Fleet Carriers - Patch 3 - Known Issues

[Old Duck]

Maybe I should add that FDevs need to change up the pirate text on some of these challenges. I've seen better dialogue in mid afternoon American soap operas.

FDev is a German company, so English is hard for them.

 

[Old Duck]

Yes, it's broken, as discussed on the carriers threads. You can currently find more in a Tritium ring outside the hotspots than you do inside. As this thread says, it's likely a decimal point error in the hotspot algorithms.

But Mr. "I'm an artist, amateur astronomer, electronics hobbyist, musician, sculptor, animator, and a few other avocations not as noteworthy" says everything is hunky dory. Surely he's trustworthy!

 

[Triptych]

Like I said, I've been mining in a ring with 3 Tritium hotspots (no overlaps) and one LTD hotspot, and Tritium yields are the same in all four.

I'm getting 3-4 times as much Tritium outside the hotspots as in them.

I'm bound to say I'm getting similar results. I tried a VO hotspot and I seem to be getting the same Tritium yield as in Tritium Hotspots.

It makes you wonder - given that this patch was meant to alter yields but not like this - how much actual testing FD did.........

 

[Northpin]

We're currently looking at data from the live game to determine the actual impact that it is having and will review this based on our projections. If the data does not meet our expectations we will be making changes accordingly.

Not sure how relevant it may be, but here we go:

Pure LTD laser mining, didn't chased sub or surface deposits nor cores and mined only LTD
As reference, pre Fleet Carrier Update i used to be able to get 326 ton of LTD per 90-100 minutes of laser mining in Borann using the same ship as used in the tests below.

1) Hip 4351, planet 10, A ring. Dropped right in the middle of the triple overlap area.
15 minutes, 50 prospected asteroids, 1 single asteroid with 11% LTD as secondary material - yield 3 tons.

2) Very strong double overlap (about 380km from both centers)
30 minutes, ~70 prospected asteroids, 41 tons LTD
Several 24% LTD asteroids, i'd say about 1/9 - 1/10 asteroids had LTD in percentages between 16-24%

3) Single hotspot (about 380 km from center) - same system as 2)
30 minutes, ~90 prospected asteroids, 14 tons LTD
1x 24% LTD, 3x 8-11% LTD secondary material and about 6-7 4-6% secondary or tertiary material (the later were not mined)
Lots of tritium with more that 16% as primary material, even more water with more than 16% as primary material.

 

[schmu666]

Hey fdev, just popping in to ask again.. "what's going on at the moment?"

I'm pretty sure you're aware of the drop in active player numbers?

 

[Kestrel71]

I've always felt that people looking for an actual story from Elite might have a wrong game from the start. To me the game seems more like a sandbox of headcanoning where you build your own rules, limitations and stories, otherwise you'll end up seeing behind the stage set and how unimmersive the world is.

ELITE actually has a fairly detailed and well fleshed out back story that could be used to create some truly amazing storylines in-game. Elements of it are still present, though, you're right, it clearly isn't a driving force in the current iteration of the game - FDEV have been content to let the players drive the game forward through player initiatives (similar to, but not to the same degree as EVE).

 

[howardtay]

Riiiiiiiight. And that’s where fleet carriers are supposed to come into the picture: as an aid to your flying and exploration experience. But if you can’t fund its upkeep, and you can’t refuel it, then you can’t use it.

I have an FC with 10b credits in the carrier bank, so I can leave it parked for many years and only use it when I need to, I don't need the billions I still have in my ship bank, got nothing else to spend it on!!!

 

[Kestrel71]

FDev is a German company, so English is hard for them.

FDEV is an English British company based out of Cambridge.

 

[Patrick_68000]

FDEV is an English company based out of Cambridge.

So that everyone is right, we will say : Anglo-Saxon

 

[TCTowers]

Mum it’s broken, mum it’s broken, mum it’s brokeeeeeeen.....

Bart.

 

[VirtueXOI]

2) Very strong double overlap (about 380km from both centers)
30 minutes, ~70 prospected asteroids, 41 tons LTD
Several 24% LTD asteroids, i'd say about 1/9 - 1/10 asteroids had LTD in percentages between 16-24%

Very interested in where you did find this one , if you dont want to keep it secret. I feel like now , really close double hotspot will be way better than triple.

 

[Old Duck]

FDEV is an English company based out of Cambridge.

