explorer ASP, By that Time I was very excited with the game and especially as I had come to realize its sheer size and scope a 1:1 scale recreation of the Milky Way, Billions of Stars and Trillions of Planets and that many opportunities! Now I only played the Original (wire frame) Elite Dangerous when I was a Kid for a few hours, but I have been a Fan of the Genre since, played other Space Sims as a Teen such as Wing Commander Series, and of course Privateer and all the Star Wars Space Sims then Star Lance, and Freelancer. Then I had many years playing MMORPG's and played Space Themed ones as well, namely EVE, Earth and Beyond, Jumpggate and Star Wars Galaxies.
ED reminds me most of Privateer/Freelancer and Jumpgate.
I got very excited also about the fact that ED was not Grindy, in terms of Finances anyways. After 20 years of Playing Massively Multiplayer Games I have come to dislike the Grindy games now days as Life is more compatible with Casual play in general and I can't play as much as I used to. It is no longer about Efficiency and Accomplishment, it is simply about fun. And Grindy games are no Fun.
ED was a perfect fit for my style of play with the combined approach of the game Modes and the relatively fast Financial progression. On the other hand what I also like is the Journey not only the Destination. And the Journey is a monumental in this game, with 400 Billion Stars to explore I doubt anyone could ever do it in their life time, and then we have Personal Ranks, Navy Ranks Engineer Rep and who knows what else (I am still discovering and learning), all journeys one can undertake in a more paced way.
But at least without struggling for Finances while undertaking all these Journeys. That was the key for me.
So by the end of the second week I had excited some of my friends and got 6 of them to get the game, I managed to create a Squadron with my initial funds and we started playing mainly in Private Group mode since and sometimes Open mode.
I LOVE the way the game is made with modes all sharing the same Galaxy.If I had not experienced it I may probably not see it favorably. But now that I have I think it fits very well with this type of game and its scope.
Then the Carrier Update Happened as my friends were joining the game. They spent a few days in the starting area, so in the mean times I was exploring other aspects of the game such as combat and trade and missions and decided to do some trading and that led em to look for commodities and their prices etc, and so found Tritium was the most lucrative.
I Converted the ASP Explorer with Cargo. I also found the Inara Tool/Web site by then. So I looked for Tritium at Low Price, 4k and then identified High price places to sell it (roughly 50k). I was operating around the Area of Helgardu System buying Low and selling High on the ASP explorer a few Jumps further.
As my friends came out of the Starting place I shared the info with them and they engaged in some trade too to quickly boost their finances so we can then continue our exploration of the other game aspects. Not all are traders, some prefer the Combat of the game but they found it too slow to progress financially like that. Mining was out of the question for them and to a degree met too, only a couple of our group likes mining really as an activity. So the next best thing was a quick lucrative Trade,so one can quickly go back to the activity of fun. And it is fun to have such quick avenues because different activities are perceived different different people. Some people find Trading and Transporting Boring others find combat not fun other find mining boring, same with exploration.
The game seemed to have however avenues so that any Style of play with a minimum of effort can progress nevertheless. So the combat people spent hours doing combat and maybe one hour doing Tritium Trading. And this did not feel compelled to do things that were not fun to them, did not feel like the game worked against them. On the other hand the Trader Types did some Open Trade with Tritium to buy bigger Cargo Ships so they can then do the Big missions! This is what was fun to them.
Ad Hoc Trading Tritium seemed like a Balancing Factor conciliating many styles. For me I like primarily exploring, but I appreciated the Ad Hoc Trade of Tritium in the mean time and when not out there exploring. We even formed Wings and experimented with Multi-Crewing. Wings mechanics are ok. Multicrew is not fleshed out I think, very confusing what each person can and not clear what the Host can relegate or how to other players. Maybe I missed something there. But lets just say our first experience with it was not exciting.
Wings were fun however, the bonuses for activities the Wing Missions. It just requires more practice to stay together while jumping etc or when a wing member gets intercepted in Supercruise and gets drooped out. Very tough to quickly find them etc. Again there maybe still things to learn on the mechanics.
