Frontier, here is how to make Elite better in three easy steps

Seriously, this is how to amp up the fun with as little developing effort as possible from a player who's sticking to this game since almost day 1:

1) Speed up the supercruise travel by a 30-35 % + remove the overshoot mechanics which is just lame and a time sink. If it takes time, or it requires small to none effort and adds no challange or gameplay, it has to go. Remove the planet gravity well when departing from surfaces when escaping orbit at 90°, this is very important, stars (which are millions of times more massive) have little to none gravity, why should a planet have it? Consistency and fun, Frontier, in order to make the game fair and enjoyable to everyone. For example: when plunging towards a star I take very little hull damage but I have to wait half a minute for the fsd to cool off, basically you're punishing me with my time. Is it good? Nope, punish the careless player with 20-30-40% hull damage and completely remove the fsd cooldown, it has no purpose.

2) FSD should be disengaged from 10-15 Mm (or even more) ALL the time instead of 1 mm, then enter a gliding mode towards the station with a nice and smooth effect. Just by doing this little tweak you can save us 10-15 seconds for every drop out, traders and passenger ship pilots will thank you immensely just by doing this.

3) In order to compensate the lack of pirating and PvPing possibilities due to the supercruise factor of 1,3 consider adding PvP areas and zones of constant war where destroying another player from another faction or in agreed combat is rewarded by lots of money/rank gain/decals cosmetics and few or no law penalties whatsoever. Insurance could be also tweaked, so that there is much more risks of losing money if being killed, but much more possibility for reward if being successful. To avoid possible exploits just add a diminishing return from killing the same cmdr over and over again by a factor of 20 with a cooldown of 15/30 days.

As a rule of thumb, it the only purpose of a feature is to take time and it requires little or no input from the player, it has to go, it's just bad game design. Plain and simple.


Some people will disagree with those changes, especially the 'mmursion guys, but this has nothing to do with immersion, it's all about amp up the fun a notch with the stuff it's already in the game while preserving the realism and the scope of the galaxy. Time is valuable, show us that you respect it.
 
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Seriously, this is how to amp up the fun with as little developing effort as possible from a player who's sticking to this game since almost day 1:

1) Speed up the supercruise travel by a 30-35 % + remove the overshoot mechanics which is just lame and a time sink. If it takes time, or it requires small to none effort and adds no challange or gameplay, it has to go. Remove the planet gravity well when departing from surfaces when escaping orbit at 90°, this is very important, stars (which are millions of times more massive) have little to none gravity, why should a planet have it? Consistency and fun, Frontier, in order to make the game fair and enjoyable to everyone. For example: when plunging towards a star I take very little hull damage but I have to wait half a minute for the fsd to cool off, basically you're punishing me with my time. Is it good? Nope, punish the careless player with 20-30-40% hull damage and completely remove the fsd cooldown, it has no purpose.

2) FSD should be disengaged from 10-15 Mm (or even more) ALL the time instead of 1 mm, then enter a glading mode towards the station with a nice and smooth effect. Just by doing this little tweak you can save us 10-15 seconds for every drop out, traders and passenger ship pilots will thank you immensely just by doing this.

3) In order to compensate the lack of pirating and PvPing possibilities due to the supercruise factor of 1,3 consider adding PvP areas and zones of constant war where destroying another player from another faction or in agreed combat is rewarded by lots of money/rank gain/decals cosmetics and few or no law penalties whatsoever. Insurance could be also tweaked, so that there is much more risks of losing money if being killed, but much more possibility for reward if being successful. To avoid possible exploits just add a diminishing return from killing the same cmdr over and over again by a factor of 20 with a cooldown of 15/30 days.

As a rule of thumb, it the only purpose of a feature is to take time and it requires little or no input from the player, it has to go, it's just bad game design. Plain and simple.


Some people will disagree with those changes, especially the 'mmursion guys, but this has nothing to do with immersion, it's all about amp up the fun a notch with the stuff it's already in the game while preserving the realism and the scope of the galaxy. Time is valuable, show us that you respect it.

I respectfully disagree.
 
Seriously, this is how to amp up the fun with as little developing effort as possible from a player who's sticking to this game since almost day 1:

1) Speed up the supercruise travel by a 30-35 % + remove the overshoot mechanics which is just lame and a time sink. If it takes time, or it requires small to none effort and adds no challange or gameplay, it has to go. Remove the planet gravity well when departing from surfaces when escaping orbit at 90°, this is very important, stars (which are millions of times more massive) have little to none gravity, why should a planet have it? Consistency and fun, Frontier, in order to make the game fair and enjoyable to everyone. For example: when plunging towards a star I take very little hull damage but I have to wait half a minute for the fsd to cool off, basically you're punishing me with my time. Is it good? Nope, punish the careless player with 20-30-40% hull damage and completely remove the fsd cooldown, it has no purpose.