Don't be silly.

 

[TCTowers]

The Nautilus Class Carrier “Mrs Miggins Pie Shop”, is running low on fillings for the pies.
I went mining all day in Chicken and Cow Hotspots, and all I could find was stupid cold diamonds

 

[ChipStar65]

You seem to be pointing out that it is possible to find anything you want to move if you look for it, albeit not in the hotspots named for it, and you’ll find things worth mining, if not in the quantities of before?

If so, I don’t disagree, but I’ve never disputed that.

My point has always been that the system has been changed such that if you go to a hotspot to mine something, and you can’t find it (a few paltry tonnes are so worthless as to be considered zero when leaving the hotspot can arguably get you more returns), it’s broken.

Your words:

"This is (currently, and hopefully a mistake that will soon be rectified) effectively a complete removal of any hotspots in the game by removing all valuable minerals and replacing them with worthless ones "

My emphasis, for focus. This is definitely not the point your are now saying was always your point. As I say, you're moving the goalposts. 'Nuff said. Gotta go see what the situation is with Grandi and Alex hotspots.

 

[CMD Ace Rodrigo]

Thanks Stephen. I have but a few comments.

1. I presume that in addition to gathering analytics from the game engine you will also be actually playing the game to experience what your users are experiencing? Is it not absolutely critical that play testing is done?
2. The user community has in fact voiced a great many comments on the quality of the patch (i.e. 4 attempts to fix mining exploits, resulting in the worst mining experience ever, and abrasion blaster not working) which have not yet been acknowledged. If your response does not address this concern, can you please let us know if indeed you will be responding to this concern?
3. The changes you make to the mining hotspot distribution logic are required, however in this context it is not just the 'fixing' that needs to be done. There is evidence from the patch history and user feedback that multiple attempts to fix mining have gone seriously wrong. It is simply insufficient to keep putting sticking plasters on a problem when you need to step back and ensure you understand the code enough to get things right first time - and absolutely not end up breaking the fundamental functionality of mining tools. This is not a good look, and by not acknowledging this whatsoever, there is no increase in credibility for Frontier as a game development company. A design review should happen, so that mining code can be maintained, because clearly Frontier are not able to maintain it with any acceptable level of quality - i.e. the last patch.
4. By now Frontier should have rolled back to the previous patch. Why? Because in any other commercial software setting that is precisely what would have happened. A critical bug (abrasion blasters) plus an assortment of other bugs were introduced. It is not just the development and testing process that has come under fire, it is also the fundamental principles by which Frontier maintain and update the game. So for the last 24 hours, and perhaps another few days, you are comfortable with leaving your game out there, exposed to existing and new players alike, fundamentally broken?
5. Responses would benefit from being somewhat more genuine, with apologies called out for actual mistakes. Again, no apology at all for breaking the abrasion blaster is pretty much unbelievable. Where is the accountability?
6. If you are able to, and this has not already happened, please escalate this issue within Frontier. Such was the unimpressive quality of the last patch, many players have progressed to the next level of disappointment and disillusionment. It is extremely likely that the profitability of future big updates (e.g. space legs) has already suffered as a result of this latest patch, and if any systemic problems are unchecked, it is inevitable that profits will continue to be hit. The gaming industry has many examples of users taking a stand and simply not buying games from particular publishers out of principle.

Apologies if any of that sounded harsh, but I thought it worth calling out, and you may disagree with me of course. I wish you luck in addressing the next patch, although as I mentioned, the roll-back should have happened arguably about 2 hours after it went live when it became clear you disabled a key mining tool for all users in many contexts.

o7

I couldn't agree more! As a result of this mess and Fdev's unwillingness to roll back and take responsibility for this mess, I will not be buying Odyssey anytime soon and I will be encouraging everyone I know to do the same. It seems that the only way Fdev will listen to us is to hit them in their income stream. I for one will not be spending any more real money on ED.

 

[TomCatT]

Well, looks the weekly nerf took out the LTDs and Trit'. So much for saving up to get an FC. And even then, how are you going to fuel and pay for the weekly service(s)? Once again, the dev's are busily nerfing instead of fixing bugs that CMDRs has problems with. For example, I hate trying to text to a system and it stops working while I'm typing a message.