So in about a week after that we all managed to make some funds and progressed to Larger ships and learned about Fittings and differences between Class and Grades, and more of less fitting for the intended role. We have no Mods yet, no Alien Equipments etc. Really basic stuff.
I prefer Multi-Role Sips, so beyond the ASP I went with a Python which I used for Trading while some of my Trader friends went to Type-7 and even Type-9 ships. I did not invest in a Trading ship.
Also I did not want to go further higher for Anaconda etc I think I am too new to be using Advanced ships yet. So the only other ship after the Python I got was a Viper MK IV to do Navy Rank, Courriel and Combat Missions with with a bit more Combat profile than the Cobra Mk III which I really like too.
Traded for about 400 Million, got the Python and Viper plus appropriate fittings and then sat comfortably at around 200 million while I switched to raise ranks.
Made Duke with the Empire using Cobra Mk III and then started Federation Navy Ranking with Viper Mk IV which I am till doing now. Once that is over I plan to switch to ASP Explorer and go on a 5000 ly exploration Expedition. After that I will look for raising engineering and getting some Alien Fittings (Guardian etc). At least that was my Plan.
But I have not been playing lately, I somehow lost interest after the latest Patch which affected Financial Progression. I do not know why but my motivation went away once I saw the Tritium Trade being nerfed. I understand that the latest patch was supposed to address some Bugs that were being exploited from what I read. But why change the Trade and availability of Tritium?
Why is locating the best Source for Tritium every day and moving there to buy low and then transport it several jumps away to sell it high not good? Yes I can still do it with lower Profit Margin but now it will require 3-4 hours to get the same income as before.
Back and forth grinding is not my idea of fun, when it was faster it is acceptable because it doe snot last long you can do it for a while meet your goal and then go back to what gives you fun or undertake other goals. Rep grind is ok because it is temporary it is a goal a journey that can be enjoyed but that has an end at one point. But perpetually having to grind for finances is not Fun in the long run.to me, and I assume to a part of the player base too. I know some people like it because it is their journey however changes like these affect everyone. And that is what is not good in my opinion.
And that is all I will say as part of the Feedback. I do not want to complain, but I want to express how changes like that affect players and the Fun of the game which in turn de-motivates players from playing this game and motivates players to play something else instead.
On to some suggestions for possible improvement:
1- Limpets system. While I love all other aspects of Gameplay and the mechanics and approach to them I really find Limpets a Frustrating intuitive mechanic. The game Timeframe is supposed to be in the 4th millennium (circa 3336?), have we lost the knowledge of Drones and Robots? Why have a System that requires Cargo with perishable devices called limpets which cannot be reused? It feels archaic but also poor in terms of practicality from a game-play POV as well.
And why does 1 Limpet weight 1 ton to begin with. Isn't that a awful waste of space and weight? Why not have a Package of 100 Limpets use 1 ton?
I think a system itself (lets say Collector Limpets) should include Collector Robot Drone or in Drones/Robots according to size and Class which are reusable. Make the system itself have more weight when equipped in the ship instead of having perishable Drones (limpets) taking up cargo space etc. It would be more fun.
Or at least have Limpet Packages 100 limpets cost 1 ton.
2-RPG Ambiance. While I do enjoy and love the Open ended and Sandbox like nature of the Game. I find that it lacks some RPG Ambiance. Like for instance when we land on different Bases instead of doing everything on a Holographic Screen from our Cockpit why not choose to go in a lounge filled with Characters instead (NPC's) etc witch whom we interact either directly or through a Data Pad but at least by a Window Lounge where we can observe the Traffic out side or a nice Vista in Space etc? Enhancing our immersion a bit and making the Universe of Elite more lively. It does feel a bit bland and colorless and sometimes lifeless.
I do not know what the plans are for Odyssey, but I seen hopes that are quite ambitious like being able to walk in stations too not only barren planetary sites. I do not think we absolutely need to be walking inside stations in space or in ground one but at least have some transition to a different location in the stations themselves in space or in planetary ones would go a long way. Maybe some nice background music maybe music depending on which Faction controls the station, a thematic approach to it all?
