Hours and hours attempting to get a Thargoid. Nothing.

[Cpt Spaulding]

I got so fed up trying that I just launched the Youtube videos while I jumped, as if it was happening to me.
FD should just add Youtube to one of our side panels in the cockpit and call it the story/campaign tab.

 

[Shadowdancer]

You are supposed to go watch stuff on Youtube, not "experience" the "story" yourself.

 

[Almondclint]

I got so fed up trying that I just launched the Youtube videos while I jumped, as if it was happening to me.
FD should just add Youtube to one of our side panels in the cockpit and call it the story/campaign tab.

Truthfully, I wish Netflix and Youtube could be scripted into the game. Would be an awesome way to spend those long journeys.

 

[Watcher]

While I'd like to see some Thargoid stuff I've taken a fairly laid back approach - I've been hanging around the Pleiades doing missions and such like and if it happens it happens.
As it turns out it hasn't happened but at least I had fun doing other stuff in the meantime..
Perhaps don't try and force it?
Frustrating though I appreciate...

 

[KING5TON]

Welcome to Elite Dangerous!
FD like to make most things as painful and arduous as possible in the mistaken belief that doing this keeps your players playing (and obviously paying via the store) rather than eventually annoying your players enough that they just stop playing altogether.

Maybe that's FD's long game. Make ED horrible enough that everyone stops playing so they no longer have to keep supporting it or developing it to meet their LTEP obligations.

You underestimate your fans FD. Some have convinced themselves that all this is actually really good game play. You're going to have to do something really bad to upset that apple cart. Try harder!

 

[babelfisch]

Welcome to Elite Dangerous!
FD like to make most things as painful and arduous as possible in the mistaken belief that doing this keeps your players playing (and obviously paying via the store) rather than eventually annoying your players enough that they just stop playing altogether.

Maybe that's FD's long game. Make ED horrible enough that everyone stops playing so they no longer have to keep supporting it or developing it to meet their LTEP obligations.

You underestimate your fans FD. Some have convinced themselves that all this is actually really good game play. You're going to have to do something really bad to upset that apple cart. Try harder!

I've seen two suggestions in this thread on how to address "the issue".

1. Increase the likeliness of getting hyperdicted.
2. Add a button (mechanic xy) to force hyperdiction on us.

Both suggestions are UTTERLY stupid. In fact it proves how FDEV is way better at story telling and game design than this combined community. Suggestion 1 would be annoying and bad story telling, suggestion 2 would be unrealistic and bad story telling.

Maybe FDEV underestimates their fans. It's more likely that people on this forum overestimate themselves though.

Just because something solves an individual issue it's not necessarily the best for the game.

 

[Alderius]

I refuse to be punked by FD, so I am not spending any time trying to see a Thargoid. Just goes to show how starved some players are for "content", that they spend days of time looking for their own personal cut-scene. They will be here in Q3, I've got lots of gaming to do between now and then.....

 

[NecoMachina]

Maybe I am wrong, but when I read your post all I can see is "they fail to deliver a single player story campaign" which is something they never intended to do. Sure, they could improve their story telling skills but this isn't related to your complaint, which seems to be specifically about story + gameplay.

PS
And by improving their story telling skills I mean giving us better clues and summaries via galnet or random NPCs chatting about the latest rumours...

No, I think you misunderstand. To get into these new Thargoid bases and activate the cutscene you need an Unknown Probe. How do you get one yourself (before someone just suggests getting one off another player)? You go to an ammonia world in an appropriate region, fly in supercruise until the signal source spawns for you, drop in and scoop it up. This takes a wildly varying amount of time - I've heard reports as low as 30 minutes and as high as 20+ hours - some saying they've searched longer than this and never found one. There is NOTHING else to it. There is nothing else to do while you're there waiting. Are you scanning things and following a trail? No. Are there pirates there that you can shoot at to keep you entertained as you hang out in the area for hours? No. Is there ANYTHING else you can do while you're just sitting there waiting for the server to spawn the USS for you? No. They want this new Thargoid "content" to feel rare and special, and they literally picked the easiest, most quickly implemented, and laziest way to implement that. Literally just put an RNG timer on the server spawning the signal sources.

 

[NecoMachina]

I've seen two suggestions in this thread on how to address "the issue".

1. Increase the likeliness of getting hyperdicted.
2. Add a button (mechanic xy) to force hyperdiction on us.

Both suggestions are UTTERLY stupid. In fact it proves how FDEV is way better at story telling and game design than this combined community. Suggestion 1 would be annoying and bad story telling, suggestion 2 would be unrealistic and bad story telling.

Maybe FDEV underestimates their fans. It's more likely that people on this forum overestimate themselves though.

Just because something solves an individual issue it's not necessarily the best for the game.

No, you're right. Making your players sit at a location for 10+ hours doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING but sit there and watch the navigation panel for a USS to spawn is brilliant game design. 10/10. You're totally right.
I'm not asking for an "I win" easy button to just give me the thing. I'm not asking for Thargoid stuff to be so common that every player in the game runs into it within a few hours. I'm asking for it to be more entertaining and interesting than "just sit there and wait". Is that seriously too much to ask from a game?!?