 

[CMD Ace Rodrigo]

This is all well and good but maybe you could put some effort into your support, I am down 250m credits due to a bug that did not install the shipyard (though people can still store ships on my carrier) but cost me the money, I have been talking to support for a month now, they take at least a week to reply to any messages and so far after a month all I have to show for it is the issue being handed off to the QA team and them tell me that "according to our records your carrier has not got a shipyard installed" Like yeah no duh that's the problem I contacted you about TWO WEEKS AGO.
Normally this would not be a massive issue for a game company as I have provided the clearest report possible with exact dates and times of the bug as well as screen shots but it still gets passed to another team which no doubt will take weeks to reply (its already been 4 days with no reply) im not going to let 250m go down the drain when mining is also being nerfed, your support staff NEED to be better, this is by far the worst game support I have ever had to contact, they are not rude or anything just utterly clueless, A problem like this in my mind should be a simple, look at the game logs for the date and time provided and see if I was charged, support already say its not installed so just look and see if I was charged and when it shows I was charged either install the shipyard or give me the credits back, normally I would not be so annoyed but its been a MONTH with absolutely no help what so ever, sorry to say Frontier but it simply is not good enough, Either make your game less buggy and ready for release or actually have a decent support section.

This is a clear illustration that Fdev does not listen to nor care about its players. Somebody at Fdev/ED better stand up and take control of this situation as more and more players simply say goodbye.

 

[Tyler-Rid]

It makes it easier to launch a new update if everyone who complains has left...

 

[Northpin]

Very interested in where you did find this one , if you dont want to keep it secret. I feel like now , really close double hotspot will be way better than triple.

It's listed in the Rings Inventory 2020, on EliteMiners - kudos to the commanders that spent a great deal of time to inventory those rings
No secret, but credits should go where they're supposed to go. Cmdr Syynax found this one so search the file for his name and LTD2 almost 100% overlap

Close double-hotspots are nice, but still 80-90 tons per hour - it's waay below what was possible before carrier patch.
However, mapped mining might still save the day in a close double - that is for people that can do mapped mining (i personally can't stand it)

 

[Kort]

Being able to find materials in the normal rings is irrelevant for the original point of the discussion though surely?

I've not seen anyone claiming that you couldn't find worthwhile things in general outside of the hotspots - the point of the hotspots is that (even by the patch notes) is that you should have a notably better chance of finding that named hotspot resource in that hotspot. When an easily replicable test shows that dropping into a single or double hotspot and firing hundreds of limpets at only the glowing asteroids gets either 0T of the hotspot commodity, or arguably even less than you'd have got by avoiding the ring, then the mechanic is broken.

The balancing argument of the game holds true as always, mining paid a lot more for the risk / reward ration than piracy or trading or bounty hunting, but removing the ability to meaningfully make money from mining doesn't help. All it does is make it harder to make money, and many used to blitz mining for a period to fund doing the other things they enjoyed more, like buying and fuelling a carrier for long exploration expeditions, but oh yeah, you now can't buy Tritium because the supply has dropped in stations and to make one carrier jump would require you spend more time mining tritium than doing anything else.

If the supply and demand mechanic were working correctly, given how hard LTDs are to find right now, the price should be through the roof - you don't manage a market by removing the supply and artificially keeping the price low as well.

The 'eggsploit' needed fixing, no-one can argue against that, but they could have fixed the excessive income possible from LTDs by EITHER reducing the availability (but being honest, the community would have still found the best locations) or reducing the price.

They've done the latter and smashed the mining mechanic completely such that whilst there are ways to make some money, having to deliberately seek LTDs in a Void Opal Hotspot, whilst not expecting to find any VO's is a route to insanity for anyone thinking that's a normal way to operate.


Look, people are human, and mistakes happen. Given what the patch notes said they were intending to do, this is clearly a complete failure of quality control / testing prior to release. They'd have got some stick for it, but hey, things go wrong.

Where the issue is being exacerbated now is that they haven't rolled the patch back, until they sort the mistake, and worse haven't (that I have seen) even acknoledged the extent of the issue.

At this point, Frontier have 4 - 5 hours left in the working day to either push a further fix out, or roll the last patch back, or leave the game in a broken state across the weekend. Given that many people only have opportunity to serious play at the weekend, particularly given the lockdown situations around the world, that option will only increase the irritation and frustration in the community.

I like this game, a lot, and it's frustrating that Frontier don't appear to be helping themselves in this situation.

Extremely well said and to the point.