3-Colors Customizations. It would be really great to have the possibility to change the colors of the UI. I found a Website which shows how to do it with modifying the .xml files but it is very limited. It changes colors that should not change. Such as Reputation Rankings, and even Colors of Friend and Foe on the Radar. There needs to be more granularity there and ideally Customization from within the Game UI itself because not everyone is handy with modifying game files etc. So a more user friendly and granular way please.
That Orangy color UI gets monotonous after a time...really.
4-Cargo and Trade. Ad Hoc (freelance) trading in this game is not very diverse or exciting it seems. There is no reason to trade anything Freelance other than the most expensive Commodity (such as Tritium), no incentive no motivation no purpose other than missions. That does not incite excitement, and makes the whole process one dimensional and monotonous.
What I would like to suggest here is to try and get inspiration from the real world's history, especially the Age of Sail and Age of Exploration period when people traded goods from one side of the planet to another explored new routes opened new markets and exchanged many new commodities not only one and for qualitative reasons too.
I am not sure if the game has mechanics which help players know that if I trade Cotton to 500 ly it will yield a better return than if I trade Tritium for 150 ly, but if it does it is not visible.
Also I find the way Cargo Space in the game very limiting. I understand it is based on tonnage which affect the Jump Range etc. But it limits the Purpose of Commerce and Trade making it monotonous. I think Granularity is needed here. I think maybe the system should permit also for volume or mass. 10 Tons of Uranium does not have the same mass and volume as 10 tons of Cotton balls.
But it maybe complicated to change jump mechanics based on mass volume, so instead, maybe a re-calibration of the Commodities in terms of Units (taking account mass and volume) would be a good solution. This way in a Single ton I can fit 1000 Units of Cotton or 10 Units of Uranium.
Now this may open some interesting Commercial opportunities., all of the sudden trading Cotton instead of Uranium in some remote Mining station becomes relevant purposeful and equally lucrative.
And that is about it for me at this time. I find the scope of the game awesome to begin with and very exciting with tremendous potential for fun. It just requires polishing and small impromvements in terms of its gameplay mechanics in some areas.
Also looking forward to Odyssey.
I am still not very motivated to play after the last changes. So I have been playing some other game (Building a success Colony in Surviving Mars) to create some nostalgia so I can come back with some renewed motivation to play ED.
And in the mean time hoping that things will improve in General. and also hoping that we see some reversal for Trade enhancement for combat and some missions etc. Financial Progression should not be a Grind in this game.
I read some people said it took them 6 months to get a Python,. and I feel sorry for you, appreciate your patience and struggles. Yet, game such as this, with this kind of scope cannot be bug down itself in minutiae of making ends meet and struggling to get the next ship. This is not Wing Commander Privateer with its 20-40 Star locations-systems. There is a Whole Galaxy of 400 billion stars out there in this one, it cannot be about spending 6 months to get a better ship.
Cheers! o7
I am a relatively new player of Elite (some 340 hours played at the time of this post). I actually had bought the game a while back on a STEAM sale, but never played it other than creating a Character.I was just too busy at the time, but the Pandemic made it so that we all have some more time for Computer game fun.
And so about a couple of weeks before the Carrier Update, I started playing ED with Horizons expansion. Dusted my old trusty Saitek X52 & Throttle configured Controls and spent about 2 days going through all the tutorial missions. And then Started playing in Solo Mode for about a week. Did some combat and some missions, then got a Hauler and did some exploration some 500 ly returning to the point of origin ungraded to a Cobra MK III and also an Explorer ASP, By that Time I was very excited with the game and especially as I had come to realize its sheer size and scope a 1:1 scale recreation of the Milky Way, Billions of Stars and Trillions of Planets and that many opportunities! Now I only played the Original (wire frame) Elite Dangerous when I was a Kid for a few hours, but I have been a Fan of the Genre since, played other Space Sims as a Teen such as Wing Commander Series, and of course Privateer and all the Star Wars Space Sims then Star Lance, and Freelancer. Then I had many years playing MMORPG's and played Space Themed ones as well, namely EVE, Earth and Beyond, Jumpggate and Star Wars Galaxies.