2) FSD should be disengaged from 10-15 Mm (or even more) ALL the time instead of 1 mm, then enter a glading mode towards the station with a nice and smooth effect. Just by doing this little tweak you can save us 10-15 seconds for every drop out, traders and passenger ship pilots will thank you immensely just by doing this.

3) In order to compensate the lack of pirating and PvPing possibilities due to the supercruise factor of 1,3 consider adding PvP areas and zones of constant war where destroying another player from another faction or in agreed combat is rewarded by lots of money/rank gain/decals cosmetics and few or no law penalties whatsoever. Insurance could be also tweaked, so that there is much more risks of losing money if being killed, but much more possibility for reward if being successful. To avoid possible exploits just add a diminishing return from killing the same cmdr over and over again by a factor of 20 with a cooldown of 15/30 days.

As a rule of thumb, it the only purpose of a feature is to take time and it requires little or no input from the player, it has to go, it's just bad game design. Plain and simple.


Some people will disagree with those changes, especially the 'mmursion guys, but this has nothing to do with immersion, it's all about amp up the fun a notch with the stuff it's already in the game while preserving the realism and the scope of the galaxy. Time is valuable, show us that you respect it.

Sorry, don't agree with 1 and 2 - I'm personally quite happy with the current state of these. Not sure I agree with number 3 either, but if Frontier incorporate CQC more into the game maybe this will go some way towards that?
 
I would like to see the overshoot toned down a bit and planetary breaking increased some. I find here lately that I keep overshooting because I'm not paying attention. I guess this part of the game is losing it's shine for me...
 
Care to elaborate?

1 and 2: some effort being put into playing the game is actually good, FSD cooldown is a shared mechanism with interdictions (so your victim doesn't escape mere seconds after you caught them), etc
3: not an "easy step" as its effects would be profound when implemented
 
No thanks. The speed is there for a reason.

I do both trade and passenger hauling, I will not thank Frontier immensely; my attitude would likely be the opposite.

There's been -brief- discussions around PvP systems in the community and I'm not against it; I quite like the idea knowing that I need to plan my route carefully or risk getting pirated or killed.
HiSec systems could be safe-zones, where PvP has been disabled ( or perhaps is strongly curtailed by police to the point it's not worth it for pirates to attack ), Med and Lo -sec systems could be kind of inbetweeners, with anarchy systems being the most dangerous of all.

As a rule of thumb, it the only purpose of a feature is to take time and it requires little or no input from the player, it has to go, it's just bad game design. Plain and simple.
Heartily disagree. And unless you have a degree in game design and are the foremost leading game designer in the world, it's not "plain and simple", it's nothing more than your opinion.

Some people will disagree with those changes, especially the 'mmursion guys, but this has nothing to do with immersion, it's all about amp up the fun a notch with the stuff it's already in the game while preserving the realism and the scope of the galaxy.
Your suggestion, apart from number 3, would actually lower my fun.

Time is valuable, show us that you respect it.
You'll live for 70-90 years, those extra 10-15 seconds between trips are not going to make a dent in your life.


If your time is so valuable, play something else.
If you decide to play Elite: Dangerous then the only person you can look to for "wasting time" is yourself.

I'd suggest:
  1. Learn what type of game Elite is.
  2. Learn to appreciate what Frontier are trying to do with it.
 
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1 and 2: some effort being put into playing the game is actually good, FSD cooldown is a shared mechanism with interdictions (so your victim doesn't escape mere seconds after you caught them), etc

During interdiction it does have a purpose, I agree, but when too close to the stars? Not so much, and it has to be removed. It serves no purpose to wait twiddling my thumbs 30 seconds.

I'll stop you right there talking about consistency and shared mechanics because I could write down a bunch of arbitrary mechanics that have double standards on different situations or modules. All in the name of this so called balance. My suggestion does fall under this category.

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  1. Learn what type of game Elite is.
  2. Learn to appreciate what Frontier are trying to do with it.

Can you tell me what type of game Elite is?
 
interesting suggestions.

concerning 1)
a) i like the idea to remove the cooldown penalty by a hull penalty ... but problem of consistency with an interdiction maybe? it's the only place where the FSD cooldown makes sense for gameplay.
b) supercruise speed - talking about experience with engineered jumprange - no increase will make it "faster". waiting time is waiting time ... if you simply want to be there, it takes long(er).
c) planet gravity: for me that's part of piloting - the optimal route through gravity zones in systems. for starting from a planet I'm fully with you - that should speed up at 90 degree ... it's a part where you can't influence the speed at all, and you basically can only tab away (because you even don't have a spectacular sight if pointing 90 degree up)

edit: concerning supercruise speed: i think the "problem" could be tackled either by in system jumps, or, and i would prefer that, if it would be easier to do other things in the cockpit while flying to a target. for exampel if the galaxy map would close down at proximity to your target (or give a "warning") .... i wouldn#t mind reading galnet, sorting my materials and checking out the systems around on a long cruise to a station 200 k ls out, if that wouldn't lead me to overshooting.
 
