but what bothers me is that I feel I have paid for a game where I will only see 50-60% of the features.
Infidel! Heretic! Open Play is not being catered to enough! Combat play is not being catered to enough!![]()
^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?
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.
...this virtual currency is the only way to progress in the game...
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.
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.
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!'
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![]()