ED reminds me most of Privateer/Freelancer and Jumpgate.
I got very excited also about the fact that ED was not Grindy, in terms of Finances anyways. After 20 years of Playing Massively Multiplayer Games I have come to dislike the Grindy games now days as Life is more compatible with Casual play in general and I can't play as much as I used to. It is no longer about Efficiency and Accomplishment, it is simply about fun. And Grindy games are no Fun.
ED was a perfect fit for my style of play with the combined approach of the game Modes and the relatively fast Financial progression. On the other hand what I also like is the Journey not only the Destination. And the Journey is a monumental in this game, with 400 Billion Stars to explore I doubt anyone could ever do it in their life time, and then we have Personal Ranks, Navy Ranks Engineer Rep and who knows what else (I am still discovering and learning), all journeys one can undertake in a more paced way.
But at least without struggling for Finances while undertaking all these Journeys. That was the key for me.
So by the end of the second week I had excited some of my friends and got 6 of them to get the game, I managed to create a Squadron with my initial funds and we started playing mainly in Private Group mode since and sometimes Open mode.
I LOVE the way the game is made with modes all sharing the same Galaxy.If I had not experienced it I may probably not see it favorably. But now that I have I think it fits very well with this type of game and its scope.
Then the Carrier Update Happened as my friends were joining the game. They spent a few days in the starting area, so in the mean times I was exploring other aspects of the game such as combat and trade and missions and decided to do some trading and that led em to look for commodities and their prices etc, and so found Tritium was the most lucrative.
I Converted the ASP Explorer with Cargo. I also found the Inara Tool/Web site by then. So I looked for Tritium at Low Price, 4k and then identified High price places to sell it (roughly 50k). I was operating around the Area of Helgardu System buying Low and selling High on the ASP explorer a few Jumps further.
As my friends came out of the Starting place I shared the info with them and they engaged in some trade too to quickly boost their finances so we can then continue our exploration of the other game aspects. Not all are traders, some prefer the Combat of the game but they found it too slow to progress financially like that. Mining was out of the question for them and to a degree met too, only a couple of our group likes mining really as an activity. So the next best thing was a quick lucrative Trade,so one can quickly go back to the activity of fun. And it is fun to have such quick avenues because different activities are perceived different different people. Some people find Trading and Transporting Boring others find combat not fun other find mining boring, same with exploration.
The game seemed to have however avenues so that any Style of play with a minimum of effort can progress nevertheless. So the combat people spent hours doing combat and maybe one hour doing Tritium Trading. And this did not feel compelled to do things that were not fun to them, did not feel like the game worked against them. On the other hand the Trader Types did some Open Trade with Tritium to buy bigger Cargo Ships so they can then do the Big missions! This is what was fun to them.
Ad Hoc Trading Tritium seemed like a Balancing Factor conciliating many styles. For me I like primarily exploring, but I appreciated the Ad Hoc Trade of Tritium in the mean time and when not out there exploring. We even formed Wings and experimented with Multi-Crewing. Wings mechanics are ok. Multicrew is not fleshed out I think, very confusing what each person can and not clear what the Host can relegate or how to other players. Maybe I missed something there. But lets just say our first experience with it was not exciting.
Wings were fun however, the bonuses for activities the Wing Missions. It just requires more practice to stay together while jumping etc or when a wing member gets intercepted in Supercruise and gets drooped out. Very tough to quickly find them etc. Again there maybe still things to learn on the mechanics.
So in about a week after that we all managed to make some funds and progressed to Larger ships and learned about Fittings and differences between Class and Grades, and more of less fitting for the intended role. We have no Mods yet, no Alien Equipments etc. Really basic stuff.
I prefer Multi-Role Sips, so beyond the ASP I went with a Python which I used for Trading while some of my Trader friends went to Type-7 and even Type-9 ships. I did not invest in a Trading ship.