If your time is so valuable, play something else.
If you decide to play Elite: Dangerous then the only person you can look to for "wasting time" is yourself.

I'd suggest:
  1. Learn what type of game Elite is.
  2. Learn to appreciate what Frontier are trying to do with it.

You're serious?

I guess if you don't like something then you just walk away?

I have a suggestion for you too :)

If someone spoils the air and the smell bothers you, stop breathing smelling it :)

If someone is playing music too loud for you, cover your ears do not listen to it.

If you don't agree with the OP, don't reply in his thread.

See where this gets us?
 
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Can you tell me what type of game Elite is?
Elite: Dangerous is part of a franchise that is built for a very particular niche of players. Gamer's who like to take their time to accomplish tasks; be it trading or exploring, or yes, even travelling
and sometimes docking. Gamer's who are used to a style of gameplay that is measured in years, not months or days or hours.

It's expected that you'll have to spend a minutes (or hours) in Supercruise to reach your destination.
It's expected that you'll spend weeks crossing the galaxy.
It's expected that it'll take you months or years to reach T-Elite.
Because that's the type of game Elite is.
Elite is a long-term game, it's not for the instant-gratification crowd, or rather to be fair, the crowd that's used to a particular style of game. Elite harkens back to it's origins, of a time when games were very different from what they are today.

Elite is not everyone's cup of tea; some simply don't have the patience for it, others don't have the time due to real life constraints; but it is what it is.

Frontier are trying to bring a 1:1 scale galaxy to life, they are trying to place you in that galaxy and bring to your attention the absolute giganticnessnessness and brillianceness and utter beauty that is the cosmos. Slow down. Enjoy what Frontier are trying to show you.

Bask in the awesomesauce that is Braben-Lord's vision. :D

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You're serious?

I guess if you don't like something then you just walk away?

I have a suggestion for you too :)

If someone spoils the air and the smell bothers you, stop breathing smelling it :)

If someone is playing music too loud for you, cover your ears do not listen to it.

If you don't agree with the OP, don't reply in his thread.

See where this gets us?

Way to miss the point entirely.
Don't worry, one day you'll understand that managing your time is your responsibility, not someone else's.
 
Elite: Dangerous is part of a franchise that is built for a very particular niche of players. Gamer's who like to take their time to accomplish tasks; be it trading or exploring, or yes, even travelling
and sometimes docking. Gamer's who are used to a style of gameplay that is measured in years, not months or days or hours.

It's expected that you'll have to spend a minutes (or hours) in Supercruise to reach your destination.
It's expected that you'll spend weeks crossing the galaxy.
It's expected that it'll take you months or years to reach T-Elite.
Because that's the type of game Elite is.
Elite is a long-term game, it's not for the instant-gratification crowd, or rather to be fair, the crowd that's used to a particular style of game. Elite harkens back to it's origins, of a time when games were very different from what they are today.

Elite is not everyone's cup of tea; some simply don't have the patience for it, others don't have the time due to real life constraints; but it is what it is.

Oh, I got it, you're a nostalgia guy. "Games were more gratifying at my times". For a second I thought you were about to use the Elite is a simulator card.

I'm sorry to burst your bubble but, guess what, thirty years have passed since the first Elite. Things change.

And frontier knows this perfectly, because the game you've just described collides against lots of mechanics the game is trying to implement nowadays such as holostuff and instajoin your friends. So, no.
Plus, if we want to dot the i, the Elite series you're referring to at a certain point implemented a time speed factor to kill waiting time during travel, am I right? ;)

So, again, downtime and waiting are poor game design choices and lack of gameplay. No degrees needed to state this.
Traveling takes lots of time? Ok, fine by me, there is something we have to manage in the ship, modulate shields, fix modules, plan directions during this time? No? Then travel time has to be cut and shortened. It's as simple as that. It can't be half simulator here and arcade there and only when the game feels like it. It can't take me 40 minutes to reach my destination because the game strives to be a simulation but deprive me of all the fun of being in an actual simulator calibrating radio, life support systems, instruments and stuff.
 
Oh, I got it, you're a nostalgia guy. "Games were more gratifying at my times". For a second I thought you were about to use the Elite is a simulator card.

