Game design fundamentals going from bad to worse

but what bothers me is that I feel I have paid for a game where I will only see 50-60% of the features.

^This.

I've paid full price (actually more) and should be able to play all of the game not just some of the game. You shouldn't have to put in the same hours as a full time job to get the full features of a game you've paid for. Can you imagine buying 'The Witcher 3' only to learn that to complete it you have to put in 27 hours a week for several months?
 
Infidel! Heretic! Open Play is not being catered to enough! Combat play is not being catered to enough! :)

Do you want to have your precious open play catered for? Go ask fdev, they are the ones that took your $60! :)
Seriously, I would be happy to play more often in open if the pvp cost would go down.
 
^This.

I've paid full price (actually more) and should be able to play all of the game not just some of the game. You shouldn't have to put in the same hours as a full time job to get the full features of a game you've paid for. Can you imagine buying 'The Witcher 3' only to learn that to complete it you have to put in 27 hours a week for several months?

Consider going exploring, that will keep you busy for the rest of your life.
 
Do you see the logic above? You, me, everyone grinds to the point of not having fun anymore in order to compensate for the people who can grind, or exploit, the most. FDEV should cater to gamers without a lot of time to play; and speaking for myself, I would be willing to only play solo in a separate universe if I would know that the power play / general grinding requirements would be adequate to my playing time.

Go away and do not tell me how I play this game.
I am not grinding, I am just having fun with my Premium Backer Cobra MK III, every time I start Elite Dangerous.
 
You can make enough credits with 2-3 hours a night. If you spent 2 weeks with me, 1 to get enough merits with the Power I'm aligned with and the next to spend time where I've been making the credits, you'd likely bore yourself out of the game within a month. Why do I say that? Because the words you are using. You consider the game a grind, which to me means that once you get enough credits to fly what you want to, you're done. Every game has a grind, some disguise it better than others, it's really up to you to look past that though if it's a genre you enjoy. If Eve wasn't flat out open PvP 24/7 I'd still be playing it and it's an even bigger grind than this game. It doesn't have to be though, you can just decide that you want to settle on Frigate combat and stay there. It's the same here, you can decide that you want to be an ace Eagle pilot and do everything you want to do in it. You can join groups for a couple hours of shooting other players or NPCs if you like.

Yea, there isn't exactly an endless amount of variation, but the game play that is there is endless. If you can't find something that you enjoy doing, it's likely that this isn't the game for you because honestly, there's only more of this to come. The difference is going to be refinement, planetary landings, more refinement and whatever else they said they wanted to add, whatever first person nonsense that I don't care about, etc. I'm getting tired of the Power Play nitpicking though. You don't have to participate in it if it doesn't suite your game play. Each power has a bonus that applies to their territory that doesn't involve pledging. You could completely ignore the powers and merit grinding if you don't want it. Power play was also more than just the politics, believe it or not, there were actually fixes and framework added to the game for future content.

Sandbox games in particular have a lot of repetition and this has nothing to do with being an MMO, the only reason you notice it so much now is because there's not enough toys in the sandbox yet. In 5 years time, there might be, but you won't make it if you can't find a way to enjoy the game until we get there.
 
...this virtual currency is the only way to progress in the game...

Sorry to selectively quote, but I think sums up everything for me.

I'm not planning to progress in the game, as there is no end-state to progress to. There is no fanfare with a golden garland proclaiming 'You have won!' - it's like sim-city, it is all about living in the moment and 'the doing' - and where you end up is almost coincidental.

As for PP, well, I disliked the sound of it from the start - PP (aka Risk-in-Space) sounds more dull than watching paint peeling. So I never tried it - not in beta, and not here in live.

EDIT: To put into context, every single beta I try mining. I always think I should find something it in to enjoy, and every single time I am bored within 10 minutes. So guess what? I don't play this element of the game. I believe others enjoy it, but it's really not for me.
 
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Go away and do not tell me how I play this game.
I am not grinding, I am just having fun with my Premium Backer Cobra MK III, every time I start Elite Dangerous.

Honestly, I envy you.. I am currently flying an ASP, and I have no desire to move on to a Python or Anaconda, but I keep thinking that the Cobra MK3 was the coolest ship I have flown.
In any case, you have my respect for feeling detached from the virtual rat race.
 
I'm not a fan of powerplay.

I think the basic mechanics are pretty badly designed. It feels out of place to me. In its current form anyway its suppose to be a work in progress too and probably will get better over time. But currently its not great.

The idea is fine, and the rivalry and everything But I'm sure they could have come up with something better than this very calculated and regimental process of moving numbers about. Its pretty dull.
 
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You can make enough credits with 2-3 hours a night. If you spent 2 weeks with me, 1 to get enough merits with the Power I'm aligned with and the next to spend time where I've been making the credits, you'd likely bore yourself out of the game within a month. Why do I say that? Because the words you are using. You consider the game a grind, which to me means that once you get enough credits to fly what you want to, you're done. Every game has a grind, some disguise it better than others, it's really up to you to look past that though if it's a genre you enjoy. If Eve wasn't flat out open PvP 24/7 I'd still be playing it and it's an even bigger grind than this game. It doesn't have to be though, you can just decide that you want to settle on Frigate combat and stay there. It's the same here, you can decide that you want to be an ace Eagle pilot and do everything you want to do in it. You can join groups for a couple hours of shooting other players or NPCs if you like.