Also I did not want to go further higher for Anaconda etc I think I am too new to be using Advanced ships yet. So the only other ship after the Python I got was a Viper MK IV to do Navy Rank, Courriel and Combat Missions with with a bit more Combat profile than the Cobra Mk III which I really like too.
Traded for about 400 Million, got the Python and Viper plus appropriate fittings and then sat comfortably at around 200 million while I switched to raise ranks.
Made Duke with the Empire using Cobra Mk III and then started Federation Navy Ranking with Viper Mk IV which I am till doing now. Once that is over I plan to switch to ASP Explorer and go on a 5000 ly exploration Expedition. After that I will look for raising engineering and getting some Alien Fittings (Guardian etc). At least that was my Plan.
But I have not been playing lately, I somehow lost interest after the latest Patch which affected Financial Progression. I do not know why but my motivation went away once I saw the Tritium Trade being nerfed. I understand that the latest patch was supposed to address some Bugs that were being exploited from what I read. But why change the Trade and availability of Tritium?
Why is locating the best Source for Tritium every day and moving there to buy low and then transport it several jumps away to sell it high not good? Yes I can still do it with lower Profit Margin but now it will require 3-4 hours to get the same income as before.
Back and forth grinding is not my idea of fun, when it was faster it is acceptable because it doe snot last long you can do it for a while meet your goal and then go back to what gives you fun or undertake other goals. Rep grind is ok because it is temporary it is a goal a journey that can be enjoyed but that has an end at one point. But perpetually having to grind for finances is not Fun in the long run.to me, and I assume to a part of the player base too. I know some people like it because it is their journey however changes like these affect everyone. And that is what is not good in my opinion.
And that is all I will say as part of the Feedback. I do not want to complain, but I want to express how changes like that affect players and the Fun of the game which in turn de-motivates players from playing this game and motivates players to play something else instead.
On to some suggestions for possible improvement:
1- Limpets system. While I love all other aspects of Gameplay and the mechanics and approach to them I really find Limpets a Frustrating intuitive mechanic. The game Timeframe is supposed to be in the 4th millennium (circa 3336?), have we lost the knowledge of Drones and Robots? Why have a System that requires Cargo with perishable devices called limpets which cannot be reused? It feels archaic but also poor in terms of practicality from a game-play POV as well.
I think a system itself (lets say Collector Limpets) should include Collector Robot Drone or in Drones/Robots according to size and Class which are reusable. Make the system itself have more weight when equipped in the ship instead of having perishable Drones (limpets) taking up cargo space etc. It would be more fun.
2-RPG Ambiance. While I do enjoy and love the Open ended and Sandbox like nature of the Game. I find that it lacks some RPG Ambiance. Like for instance when we land on different Bases instead of doing everything on a Holographic Screen from our Cockpit why not choose to go in a lounge filled with Characters instead (NPC's) etc witch whom we interact either directly or through a Data Pad but at least by a Window Lounge where we can observe the Traffic out side or a nice Vista in Space etc? Enhancing our immersion a bit and making the Universe of Elite more lively. It does feel a bit bland and colorless and sometimes lifeless.
I do not know what the plans are for Odyssey, but I seen hopes that are quite ambitious like being able to walk in stations too not only barren planetary sites. I do not think we absolutely need to be walking inside stations in space or in ground one but at least have some transition to a different location in the stations themselves in space or in planetary ones would go a long way. Maybe some nice background music maybe music depending on which Faction controls the station, a thematic approach to it all?
3-Colors Customizations. It would be really great to have the possibility to change the colors of the UI. I found a Website which shows how to do it with modifying the .xml files but it is very limited. It changes colors that should not change. Such as Reputation Rankings, and even Colors of Friend and Foe on the Radar. There needs to be more granularity there and ideally Customization from within the Game UI itself because not everyone is handy with modifying game files etc. So a more user friendly and granular way please.
That Orangy color UI gets monotonous after a time...really.
4-Cargo and Trade. What I would like to suggest here is to try and get inspiration from the real world's history, especially the Age of Sail and Age of Exploration period when people traded goods from one side of the planet to another explored new routes opened new markets and exchanged new commodities. And now traspose that for Space exploration.