I'm sorry to burst your bubble but, guess what, thirty years have passed since the first Elite. Things change.

And frontier knows this perfectly, because the game you've just described collides against lots of mechanics the game is trying to implement nowadays such as holostuff and instajoin your friends. So, no.
Plus, if we want to dot the i, the Elite series you're referring to at a certain point implemented a time speed factor to kill waiting time during travel, am I right? ;)

So, again, downtime and waiting are poor game design choices and lack of gameplay. No degrees needed to state this.
Traveling takes lots of time? Ok, fine by me, there is something we have to manage in the ship, modulate shields, fix modules, plan directions during this time? No? Then travel time has to be cut and shortened. It's as simple as that. It can't be half simulator here and arcade there and only when the game feels like it. It can't take me 40 minutes to reach my destination because the game strives to be a simulation but deprive me of all the fun of being in an actual simulator calibrating radio, life support systems, instruments and stuff.

How is anything I said related to nostalgia? I said E: D is built for a particular niche of players, which it is and always has done. Just because you're late to the party, doesn't mean the rest of us were. Elite: Dangerous builds off of Frontier's highly successful Elite franchise with identical, similar and brand new gameplay elements.

The fact that you want less time in SC, tells me you don't have a cooking clue what Frontier are trying to achieve with ED.

You are more than welcome to post your suggestions, but don't make the mistake of thinking that you speak for everyone, or that you know better than the very people who work in the industry ( unless, of course, you have a degree and are the world's leading game designer ).
 
1) No thanks. Supercruise is rather dull, I admit, but I'm hoping for content to fill the void, rather than skip it entirely.

2) Yes! I'd love the glide feature to be used more.
It's quite jarring at the moment, especially when dropping in to RES'.
However, the drop distance is based on distance from its main body, so some places can be dropped in to from 7-8mm away.

3) Didn't really get it.
 
Elite: Dangerous is part of a franchise that is built for a very particular niche of players. Gamer's who like to take their time to accomplish tasks; be it trading or exploring, or yes, even travelling
and sometimes docking. Gamer's who are used to a style of gameplay that is measured in years, not months or days or hours.

It's expected that you'll have to spend a minutes (or hours) in Supercruise to reach your destination.
It's expected that you'll spend weeks crossing the galaxy.
It's expected that it'll take you months or years to reach T-Elite.
Because that's the type of game Elite is.
Elite is a long-term game, it's not for the instant-gratification crowd, or rather to be fair, the crowd that's used to a particular style of game. Elite harkens back to it's origins, of a time when games were very different from what they are today.

Elite is not everyone's cup of tea; some simply don't have the patience for it, others don't have the time due to real life constraints; but it is what it is.

Frontier are trying to bring a 1:1 scale galaxy to life, they are trying to place you in that galaxy and bring to your attention the absolute giganticnessnessness and brillianceness and utter beauty that is the cosmos. Slow down. Enjoy what Frontier are trying to show you.

Bask in the awesomesauce that is Braben-Lord's vision. :D

- - - Updated - - -



Way to miss the point entirely.
Don't worry, one day you'll understand that managing your time is your responsibility, not someone else's.

Totally agree, the game with his actual mechanics gets you the feeling (somewhat) of being alone in the void, making things easier/quicker would not appeal most of the Elite's crowd (my humble opinion)
 
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Lestat

Banned
It annoying when people like the Op don't do research before posted a topic let take 1 and 2. They both been talk about before.
 
It annoying when people like the Op don't do research before posted a topic let take 1 and 2. They both been talk about before.

Admittedly, part 2 hasn't been mentioned in a while.

I don't mind the same topics popping up every few weeks, the search function is a bit squiffy, and not all know the Google search trick. That, combined with necro's being frowned upon is the main reasons we see the same stuff. So I let it slide.
Heck, I've even posted ideas, forgetting that I already posted the same idea months ago!


It's just when page one is filled with the same thread, thats when I get annoyed. Lol
 
I'd be perfectly fine with time costing planet surface drops if they would add a waypoint creator. Its repeatedly flying back up to reposition yourself so you can land where you want that sucks more than planet mass.
 
For what it's worth, I think supercruise might have been tweaked in the beta. I didn't notice anything mentioned in the change log, but it seems like supercruise acceleration has been increased somewhat and that the slow-down, don't overshoot your target mechanic is a little more forgiving.

Of course, it might just be my imagination. I haven't tried to do a controlled comparison between the beta and the current version.
 
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Remove the planet gravity well when departing from surfaces when escaping orbit at 90°
I really hate that this was changed a couple updates back.

Before the change, I could "feel" the power in the thrusters as I looked out the window and watched the surface disappear.

Now... *yawn*... so slow.
It's not nearly as cool as it was before.
 
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