 

[Doookie Shoes]

Next week I turn 50. Still haven't seen a UFO. Getting frustrating

 

[Kingston@#]

I had months of waiting for an encounter. typical I had 2, in the space of 10 min. I got hyperdicted, then when I jumped again I got another. not had another since

 

[Kingston@#]

Next week I turn 50. Still haven't seen a UFO. Getting frustrating

I hope you get one for your birthday happy birthday!

 

[Doookie Shoes]

I hope you get one for your birthday happy birthday!

Would be awesome.
I'd gladly give my life just to have a minute of looking up into a new night sky

 

[Almondclint]

Next week I turn 50. Still haven't seen a UFO. Getting frustrating

Ive seen several and bet you have too. I mean, theyre UFOs....

 

[avow555]

Cut scenes do not make good gameplay.
The whole alien experience is a Rng farce.

 

[Certacito]

When finding a major feature, emergent gameplay and a massive marketing point, becomes a huge grind lasting days or longer for no results, I put that task down and stop bothering! If it is actually real and not just some hoax, then one day it will happen if it is meant to. Until then, I have seen the "Thargoids" on a cut scene on youtube, if I put it on fullscreen, I can pretend it happened to me too. #boredoflooking

 

[babelfisch]

No, I think you misunderstand. To get into these new Thargoid bases and activate the cutscene you need an Unknown Probe. How do you get one yourself (before someone just suggests getting one off another player)? You go to an ammonia world in an appropriate region, fly in supercruise until the signal source spawns for you, drop in and scoop it up. This takes a wildly varying amount of time - I've heard reports as low as 30 minutes and as high as 20+ hours - some saying they've searched longer than this and never found one. There is NOTHING else to it. There is nothing else to do while you're there waiting. Are you scanning things and following a trail? No. Are there pirates there that you can shoot at to keep you entertained as you hang out in the area for hours? No. Is there ANYTHING else you can do while you're just sitting there waiting for the server to spawn the USS for you? No. They want this new Thargoid "content" to feel rare and special, and they literally picked the easiest, most quickly implemented, and laziest way to implement that. Literally just put an RNG timer on the server spawning the signal sources.

No, you're right. Making your players sit at a location for 10+ hours doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING but sit there and watch the navigation panel for a USS to spawn is brilliant game design. 10/10. You're totally right.
I'm not asking for an "I win" easy button to just give me the thing. I'm not asking for Thargoid stuff to be so common that every player in the game runs into it within a few hours. I'm asking for it to be more entertaining and interesting than "just sit there and wait". Is that seriously too much to ask from a game?!?

You managed to completely miss my point.

 

[Angus]

Never been interdicted until recently I picked 2 UAs near Maia. Next jump - boom. Conspiracy theory on this forum - mingle with UA.

Similar experience here. Never had a hyperdiction, then got hold of a UP, and then a jump or two later BAM, "oh, hello......"


Methinks this RNG phrase maybe literally bandied about too much.

 

[NecoMachina]

You managed to completely miss my point.

Your point seemed to be that you think I'm asking for something similar to a storyline typically found in a single player game. Please correct me if I'm wrong. My point was that's not what I'm asking for at all.
Your point also seemed to be that Frontier tells story in a way that you like. I tend to agree. The way they are introducing the Thargoids return is pretty cool. The actual "gameplay", or more specifically lack thereof, is where my issue lies. I'm here giving my constructive criticism that I think they could do better than just have us wait at a designated point in space for hours or days trying to get a probe if we'd like to get into the Thargoid base and check it out for ourselves. That is why the put the content there, no? For us to be able to go check it out? You apparently got defensive that people were pointing out flaws in a game you love and started calling people's ideas stupid. Did I get your point now?

 

[babelfisch]

Your point seemed to be that you think I'm asking for something similar to a storyline typically found in a single player game. Please correct me if I'm wrong. My point was that's not what I'm asking for at all.
Your point also seemed to be that Frontier tells story in a way that you like. I tend to agree. The way they are introducing the Thargoids return is pretty cool. The actual "gameplay", or more specifically lack thereof, is where my issue lies. I'm here giving my constructive criticism that I think they could do better than just have us wait at a designated point in space for hours or days trying to get a probe if we'd like to get into the Thargoid base and check it out for ourselves. That is why the put the content there, no? For us to be able to go check it out?

So you don't want your own personal story line but you want to experience the first thargoid encounters yourself. Sorry, that doesn't add up for me.

You apparently got defensive that people were pointing out flaws in a game you love and started calling people's ideas stupid. Did I get your point now?

Actually you are very wrong about that. There is lots of criticism I have for the game but if an idea is stupid I'll call it stupid. If people can't live with that they should stop suggesting stupid things. I want the game to become better, not worse. If you read the thread you'll noticed that I suggested some ideas on how to improve it myself. That wouldn't make sense if people aren't allowed to point out flaws.

I also very specifically pointed out which ideas are stupid, they are not related to your problem at all.