ED has a great Variety of commodities, but none of them is valuable enough to trade outside of missions really. The ad Hoc Trade aspect of the game is one dimensional. Just aim for the Highest Paying commodity and trade that.
Greetings, (I am posting this here as I was not very sure where to post, it is meant for Discussion too but also expresses suggestions if in wrong Forum any Mod feel free to move it)
I am a relatively new player of Elite (some 340 hours played at the time of this post). I actually had bought the game a while back on a STEAM sale, but never played it other than creating a Character.I was just too busy at the time, but the Pandemic made it so that we all have some more time for Computer game fun.
And so about a couple of weeks before the Carrier Update, I started playing ED with Horizons expansion. Dusted my old trusty Saitek X52 & Throttle configured Controls and spent about 2 days going through all the tutorial missions. And then Started playing in Solo Mode for about a week. Did some combat and some missions, then got a Hauler and did some exploration some 500 ly returning to the point of origin ungraded to a Cobra MK III and also an Explorer ASP, By that Time I was very excited with the game and especially as I had come to realize its sheer size and scope a 1:1 scale recreation of the Milky Way, Billions of Stars and Trillions of Planets and that many opportunities! Now I only played the Original (wire frame) Elite Dangerous when I was a Kid for a few hours, but I have been a Fan of the Genre since, played other Space Sims as a Teen such as Wing Commander Series, and of course Privateer and all the Star Wars Space Sims then Star Lance, and Freelancer. Then I had many years playing MMORPG's and played Space Themed ones as well, namely EVE, Earth and Beyond, Jumpggate and Star Wars Galaxies.
ED reminds me most of Privateer/Freelancer and Jumpgate.
I got very excited also about the fact that ED was not Grindy, in terms of Finances anyways. After 20 years of Playing Massively Multiplayer Games I have come to dislike the Grindy games now days as Life is more compatible with Casual play in general and I can't play as much as I used to. It is no longer about Efficiency and Accomplishment, it is simply about fun. And Grindy games are no Fun.
ED was a perfect fit for my style of play with the combined approach of the game Modes and the relatively fast Financial progression. On the other hand what I also like is the Journey not only the Destination. And the Journey is a monumental in this game, with 400 Billion Stars to explore I doubt anyone could ever do it in their life time, and then we have Personal Ranks, Navy Ranks Engineer Rep and who knows what else (I am still discovering and learning), all journeys one can undertake in a more paced way.
But at least without struggling for Finances while undertaking all these Journeys. That was the key for me.
So by the end of the second week I had excited some of my friends and got 6 of them to get the game, I managed to create a Squadron with my initial funds and we started playing mainly in Private Group mode since and sometimes Open mode.
I LOVE the way the game is made with modes all sharing the same Galaxy.If I had not experienced it I may probably not see it favorably. But now that I have I think it fits very well with this type of game and its scope.
Then the Carrier Update Happened as my friends were joining the game. They spent a few days in the starting area, so in the mean times I was exploring other aspects of the game such as combat and trade and missions and decided to do some trading and that led em to look for commodities and their prices etc, and so found Tritium was the most lucrative.
I Converted the ASP Explorer with Cargo. I also found the Inara Tool/Web site by then. So I looked for Tritium at Low Price, 4k and then identified High price places to sell it (roughly 50k). I was operating around the Area of Helgardu System buying Low and selling High on the ASP explorer a few Jumps further.
As my friends came out of the Starting place I shared the info with them and they engaged in some trade too to quickly boost their finances so we can then continue our exploration of the other game aspects. Not all are traders, some prefer the Combat of the game but they found it too slow to progress financially like that. Mining was out of the question for them and to a degree met too, only a couple of our group likes mining really as an activity. So the next best thing was a quick lucrative Trade,so one can quickly go back to the activity of fun. And it is fun to have such quick avenues because different activities are perceived different different people. Some people find Trading and Transporting Boring others find combat not fun other find mining boring, same with exploration.