Yea, there isn't exactly an endless amount of variation, but the game play that is there is endless. If you can't find something that you enjoy doing, it's likely that this isn't the game for you because honestly, there's only more of this to come. The difference is going to be refinement, planetary landings, more refinement and whatever else they said they wanted to add, whatever first person nonsense that I don't care about, etc. I'm getting tired of the Power Play nitpicking though. You don't have to participate in it if it doesn't suite your game play. Each power has a bonus that applies to their territory that doesn't involve pledging. You could completely ignore the powers and merit grinding if you don't want it. Power play was also more than just the politics, believe it or not, there were actually fixes and framework added to the game for future content.

Sandbox games in particular have a lot of repetition and this has nothing to do with being an MMO, the only reason you notice it so much now is because there's not enough toys in the sandbox yet. In 5 years time, there might be, but you won't make it if you can't find a way to enjoy the game until we get there.

But this is exactly my point! I am playing the game because I like it! I have established myself already numerous times that I loath grinding, and will avoid it at all costs. Having said this, I think everyone here agrees that the best part of this game is the simulation quality, not the grind quality! What I would like, however, was for fdev to devote more attention to keep evolving the quality of the simulation than the quantity of grind.

To me, PowerPlay was a missed chance to provide a rich political simulation on top of the space sim simulator that would captivate hardcore and non-hardcore gamers alike. If you notice carefully, everyone agrees that the simulation is top notch, but not everyone agrees about the game design itself.

Of course, in the meanwhile, I am already doing what most people here tell me to do, I am enjoying myself playing the simulation, and caring less and less about the credits and grind.
 
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But this is exactly my point! I am playing the game because I like it! I have established myself already numerous times that I loath grinding, and will avoid it at all costs. Having said this, I think everyone here agrees that the best part of this game is the simulation quality, not the grind quality! What I would like, however, was for fdev to devote more attention to keep evolving the quality of the simulation than the quantity of grind.

To me, PowerPlay was a missed chance to provide a rich political simulation on top of the space sim simulator that would captivate hardcore and non-hardcore gamers alike. If you notice carefully, everyone agrees that the simulation is top notch, but not everyone agrees about the game design itself.

Of course, in the meanwhile, I am already doing what most people here tell me to do, I am enjoying myself playing the simulation, and caring less and less about the credits and grind.

I guess I misunderstood you then.
 
Sorry to selectively quote, but I think sums up everything for me.

I'm not planning to progress in the game, as there is no end-state to progress to. There is no fanfare with a golden garland proclaiming 'You have won!'

OK I'll swat this one gnat.

It's like what Worf said to Tasha "Why keep score if winning is not important ?"

The Elite ranking, the ultimate goal to become ELITE ! Do that without grinding or keep your opinion.
 
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Did it only yesterday evening to fill up my trading ASP with 80 powerplay specific cargo units (gotta keep converting those utopian dissidents into slaves), but I will not keep doing it because it felt freemiumish (waiting 30min for something to happen, clash of clans anyone? ) and grindy.

Yes w8 for merits is a grind , not gonna disagree with you , its also the slowest way to get a higher rank , i dont get wy you try PP and play it like that?

Try blowing up harmless haulers and while at it rob others and sell it for profit?(just a example) i dont see a grind in it. Hauling stuff(unless you really like it ofcourse) , no matter how excited the cargo or the danger around you , will always feel like a second job.

Check out reddits subs for the powers , whats is going on in the game right now , exciting stuff. FD please give us sub forums for each of the powers :)
 
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Yes w8 for merits is a grind , not gonna disagree with you , its also the slowest way to get a higher rank , i dont get wy you try PP and play it like that?

Try blowing up harmless haulers and while at it rob others and sell it for profit?(just a example) i dont see a grind in it. Hauling stuff(unless you really like it ofcourse) , no matter how excited the cargo or the danger around you , will always feel like a second job.

Check out reddits subs for the powers , whats is going on in the game right now , exciting stuff. FD please give us sub forums for each of the powers :)

Because I only got to PowerPlay since yesterday. I returned Saturday night from a 1.5 month expedition 10k ly from Sol, and I barely managed to read all the mambo-jambo on Powerplay. Merits, expansion, ethos, perks, faction commodities, etc etc were all a big blank in my head. Yesterday I have tried some Powerplay conflict zones, killed 1 anaconda and got 1 powerplay, killed an eagle and got another powerplay.. then I went to Antal to subscribe the CG, and spotted the powerplay cargo 30min respawn thing. Waited for 3h to fill up my ASP cargo hold (80t), but it was just for one time to try it out.

As you have said, I might start shooting other ships and rob them. I haven't tried piracy yet in E: D. :)
 
and reddit as i said , im not a fan of the site but it opened a part of the game in terms of co-op pve/pvp without those clans and such(i love elite as a break of the usual clan/corp system ala eve) made some friends and was in my first wing , good times! some great tips and tricks to read over there as well.
 
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