The game seemed to have however avenues so that any Style of play with a minimum of effort can progress nevertheless. So the combat people spent hours doing combat and maybe one hour doing Tritium Trading. And this did not feel compelled to do things that were not fun to them, did not feel like the game worked against them. On the other hand the Trader Types did some Open Trade with Tritium to buy bigger Cargo Ships so they can then do the Big missions! This is what was fun to them.
Ad Hoc Trading Tritium seemed like a Balancing Factor conciliating many styles. For me I like primarily exploring, but I appreciated the Ad Hoc Trade of Tritium in the mean time and when not out there exploring. We even formed Wings and experimented with Multi-Crewing. Wings mechanics are ok. Multicrew is not fleshed out I think, very confusing what each person can and not clear what the Host can relegate or how to other players. Maybe I missed something there. But lets just say our first experience with it was not exciting.
Wings were fun however, the bonuses for activities the Wing Missions. It just requires more practice to stay together while jumping etc or when a wing member gets intercepted in Supercruise and gets drooped out. Very tough to quickly find them etc. Again there maybe still things to learn on the mechanics.
So in about a week after that we all managed to make some funds and progressed to Larger ships and learned about Fittings and differences between Class and Grades, and more of less fitting for the intended role. We have no Mods yet, no Alien Equipments etc. Really basic stuff.
I prefer Multi-Role Sips, so beyond the ASP I went with a Python which I used for Trading while some of my Trader friends went to Type-7 and even Type-9 ships. I did not invest in a Trading ship.
Also I did not want to go further higher for Anaconda etc I think I am too new to be using Advanced ships yet. So the only other ship after the Python I got was a Viper MK IV to do Navy Rank, Courriel and Combat Missions with with a bit more Combat profile than the Cobra Mk III which I really like too.
Traded for about 400 Million, got the Python and Viper plus appropriate fittings and then sat comfortably at around 200 million while I switched to raise ranks.
Made Duke with the Empire using Cobra Mk III and then started Federation Navy Ranking with Viper Mk IV which I am till doing now. Once that is over I plan to switch to ASP Explorer and go on a 5000 ly exploration Expedition. After that I will look for raising engineering and getting some Alien Fittings (Guardian etc). At least that was my Plan.
But I have not been playing lately, I somehow lost interest after the latest Patch which affected Financial Progression. I do not know why but my motivation went away once I saw the Tritium Trade being nerfed. I understand that the latest patch was supposed to address some Bugs that were being exploited from what I read. But why change the Trade and availability of Tritium?
Why is locating the best Source for Tritium every day and moving there to buy low and then transport it several jumps away to sell it high not good? Yes I can still do it with lower Profit Margin but now it will require 3-4 hours to get the same income as before.
Back and forth grinding is not my idea of fun, when it was faster it is acceptable because it doe snot last long you can do it for a while meet your goal and then go back to what gives you fun or undertake other goals. Rep grind is ok because it is temporary it is a goal a journey that can be enjoyed but that has an end at one point. But perpetually having to grind for finances is not Fun in the long run.to me, and I assume to a part of the player base too. I know some people like it because it is their journey however changes like these affect everyone. And that is what is not good in my opinion.
And that is all I will say as part of the Feedback. I do not want to complain, but I want to express how changes like that affect players and the Fun of the game which in turn de-motivates players from playing this game and motivates players to play something else instead.
On to some suggestions for possible improvement:
1- Limpets system. While I love all other aspects of Gameplay and the mechanics and approach to them I really find Limpets a Frustrating intuitive mechanic. The game Timeframe is supposed to be in the 4th millennium (circa 3336?), have we lost the knowledge of Drones and Robots? Why have a System that requires Cargo with perishable devices called limpets which cannot be reused? It feels archaic but also poor in terms of practicality from a game-play POV as well.
And why does 1 Limpet weight 1 ton to begin with. Isn't that a awful waste of space and weight? Why not have a Package of 100 Limpets use 1 ton?
I think a system itself (lets say Collector Limpets) should include Collector Robot Drone or in Drones/Robots according to size and Class which are reusable. Make the system itself have more weight when equipped in the ship instead of having perishable Drones (limpets) taking up cargo space etc. It would be more fun.
Or at least have Limpet Packages 100 limpets cost 1 ton.
2-RPG Ambiance. While I do enjoy and love the Open ended and Sandbox like nature of the Game. I find that it lacks some RPG Ambiance. Like for instance when we land on different Bases instead of doing everything on a Holographic Screen from our Cockpit why not choose to go in a lounge filled with Characters instead (NPC's) etc witch whom we interact either directly or through a Data Pad but at least by a Window Lounge where we can observe the Traffic out side or a nice Vista in Space etc? Enhancing our immersion a bit and making the Universe of Elite more lively. It does feel a bit bland and colorless and sometimes lifeless.
I do not know what the plans are for Odyssey, but I seen hopes that are quite ambitious like being able to walk in stations too not only barren planetary sites. I do not think we absolutely need to be walking inside stations in space or in ground one but at least have some transition to a different location in the stations themselves in space or in planetary ones would go a long way. Maybe some nice background music maybe music depending on which Faction controls the station, a thematic approach to it all?
3-Colors Customizations. It would be really great to have the possibility to change the colors of the UI. I found a Website which shows how to do it with modifying the .xml files but it is very limited. It changes colors that should not change. Such as Reputation Rankings, and even Colors of Friend and Foe on the Radar. There needs to be more granularity there and ideally Customization from within the Game UI itself because not everyone is handy with modifying game files etc. So a more user friendly and granular way please.
That Orangy color UI gets monotonous after a time...really.
4-Cargo and Trade. Ad Hoc (freelance) trading in this game is not very diverse or exciting it seems. There is no reason to trade anything Freelance other than the most expensive Commodity (such as Tritium), no incentive no motivation no purpose other than missions. That does not incite excitement, and makes the whole process one dimensional and monotonous.
What I would like to suggest here is to try and get inspiration from the real world's history, especially the Age of Sail and Age of Exploration period when people traded goods from one side of the planet to another explored new routes opened new markets and exchanged many new commodities not only one and for qualitative reasons too.
I am not sure if the game has mechanics which help players know that if I trade Cotton to 500 ly it will yield a better return than if I trade Tritium for 150 ly, but if it does it is not visible.
Also I find the way Cargo Space in the game very limiting. I understand it is based on tonnage which affect the Jump Range etc. But it limits the Purpose of Commerce and Trade making it monotonous. I think Granularity is needed here. I think maybe the system should permit also for volume or mass. 10 Tons of Uranium does not have the same mass and volume as 10 tons of Cotton balls.
But it maybe complicated to change jump mechanics based on mass volume, so instead, maybe a re-calibration of the Commodities in terms of Units (taking account mass and volume) would be a good solution. This way in a Single ton I can fit 1000 Units of Cotton or 10 Units of Uranium.
Now this may open some interesting Commercial opportunities., all of the sudden trading Cotton instead of Uranium in some remote Mining station becomes relevant purposeful and equally lucrative.
And that is about it for me at this time. I find the scope of the game awesome to begin with and very exciting with tremendous potential for fun. It just requires polishing and small impromvements in terms of its gameplay mechanics in some areas.
Also looking forward to Odyssey.
I am still not very motivated to play after the last changes. So I have been playing some other game (Building a success Colony in Surviving Mars) to create some nostalgia so I can come back with some renewed motivation to play ED.
And in the mean time hoping that things will improve in General. and also hoping that we see some reversal for Trade enhancement for combat and some missions etc. Financial Progression should not be a Grind in this game.
I read some people said it took them 6 months to get a Python,. and I feel sorry for you, appreciate your patience and struggles. Yet, game such as this, with this kind of scope cannot be bug down itself in minutiae of making ends meet and struggling to get the next ship. This is not Wing Commander Privateer with its 20-40 Star locations-systems. There is a Whole Galaxy of 400 billion stars out there in this one, it cannot be about spending 6 months to get a better ship.
Cheers! o7
